Sourdough starter

Sourdough starter

This recipe is adopted from Lauren Groveman’s I Love to Cook Book 

This sourdough starter appears in Lauren’s recipe for Pane di Casa.. 

Ingredients 

2 c. warm water
1 teaspoon, plus a little of mild honey
2 TBSP yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, honey and yeast. 

When the yeast is dissolved and bubbly, stir in 2 c. flour until smooth. 

Add the rest of the flour 1/2 c. at a time, stirring until well-mixed each time. 

Cover the bowl securely with plastic wrap and let it sit. It will initially balloon up HUGELY, and then settle down. (Once it settled, I transferred it to a plastic ice cream bucket and put the lid on.) 

Let it sit and ferment for 4 days in a warm spot.

After 4 days, uncover the mixture and stir well. 

You can either store it in the refrigerator, in which case you have to “feed” it once a week, or 

on your counter, in which case, you feed it every day.

To feed the starter, take out 1 cup (after stirring it well) and either discard it or use it in a recipe. Then add 1 c. each of warm water and flour. Mix well and cover again. Note that, since you are removing 1 c. and adding 2 c. each time, the starter does grow gradually. I periodically take out more than 1 cup.