Sour Dough Starter (or learning to feed and care for your mother)

After making a few batches of No Knead bread, I want to venture out to something more adventurous. I set my focus on Sour Dough.

First I would need a starter. You could just buy a starter. Google 'sourdough starter' and you can find many store willing to sell you one.  You can even get a free sourdough starter that can trace its roots to 1847 by just sending them a self addressed stamped envelope ( I will be trying this soon).  But I decided to make my own.

 After a little research I settled on King Arthur Flour's method involving:
2 Cups of Flour
1 Cup of water
1 tablespoon of sugar

Mix all the ingredients in a large sterilized jar and cover with a clean cloth.

      
I used an olive jar I picked up at a bar and I sterilized it in boiling water.   This jar worked alright, something with a wider mouth would have been better for stirring though.

In a couple of days it should start bubbling and smelling sour.After 3-4 days if it isn't bubbling and smelling sour or starts to mold, throw it away and try again. If it is bubbling and smells sour and yeasty, put it into a container to refrigerate.

  Caring for your sourdough starter is easy. Just feed her by stirring in about 50% of her volume a 2 to 1 ratio of flour and water every two weeks.Then put back in the refrigerator.  If the container gets too full offer some to your friends and neighbors or just throw some away.


My mother after her most recent feeding.