CREATE THE STARTER
Before you begin this tutorial, click on the link shown above or visit Jan's Dough for your free Sourdough Starter Recipe (along with the free Sourdough Bread Recipe).
Assemble the ingredients. Select a plastic, glass, or crock container or bowl that will hold approximately 4 cups (liquid measure). This is to allow for the starter to "grow" overnight and not make a mess on your kitchen counter!
Start by combining one-half of all the ingredients in your bowl (but add in all of the yeast). Stir slowly. This will not mix perfectly, so just get the "big" lumps of flour stirred down into "little" lumps!
Add in the remaining half of the ingredients, and stir. This will not be a smooth, lump-free mixture. It is OK to have little lumps of flour---pea-sized or smaller.
Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Cover very loosely with plastic wrap or cheesecloth. If you are using a container that has a lid, it is OK to set the lid on top, but do not seal. The starter has to be able to breathe. For containers that have rubber gaskets, simply remove the rubber gasket.
Set the bowl on a large plate or a cookie sheet. Although it is unlikely that the starter will grow enough to spill out of a 4-cup bowl/container, it's better to take that precaution. From personal experience, starter that spills over its container is very messy to clean up!
Leave the starter out on the counter, overnight.
DO NOT REFRIGERATE at all during the create process (even if you are making this during warm months).
STIR THE STARTER
As you can see here, the top of the starter has "bubbled" a little. This means that the starter is beginning to activate (ferment).
Using a wooden (or plastic) spoon, gently stir down the starter.
If you look closely at this picture, the starter under the bubbly top is smoother (more liquidy). This is the beginning of starter hooch (which is nothing more than the alcohol produced by the fermenting milk).
Stir the starter, scrape the bowl, and cover loosely (see step 1-D).
Leave the starter out on the counter, overnight.
FEED THE CREATED STARTER FOR THE FIRST TIME
This is the first time you will feed the starter that you have created.
Assemble the "Create Feed" ingredients.
Stir down the starter (see step 2-B), and then pour starter into an empty 1/2 cup container.
Jan's Tip: Use Rubbermaid 1/2 cup plastic containers (Rubbermaid size 0 is on the bottom of the cup) to measure both the milk and the starter. I fill it to the line around the rim where the "flange" is on the outside, about 1/2 inch below the top.
Discard the remaining starter (I put it down the garbage disposal and run water for about 30 seconds to clear the thick, pasty flour through the disposal unit).
Wash and dry the bowl.
Pour the entire 1/2 cup of starter into the bowl.
Add 1/2 of the Create Feed ingredients, and stir gently until the flour lumps are pea-sized or smaller.
Then add the remaining ingredients, stir, and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Cover the bowl loosely with clean plastic wrap or cheesecloth.
Leave the starter out on the counter, overnight.
STIR THE STARTER
As you can see here, the top is more bubbly and "broken"---this means that the starter is continuing to activate.
Once again, as you begin to stir, you will notice that the starter beneath the bubbly surface is a little more liquidy.
Stir until the big lumps are gone, scrape down the sides, and cover loosely.
Leave the starter out on the counter, overnight.
By Day 5, the starter might be active enough to begin to actually separate (notice the dark line about midway in the starter). This means there is enough hooch so that the heavier flour-paste mixture settles to the bottom.
This is perfectly normal.
If your starter hasn't shown any signs of separating---don't worry. There are many elements that come into play, such as temperature, humidity, and if you bake other yeast-based recipes in your kitchen. Yeast fungus loves to stick to wallpaper and curtains---perfectly normal and you'd never know it unless you were allergic to yeast...and if you were, you wouldn't be creating this starter!
FEED THE CREATED STARTER FOR THE SECOND TIME
Assemble Create Feed ingredients.
Stir down the starter, remixing any hooch that has accumulated.
Pour starter into a 1/2 cup container. Discard the rest.
Wash and dry the bowl.
Follow the same process as steps 3-C through 3-E.
Cover loosely and allow to sit out on the kitchen counter overnight.
STIR THE STARTER
Same as steps 4-A through 4-C.
Cover loosely and allow to sit out on the kitchen counter overnight.
FEED THE CREATED STARTER FOR THE THIRD TIME
Assemble the Create Feed ingredients.
Measure out 1/2 cup starter, discard the rest, wash and dry the bowl, and return 1/2 cup starter to the clean bowl.
Follow the same process as steps 3-C through 3-E.
Cover loosely and allow to sit out on the kitchen counter overnight.
STIR DOWN THE STARTER.
Once again, you should have some hooch laying just under the bubbly surface of the starter.
Follow the steps 4-A through 4-C.
Cover loosely and allow to sit out on the kitchen counter overnight.
NOTE: If you don't have any hooch at all by this time, it is unlikely that you will get any. At this point, you will need to "jumpstart" the starter. Instead of proceeding to Day 9, go back to Day 5 and add 1/8 teaspoon of yeast to the Create Feed ingredients. Then proceed to Day 6, 7, and 8. You should have hooch now.
If you still don't have hooch, please email me and I will help you with other ideas for getting the starter to active.
If the starter has hooch, even if only a little, then proceed to Day 9.
YOU NOW HAVE ACTIVATED STARTER, AND YOU NEED TO FEED IT FOR THE FIRST TIME!
Assemble Standard Feed ingredients (which are double measures of Create Feed ingredients).
Stir down the starter, and measure 1 cup of starter (I use a 1-cup Rubbermaid container, with size 6 on the bottom of the cup, fill cup to the about 1/2 inch below the top of the container).
Discard what little starter remains, and wash and dry the bowl.
Pour 1 cup of starter into the bowl.
Add in 1/2 of all the feed ingredients and mix.
Then add the remaining half and mix until only very small lumps are left.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover loosely, and leave out on the counter overnight.
You now have fully activated starter! Notice that the starter has separated, showing a nice line of hooch.
Overnight the starter "grew" (during the fermentation of the feed ingredients) enough to bubble up to the plastic wrap and nearly up to the top of the bowl.
This is why you should always use a bowl that holds at least 4 cups. Once you start baking on a regular basis, and your kitchen gets "yeasty" you might need to go to an even larger container.
I use an old crock container that was once the "Sugar" part of a canister set (Flour, Sugar, Salt, Coffee/Tea).
The hooch may be yellowish. This is perfectly normal. Simply stir to remix the hooch with the pasty starter.
Now that you have a full batch of activated starter, you can use it to bake.
Put in the frig, and let it stay there all through Day #11 (do nothing, you don't even have to stir it).
On Day #12 (unfortunately the card in the picture says Day #11 in error), take the starter out of the frig, all to come to room temperature. Measure out 1 cup to bake a batch of bread, and 1 cup to feed. Discard the little that is left (probably about 1/4 cup).
Bake bread with the "Use to Bake" cup of starter. Go to Jan's Dough to get your free Sourdough Bread recipe.
Wash and dry the bowl. Return the "Feed" cup of starter to the bowl, and add in the Standard Feed ingredients. Refrigerate it. That batch of starter can be used for baking in two days. For example, if you feed and put the starter in the frig on a Monday, leave it in the frig on Tuesday, and then you can bake with that batch of starter on Wednesday.
For another illustrated tutorial for actually making the bread, go to:
Making Bread...it's easier than you think!