Recipe for Sourdough Starter Information

Instructions: I learned
*everything* I know about sourdough from the book by Dr. Ed Wood, "Sourdoughs from Antiquity", mentioned by Darin Wilkins below.

As he points out the book comes with a free start of your choice. I highly recomend this book.

Rules:
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1. Start with good breeding stock.

The little critters (wild yeasts and lactobacilli)

come in thousands of strains, millions of comb- inations. Most of these are good for nothing.

If you want a quality start, get one from some- one who makes good sourdough bread, or mail-order from one of the sources mentioned below. I highly recomend Dr. Woods Sourdoughs International.

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2. Get a good book on sourdough. I felt that Dr. Woods, "Sourdoughs from Antiquity" was a wealth of information on the subject. Downside: It was printed on real poor quality paper.

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3. Never feed your culture anything but flour and warm water. That is what the little critters eat.

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4. Dont let the culture get too hot.

Heat will kill the culture. When you do a proof keep the temperature between 85 and 90 deg. F. Dont add water which is warmer than 100 deg. F.

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5. When proofing keep the culture warm. Between 85 and 90 deg F. When the culture is exposed to adverse conditions; when it gets too cold, or it dries out, the yeast and lactobacilli create spores and then die.

Get a good thermomoter! Try the University Chemistry Store in your area.

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6. Get to know your culture. Does it rise extra fast or is it slow. If you let it go too long is it too sour to eat, or does the flavor get better.

These things vary by strain. Experiment!

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7. Keep your start in a GLASS jar. Glass cleans easily. A wide mouth quart jar is recomeneded.

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8. When making any sourdough recipe the first step is preparing the culture. Take the culture out of the fridge. Add 1/2 cup warm water, and 1/2 cup flour. Stir it up good. Let the culture grow for several hours. Time required depends on the particular culture. My culture needs 1 to 3 hours.

Others may need 6 to 12. When you see the bubbles foam up on top thickly it is ready. See rules #4 and #5.

#9 When the culture is prepared, you need to grow more.

Pour the start with a bunch of flour and water into a large mixing bowl. The amount of flour and water will depend on the recipe. Many recipes call for 3 cups of white flour and two cups of warm water at this stage. Mix it up good, but lumps are ok; the culture will smooth them out. Proof for many hours. My culture requires 4 to 6 hours, others require 12.

#10 After rule #9, REMEMBER TO SET ONE CUP OF THE CULTURE ASSIDE FOR FUTURE USE.

#11 Before returning the culture to the jar, wash the jar out thouroughly with hot water. You dont want anything growing in the jar but the culture which you are returning.

#12 The rest of the culture grown in rule #9 is for use in your recipe. Now you are free to add other ingredients.

#13 If you are going to use the culture again right away and not put it back in the fridge, you can skip rule #8. Otherwise add 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of warm water, proof it for 1 hour, and then put it in the fridge. As the temperature goes down the yeast and lactobacilli will form spores and the culture will store this way for at least a month, maybe two.

#14 If more than a month or two go by and you havent done any sourdough cooking then refresh your culture by repeating step #8. Pour off the extra or give it to a friend. (So you have about one cup left.)

Repeat step #13. When you first take the culture out of the fridge after a long stay, it will have some liquids on top. These consist of some alcohols and mild organic acids made by the yeasts and lactobacilli, and are responsible for the sourdough flavor. Stir them in and procede as above.

#15 For long term culture storage, store your culture in dried powder form. Ed Woods book doesnt tell you how to do this right out, but I sort of discovered it on my own. Actually I believe it is an old trick.

Spread a three foot long section of wax paper on the Table WAX SIDE UP. Smear one tablespoon of fresh culture (from step #8, 9, or 14) around evenly and thinly over the surface of the wax paper. Let it dry overnight, and then scrape the dry flakes into a bowl and crunch them (Mortal & pestle style) into small pieces. Put the powder into a labeled zip lock bag and press the air out.

The culture forms spores when it starts to dry out.

The culture will store in a zip lock bag at normal temperatures like this for 6 months. It will store even longer in the frezer.

I find that a zip-lock bag is very convenient way to carry a culture when traveling or moving. Make sure the bag is labled and dont flaunt those little bags of white powder!

I find it convenient to do several sheets of wax paper at once. Then when friends ask for a start I spoon two teaspoons into a new bag, and carry it to work, or where ever I will see them next.

Another reason I find this convenient is that if you own several different cultures, they dont all have to occupy a bottle in the fridge at once. and it is fairly easy to include a small zip-lock with a teaspoon or two of start in a letter. An easy way to share starts.

#16 Dr. Wood recomends the following steps for activating dried sourdough cultures:
Mix a couple of teaspoons of the dried powder with 1/2 cup of water at 95 to 100 deg F. Mix briefly and let stand for 15 min. Add 1/3 cup of white bread flour, mix well and proof for 24 hours at 85 deg. F.

(My start needs 12 hours.) "The jar lid should not be tightened. During the first 12 hours the culture should be stirred once or twice as convenient.

"At the end of 24 hours the culture should start to bubble but the time varies depending on which culture is to be activated. Regardless, add an additional 1/2 cup of 85 deg. F. water and 1/2 cup of flour.

Then stir vigorously to whip some air into the mixture.

Return it to your warm place for 12 hours. When the culture has a layer of foamy bubbles on the surface, it is ready to use.

Some of the cultures will fully activate in 24-48 hours, but some may require 3 to 5 days. During this time, keep the culture at 85 deg. F., add water and flour at about 12 hour intervals and stir sheet sent with culture sample from Sourdoughs International.)