Basic Sourdough Starter Without Yeast Food

BASIC SOURDOUGH STARTER WITHOUT YEAST

Steps:

• Day 1: Combine a half cup of flour with a scant half cup of water. Stir vigorously to incorporate air. Cover with a breathable lid and allow to sit in a warm space for 12 hours. Repeat feeding with same quantities of flour and water.
• Days 2 & 3: Continue feeding starter as above at the same 12 hour intervals. By the third day a bit of life should show up. There should be bubbles. A sour smell will begin to be evident.
• Days 4, 5, & 6: Continue feeding starter as above, but discard all but 1/2 cup of the starter just before you feed it. (There are plenty of good uses for "discarded starter" in the Grains chapter of my book.) You should now see and smell signs of sourdough. More bubbles are forming, the starter is growing in volume in between feedings, etc.
• Day 7: Your starter should now be very airy when it hits its peak, 4-8 hours after a feed. Continue feeding as on days 4-6 and feel free to start baking! You have successfully made this easy sourdough recipe without yeast.
• Continue to feed once per day going forward, if the starter sits at room temperature and you wish to maintain an active starter for regular baking.
• Alternatively, if you won't be using the starter regularly, store it in the refrigerator and remove to bake with it as you need it. Just be sure to remove it 24 hours before mixing up your dough.
• To reactivate an inactive starter, remove it from the refrigerator, feed it with 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water, and allow to sit at room temperature. Maintain it as noted in step 5 above.

HOW TO MAKE A SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE WITHOUT YEAST

Steps:

• Day 1 - In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour and 1 cup water. Stir with a wooden spoon until mixed. Set on the counter at room temperature and cover with a clean kitchen towel.
• Day 2 - Exactly 24 hours after you made your sourdough starter recipe from scratch, remove half of the mixture from the bowl and set aside. This is your sourdough discard. Then feed your sourdough starter recipe for bread by adding 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of spring water. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Cover with a towel and let sit at room temperature.
• Day 3-5 - Every 24 hours, repeat the instructions from day 2. Remove half of the mixture and feed your sourdough starter recipe from scratch.
• Day 6-7 - Continue to discard half and add a cup of flour and a cup of water every 12 hours.
• Day 7 - Transfer your sourdough starter to an airtight container and place in the fridge. Feed it once a week to keep it going. You'll remove half of it each time you feed it.

NO YEAST? NO PROBLEM! HERE'S HOW TO MAKE SOURDOUGH BREAD STARTER WITHOUT YEAST

Steps:

• Basic Sourdough Starter Without Yeast Day 1: Combine a half cup of flour with a scant half cup of water. Stir vigorously to incorporate air. Cover with a breathable lid and allow to sit in a warm space for 12 hours. Repeat feeding with the same quantities of flour and water. Days 2 & 3: Continue feeding starter as above at the same 12-hour intervals. By the third day, a bit of life should show up. There should be bubbles. A sour smell will begin to be evident. Days 4, 5, & 6: Continue feeding starter as above, but discard all but ½ cup of the starter just before you feed it. You should now see and smell signs of sourdough. More bubbles are forming, the starter is growing in volume in between feedings, etc. Day 7: Your starter should now be very airy when it hits its peak, 4-8 hours after a feed. Continue feeding as on days 4-6 and feel free to start baking! You have successfully made this easy sourdough recipe without yeast. Continue to feed once per day going forward, if the starter sits at room temperature. You can also store it in a refrigerator and remove it to bake with it once per week. Just be sure to remove it 24 hours before mixing up your dough so you can feed it and let it come to room temperature.

YET ANOTHER SOURDOUGH STARTER (NO YEAST)

Steps:

• Mix thoroughly water, flour and molasses (or honey) in a covered plastic or glass jar.
• Place mixture in a warm draft-free area for several days.
• Each day stir, remove several Tablespoons of mixture and add several Tablespoons of flour and water.
• After yeast bubbles form, continue the process for 3 or 4 days. Starter is ready to use when bubbly and sour smelling. Mixture will be similar to pancake batter.
• Remove starter quantity for your recipe, store remainder in the refrigerator feeding weekly.

EASY SOURDOUGH STARTER

Steps:

• To start your culture, mix 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup of warm water, a half teaspoon of rapid-rise yeast, and an opened pro-biotic capsule until smooth. (You can get pro-biotics capsules at any health food store near the vitamin section. Alternatively, you could add some active culture yogurt.)
• Loosely cover the jar with the lid... (this keeps the bugs out and allows the wild yeast to enter). (It is VERY important to not put the lid on tightly since great pressure would build and cause the jar to explode.).
• Stir regularly. When the mixture has sponged up, stir down. Starter can be used after the sponge has risen and fallen three times (one or two days). Best taste is after the Hooch has formed and this will be in 3 to 5 days.
• Additional Starter. If you need more starter, then after a day or so... add flour/water in the ratio of ½ cup of flour to 1/3 cup of water.
• Take some, leave some. When you are ready to bake, pour out what you need and replace it in the ratio of 1/2 cup of flour to 1/3 cup of water.
• When you don't need it for a few days, store in the fridge. Feed it once a week. (At some point, you may need to throw some away if you are not making a lot of bread.) If you are going to be on vacation, freeze it.
• When you need starter again... take it out a day or so early, feed it... and it will be ready to use on your baking day.

SOURDOUGH STARTER ( NO YEAST KIND)

Steps:

• Take 1 cup skim milk, cover with a fabric cloth to keep dust out and set aside on the kitchen counter for 2 days until it smells sour.
• Then add 1 cup flour, stir mixture until blended and cover again. With in 2 days this mix will make bubbles and have a spongy look.
• If liquid has separated, stir it back into.
• mixture.
• If no bubbles show by the 5th day after putting out milk, throw out and start over.
• If you want to double the starter at this point you can add an additional 1 cup milk and 1 cup plain flour to the starter, then stir and set aside, loosely covered for a few more hours.
• Then refridgerate. You can bake bread with this at this point, but if a good sourdough flavor is desired, allow to mature in the refridgerator for another week.
• Can be used with my recipe for sour dough bread or any sour dough bread recipe.
• I would also like to mention that I have frozen this starter for as long as six months with good results and no need to feed it. Simply pour 1 cup of starter into a zip lock freezer bag and freeze. To use place on kitchen counter for a day to thaw and either use immediately or leave to foam for a few more hours.