Easy Sourdough Starter Recipes

Steps:

• To start your culture, mix 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup of warm water, a half teaspoon of rapid-rise yeast, and an opened pro-biotic capsule until smooth. (You can get pro-biotics capsules at any health food store near the vitamin section. Alternatively, you could add some active culture yogurt.)
• Loosely cover the jar with the lid... (this keeps the bugs out and allows the wild yeast to enter). (It is VERY important to not put the lid on tightly since great pressure would build and cause the jar to explode.).
• Stir regularly. When the mixture has sponged up, stir down. Starter can be used after the sponge has risen and fallen three times (one or two days). Best taste is after the Hooch has formed and this will be in 3 to 5 days.
• Additional Starter. If you need more starter, then after a day or so... add flour/water in the ratio of ½ cup of flour to 1/3 cup of water.
• Take some, leave some. When you are ready to bake, pour out what you need and replace it in the ratio of 1/2 cup of flour to 1/3 cup of water.
• When you don't need it for a few days, store in the fridge. Feed it once a week. (At some point, you may need to throw some away if you are not making a lot of bread.) If you are going to be on vacation, freeze it.
• When you need starter again... take it out a day or so early, feed it... and it will be ready to use on your baking day.

Steps:

• In large non-metallic bowl, mix together dry yeast, 2 cups warm water, and 2 cups all purpose flour and cover loosely.
• Leave in a warm place to ferment, 4 to 8 days. Depending on temperature and humidity of kitchen, times may vary. Place on cookie sheet in case of overflow. Check on occasionally.
• When mixture is bubbly and has a pleasant sour smell, it is ready to use. If mixture has a pink, orange, or any other strange color tinge to it, THROW IT OUT! and start over. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered until ready to bake.
• When you use starter to bake, always replace with equal amounts of a flour and water mixture with a pinch of sugar. So, if you remove 1 cup starter, replace with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour. Mix well and leave out on the counter until bubbly again, then refrigerate. If a clear to light brown liquid has accumulated on top, don't worry, this is an alcohol base liquid that occurs with fermentation. Just stir this back into the starter, the alcohol bakes off and that wonderful sourdough flavor remains! Sourdough starters improve with age, they used to be passed down generation to generation!
• Use this starter to make the Sourdough Chocolate Cranberry Cake, and the Sourdough Chocolate Cake.

Steps:

• Day 1:To begin your starter, mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water in a jar or, better still, a plastic container. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, semi-uncovered, at room temperature for 24 hrs.
• Day 2:Mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water and stir into yesterday's mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, semi-uncovered, at room temperature for another 24 hrs.
• Day 3:Mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water and stir into yesterday's mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, semi-uncovered, at room temperature for another 24 hrs.
• Day 4:You should start to see some activity in the mixture now; there should be some bubbles forming and bubbling on top. Mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water and stir into yesterday's mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, semi-uncovered, at room temperature for another 24 hrs.
• Day 5:The mixture should be very active now and ready for making your levain (starter). If it's not bubbling, continue to feed it on a daily basis until it does. When it's ready, it should smell like yogurt.
• You now have a starter, which is the base to the bread. You'll need to look after it, but naming is optional! Keep it in the fridge (it will stay dormant) and 24 hrs before you want to use it, pour half of it off and feed it with 100g flour and 100g water. Leave it at room temperature and it should become active again. The longer the starter has been dormant, the more times it will need to be refreshed - the process of pouring off half the starter and replacing it with new flour and water - to reactivate. If your starter is ready to use, a teaspoonful of the mixture should float in warm water.The starter can now be used to make white sourdough bread.