Uncle Jacks Sourdough Starter Recipes

Steps:

• To make your own starter, mix flour, sugar, salt and vinegar in enough warm water to make a creamy batter. Leave it in a warm place for four days to a week until it begins to sour, or "work." If it is ready, it should have bubbles on top. Pour some in a dish and mix a dash of soda with it if it is active and ready to use, it will respond like hotcake batter. (Batter should rise to about double, looks kind of like meringue).Sourdough "works" because of a culture similar to yogurt. It forms an acid which will attack most metal containers and could poison you, so keep your starter in glass, crockery, or plastic. Stainless steel is OK for mixing batter, but it's not best to leave it in that, or even in a fruit jar with a regular ring and lid. It is imperative to never use any metal pot or metal spoon with sourdough EXCEPT stainless steel, as it causes a chemical reaction. A wooden or plastic spoon is a good idea to go with the sourdough pot. Gas bubbles (carbon dioxide) are released as the starter "works," so don't close the lid too tight!Sourdough rises because of the gas bubbles, same as bread dough with yeast. The baking soda you add to the batter causes a rapid reaction with the acid in the starter to make the light hotcakes, and also, neutralizes the acid taste. There is no reason for sourdough to taste sour. A slight soda taste is OK, but if you get too much, it makes the bread look yellowish. When you plan to use your starter, take it out of the refrigerator the previous evening and mix flour and water with it to batter consistency. Let it set out overnight to work. Then you take out as much as you will need for the day, but be sure there is a cup or more left, and put it back into the refrigerator. If you forget it and it molds on top, simply get two or three tablespoons of clean batter from the bottom of the crock and mix with new flour and water. Never add anything to the starter but flour and water. No yeast, no leftover batter, no potato water or any of the other stuff you hear about. A slightly lumpy starter will work itself out overnight, so it's better to leave it that way than way too thin. A Back Country Guide to Outdoor Cooking Spiced with Tall Tales - Bread in Camp

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.