Sour Dough Starter
Sour Dough Starter
This is the base for most of my breads. It gives a rich, complex flavor without having to invest a lot of time after the initial making of the starter. Simply replace the amount of starter you use in your recipe with an equal amount of bread flour and water. Store it in the fridge. Bring to room temperature to use.
1 bunch of red or black grapes (the ones with most of the white powder on them (—can you say yeast?) wrapped in 2 layers of cheese cloth. (a really CLEAN leg from a pair of pantyhose will work, too)
2 cups of bread flour
1 ¾ c of warm (around 105F) water
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Mix the water and flour—it can be lumpy—into a medium large bowl
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Put the grape over the bowl and light crush them until the juice starts to run into the bowl. Drop the wrapped grapes into the bowl. Leave the bowl alone until the flour/water mix starts to bubble. Usually takes 24-48 hours. Remove the grapes. Add ½ cup of flour and ½ c of warm water. Light cover the bowl with more cheese cloth (or a thin kitchen towel) and let ferment another 24 hours. The smell of the mixture should be yeasty and a little sweet. Sour is BAD. Start over.
At this point, you can use the starter for the bread recipes. The older the starter, the more complex the flavor.
Makes about 3 1/2 cups of starter
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