Sourdough Starter

Active sourdough starter, made from wholemeal wheat and filtered water.

Ingredients

• Good (e.g., organic, stoneground) wholemeal flour (wheat or rye)
• Good (e.g, filtered) water

Method

To make new sourdough starter, mix equal quantities by weight of flour and water. 200g total is probably a good amount. Store in a non-metal container with a loosely fitted lid (to avoid explosion) at room temperature (18C - 25C). Each day, feed the starter: discard half the mixture and add equals parts flour and water to regain the original weight. The starter is ready when it doubles in size in about 6-8 hours. This should take about a week.

If stored at room temperature, the start culture should be fed daily. It can be kept in the fridge without feeding (maybe for 10 days?).

To avoid having to seed a new sourdough culture, keep a little starter left over when baking bread, and add equal parts flour and water to make 200g again.

Source

• Yoke Mardewi-Caddy (http://www.wildsourdough.com.au)
• Various internet sources
• My own experimentation