Having killed off many sourdough starters, mainly through neglect and being too busy, I think I have learned the hard way that the best thing to do is to feed the starter a little but often – twice a day and to keep a close eye on the bubbles, the texture and the smell.
Here is how I made this glorious starter bursting with life without measuring a thing although I have given some nice references and sites as sourdough is after all where we can all access our inner biochemistry nerd
Ingredients
Normally I would make my starter from the following:
1 tablespoon of organic white flour
1 tablespoon of organic rye flour
1 tablespoon of organic live yoghurt
water to make a loose paste
some raisins or if in season unwashed grapes
but this time I had some much treasured 100 year old starter from my friend Lone from Denmark so I added two teaspoons
How To
For a couple of days I fed the starter morning and evening with two tablespoons of the flours and enough water to keep the mix to a thick paste, in a bowl, uncovered at room temperature. By days three and four I increased the amount of flour to 100g and again enough water. By now the paste becomes a healthy bubbling “sponge” before each feeding and has a healthy beery smell. I sieve it to take out the raisins and whole grains from Lone’s starter.
It is ready to use.
Great References
https://www.hobbshousebakery.co.uk/blogs/recipes/henrys-sourdough
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/nov/27/sourdough-recipe-dan-lepard