Friday, January 09, 2009

sourdough starter - daily feeding

Feed your starter 3 times daily as follows:

1. Reserve 1/2 cup of your starter; pour the rest in the garbage
2. To the reserved starter, add 1 cup flour and 1 cup water. Mix to just combined (lumps are OK)
3. Cover tightly and store at room temperature.

Repeat steps 1-3 above 3 times a day: 8am, noon, and about 5pm.

3x per day is optimal, but if you can't manage that, then do 2x: once in the morning, and once in the evening.

After 3 days of feedings, starter will be ready to use in bread recipes. Best time to use starter (i.e., start your bread recipe) is in the morning, assuming you have been feeding it for at least 3 days, and fed it the night before. Starting in the evening will work fine too, just adjust your schedule as necessary.

If you can't feed it for a few days, put it in the fridge. You can keep it there, without feeding, for up to 2 weeks. When ready to bake again, take it out of the fridge, feed it for 3 days, and you're ready to bake again.

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