In the days before yeast...
Illustration
In the days before yeast was available in foils packets at the supermarket, it had to be
captured and kept alive to be used time and again. These starters, as they are now called,
are a mixture of flour, water, wild yeasts, and bacteria. If they are "fed" regularly, they
can be kept alive forever. This is the process used to make modern-day sourdough
bread.
Start with a cup of warm water and a cup of flour. Mix it and put it in a non-metallic container with a loose fitting lid (it needs to breathe). Let it stand in a warm place (70º is perfect). Every 24 hours, feed the starter (throw one half of it away, then add one-half cup of water and flour and mix). Do this for three to four days, at which time you should notice a beery smell to the dough and see bubbles in it. Now refrigerate the mixture, again allowing it to breathe (a jar with a hole punched in the lid is great). Now it only needs to be fed once a week or so. If a dark liquid (hooch) forms, pour it off or mix it in - - it's up to you.
When you want to bake bread, simply pour your starter into a bowl, add a cup of warm water and a cup of flour and let it sit for several hours (proofing your dough). When it is frothy and bubbly (now called sponge), you are ready to bake sourdough bread. The leftover sponge is put back into the fridge for the next baking.
In this unique way, a bit of the starter is used again and again in bread. In a sense, the starter abides in each loaf of bread baked from it. It is a bit like Jesus abiding in us.
Start with a cup of warm water and a cup of flour. Mix it and put it in a non-metallic container with a loose fitting lid (it needs to breathe). Let it stand in a warm place (70º is perfect). Every 24 hours, feed the starter (throw one half of it away, then add one-half cup of water and flour and mix). Do this for three to four days, at which time you should notice a beery smell to the dough and see bubbles in it. Now refrigerate the mixture, again allowing it to breathe (a jar with a hole punched in the lid is great). Now it only needs to be fed once a week or so. If a dark liquid (hooch) forms, pour it off or mix it in - - it's up to you.
When you want to bake bread, simply pour your starter into a bowl, add a cup of warm water and a cup of flour and let it sit for several hours (proofing your dough). When it is frothy and bubbly (now called sponge), you are ready to bake sourdough bread. The leftover sponge is put back into the fridge for the next baking.
In this unique way, a bit of the starter is used again and again in bread. In a sense, the starter abides in each loaf of bread baked from it. It is a bit like Jesus abiding in us.
