Sourdough Starter

Sourdough starter is an alternate to packaged yeast. It can provide better flavor and texture than commercial yeast for breads, pizza crusts, pancakes, etc. There are many methods for making your own starter, I'm describing one method here that I've had success with. It is relatively simple and creates a stable starter that you can keep (with proper maintenance) for years. It does, however, require time and patience to get it established.

Creating the starter

Ingredients:
1 cup white flour, unbleached, organic
3/4 cup water

Tools:
glass or ceramic bowls/containers
wood or plastic spoons (no metal)

Mix vigoriously (to capture air) in a large bowl, cover with a cloth, let stand at room temperature for about 12 hours. Add another cup of flour and 3/4 cup water, mix vigoriously, cover with a cloth, and repeat this every 12 hours for about a week. When the bowl gets a little over 1/2 full, dump about 1/2 of the mixture out just before adding more flour and water. If after a week it has developed a sour (not rotten) smell, and is very bubbly, then you have succeeded. If it doesn't seem 'active' - ie. develops bubbles or foam, keep repeating the process until it does. If it develops mold, the starter is bad and should be discarded. Wash everything and start over. This is pretty much all there is to it.

Many things you read say not to use metal containers or utensils with the starter, there is some issue with the acid of the starter interacting with the metal. I don't know if it is a problem for the utensils or the starter, but I just avoid metal.

What this process does is breed bacteria that like to eat flour. This is yeast. The bacteria comes from the air, from the environment in and around your kitchen. The flour mixture is bombarded with different kinds bacteria as it sits. The bacteria that responds best to the flour will prevail. I don't know all of the science behind the process, but what you end up with is a colony of different kinds of bacteria that like the flour, can maintain a balanced state, and can kill any 'bad' bacteria that will spoil the mixture. This is why it takes time, you are allowing a process to take place where different bacteria grow, fight each other, and the eventual outcome is the bacteria colony that survives best in this environment. The amount and types of bacteria available, the temperature, the humidity, etc, are all factors in this process, which is why it is somewhat unpredictable.

The mixture can develop "hooch", or a liquid that floats on top. This is OK, just mix it in when you add more flour and water.

The way you know if you have been successful is to make some bread. The final rise time will tell you if your yeast is active and stable enough. It should take no longer than 3 hours for the dough to double in size (on the final rise - recipes will follow). If it takes too long, you need to continue the above process until you have an active starter.

This flour/water ratio (1 cup flour to 3/4 cup water) produces a liquid starter, the consistency of thick pancake batter, that is about 48 percent flour and 52 percent water. Some starter methods create a thicker starters (lower percentage of water), and some produce thinner starters. You may have to adapt the amount of water in recipes that you find, depending on the consistency of the starter it was developed for. As you get experience with using the starter, this will become easy - you'll recognize dough that is either too wet or too dry.

If the starter seems overly active, even prior to the week time frame, you may have some 'bad' bacteria, or an unstable 'colony'. Sometimes before the bacteria colony stabilizes you have some overly active bacteria - which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it won't create a stable starter that will keep for a long period of time. If hooch develops quickly, or develops in the middle or bottom of the mixture (not floating on top), this can also indicate an unstable colony. To deal with this, go through the "Washing the starter" process described below. You may have to go through this multiple times. Don't get discouraged - just be patient. Once you the starter is properly established, it is very easy to maintain.

Long term storage and maintenance

Store the starter in a glass container with a loose fitting lid in your refrigerator. Never freeze it. Whenever you use it, add another 1 cup flour and 3/4 cup water to the container, mix vigorously and let it sit out at room temperature for about an hour before putting it back into the refrigerator. If you haven't used the starter for a few weeks, take it out and feed it with the flour/water mixture before returning it to the refrigerator. You may need to dump some of it out prior to feeding.

The starter will likely develop a brownish liquid that floats on top, called "hooch". This is normal - just mix it in before using the starter. Don't dump it out, as this will alter your moisture ratio of the starter.

Washing the starter

Sometimes the starter becomes 'unstable' - this can happen during the initial establishment period, but can happen any time. Unstable starter will either be overly active, to the point where it becomes foamy and expands very rapidly after feeding it, or will be inactive, where it won't cause a prepared loaf to rise to double its size within about 3 hours. The starter may also develop a bad smell, which indicates contaminants have overcome the desired bacteria. To deal with this, reserve 1 cup of the starter, dump everything else out, and wash the container. Then add 1 cup of flour and 3/4 cup water to the mixture, and start the 'creating the starter' process again. You may have to go through this process a few times - this is a way to encourage the good bacteria that really likes to eat flour to overtake the bad or unstable bacteria.

Type of flour

I've indicated using an organic, unbleached white flour in the starter. You can use any flour you like, however keep in mind that your starter culture will be created to prefer the type of flour that you use. So if you maintain your starter with the type of flour that you use most often, it should work best for you. I've read about people who have different starters for different types of flour, which for me is too complicated. Using a white flour starter in recipes for whole wheat, rye, and other flours seems to work OK.

Always use organic ingredients in your starter, so your chances of killing your good bacteria with unwanted chemicals in the flour are lessened.

Other ingredients

As mentioned earlier, there are many different methods for creating a dough starter. Here is a discussion of some other common methods, and why I've chosen to stick with this simple flour/water method:

• commercial packaged yeast: some starter recipes have you add fast acting yeast. This speeds up the process of creating a starter, however won't produce a starter that will stay consistent over a long period of time. Commercial yeast is developed to act quickly for a one-time use, but won't stabilize through multiple feeding cycles. Over time, the wild yeast (bacteria from your environment) will overtake the fast acting yeast and you'll end up with the same starter as if you never used the commercial yeast. There may be an unstable period as this process occurs, which is why I start with wild yeast from the beginning.

• other sourdough starters: you can purchase established yeast or starters to use yourself. As with the commercial yeast method, over time your local, wild yeast will most likely overtake the foreign yeast, and you'll likely end up with a starter of wild yeast.

* grapes: some recipes start with grapes. There is apparently a bacteria on organic grapes that can create a fairly fast acting yeast with good flavor. However, unless you constantly feed your starter with the grapes, it will transition to the local wild yeast starter, and possibly go through a period of instability as this happens. Also, a yeast the prefers grapes over flour will not likely result in the best starter for any bread recipe.

Its the same issue with other ingredients in the starter. Over the long term, you'll most likely end up with a starter consisting of your local, wild yeast from your local environment, no matter how you start the starter. Also, by keeping a colony of yeast that prefers just flour, this will work best as a general starter.

Flavor

I've found that the flavor of my starter is good, however isn't necessarily the flavor I associate with sourdough breads that are purchased. I've read about different methods for making breads with a more sour flavor, such as adding rye flour, adding citric acid, adding vitamin C, proofing the dough at cooler temperatures for longer periods of time, etc. I haven't tried these methods yet, but would love to hear if someone has.

Other information

There is so much information available on sourdough baking that it is overwhelming. At some point I'll post links to sites that I've found useful; also, I'd love to hear from people who have their own experience with sourdough baking.