sourdough starter.

I went to America in 2005 and tried sourdough for the first time. Of the whole time we were there, sourdough was my very favourite thing.

It’s not hugely common to find sourdough in New Zealand, and when you do it’s not hugely legit. It’s certainly not as sour as the stuff I remember from the U.S.

So I thought, why not make my own? I know it requires a starter and I don’t care any more, though it’s put me off for a good six and a half years now.  I’ve my own kitchen and I’ll use it how I please!

 

So, here’s my starter (which is currently on the bench swelling up like crazy).

 

2 cups warm (not hot) water

2T yeast

1tsp honey

4 cups plain flour

 

Mix together the water, yeast and honey and leave it until the yeast is dissolved and the mixture is bubbling nicely. Then, whisk in 2 cups of the flour. When smooth, add the rest of the flour a half cup at a time until you have a thick batter that looks like bread dough. Yum!

Leave it on the bench for four days, then refrigerate and feed once a week. To feed, remove one cup of the dough and either discard or use in a recipe, and add one cup each of flour and water.

The water mixture ought to look like this before you add the flour. I could see mine bubbling.

Basically, the yeast keeps breeding – so all you need to add is the initial 2T. A lot of starter recipes don’t even use active yeast – they lure wild yeast in with the food they like (flour, water, honey, etc.). I wanted to have my starter ready faster, so used a yeasty recipe.

And, it smells absolutely divine. Apparently the longer you have the same starter, the sourer it gets – and the better the loaf you get. I can’t wait to try this. Hopefully it’ll be ready on Sunday.

The recipe comes from here: http://www.mysisterskitchenonline.com/2006/11/04/sourdough-starter/

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