Let's Talk Starter...

Yes, let's. Starter... it is alive, it is your friend, and you do have to take care of it like it is your pet. I mean not in the way that you need to walk it, snuggle it (unless you're into that kind of thing), or name it, although naming it is kind of fun. But, you do have to feed it every day or at least once a week, make sure it is relatively clean, and give it a nice home.

Starter can be overwhelming to any beginner, but I can assure you, it's easy AND fun. I actually have three starters. I make quite a bit of sourdough, sometimes multiple loaves in a day, so I need a lot of starter. I also have a hard time throwing out the starter discard, so for awhile I had like five different starters, which I can tell you is way too many to keep up with. I mean I could go on an on about the ins and outs of starter, but why don't I just give you a few tips, because if this somewhat newbie can do it, you can too!

---

Grab a jar, but not any old jar (okay, well maybe any old jar). I like a large wide mouth jar, much like the one here. However, any large glass jar would do. Mine is actually a jar my mother-in-law gave us, but it's the perfect size, it was free, and it has a nice big opening, so I love it! Once you have a jar, you are just going to put equal amounts of flour and water in it. You want a little sourdough secret? Buy a kitchen scale. You guys, I never knew what I was missing until I had this dang kitchen scale! I love this thing so much, and it has changed my life, or at least my cooking life. If you don't have a kitchen scale, you can make it work; however, I highly recommend anyone wanting to make sourdough to grab yourself one.

As I was saying, you are going to put equal parts water and flour in your wide mouth large jar. I use 120 grams of unbleached flour and 120 grams of water which is about 1 cup of flour to 1/2 cup of water. My favorite flour is King Arthur's unbleached all purpose flour, but really any unbleached flour would do. Mix it together, but only until it looks like oatmeal, kind of lumpy and thick, but you don't see flour on top. Then let it sit.

The first 24 hours, you won't see a whole lot going on. It might get a few bubbles, but for the most part, you are going to think you did something wrong, get mad at me for my stupid directions and want to throw it out. Don't do this!!! After about 24 hours, you are going to dump half the starter out. Yes, you read that right. You are going to sadly take half of that starter, and get rid of it. Then you are going to do the same thing you did the day before. Add 120 grams of flour and 120 grams of water and stir it up until it looks like oatmeal. Then let it sit somewhere NOT cold (for right now anyway).

You will do this for the next week. Pour half out, add more in, stir and let it sit. But watch it! As the days go on, you will notice more and more bubbles appear in the starter. It will start to smell sour, kind of like beer hops. You'll see it rise more and more each day, and yes each day you will cry when you are dumping half of that starter out, but alas it's a must (I will share some starter discard recipes later so all that starter doesn't just go to waste).

After about a week, you're starter should be well on its way. When your starter is doubling in size every day, you are ready to start baking, which is the really fun part! Also, you can start to only feed your starter once a week, by feeding it at room temperature, placing it in the fridge, and letting it sit for the next week. And yes, when you are ready to bake with your fridge starter, you'll simply take it out, discard half the starter, feed it, and watch it grow!

You can name your starter or have your kids name your starter, or have your friends name your starter. Once you have good starter, you can also share with anyone and everyone, so they can have starter too! Have fun with your new pet, take care of it, and love it, and you will have starter for days, months, and yes, years.