Question about making your own sourdough starter (updated!)

[TheOtherVillainess]

Do you have to use bread flour or can you use AP flour? Because I love baking bread, but I hate having to pay for all those tiny packets of instant yeast. They are so EXPENSIVE!

**Update--It's almost 24 hrs later and I've checked on my starter. The flour seems to have settled to the bottom and the liquid is sort of a yellowish color. On top is a dense, foamy thing with lotsa bubbles that sticks to the back of a spoon when poked. The starter has taken on a slightly yeasty, sour smell and when I tasted it, it's very yeasty tasting. So I'm guessing I've got a decent wild yeast culture started. I'll be baking bread sometime this week, so I'll let ya'll know how that goes.**

TOV

 

[piratesmate]

When I used to make my own sourdough starter, I just used either all-purpose flour or even whole wheat. Or maybe I STARTED with the AP & then just added the WW when I fed it. I can't remember for sure. I just know that I've never bought bread flour in my life! LOL

When my sister gave me her bread machine, I couldn't stand the thought of buying those yeast packets...too expensive when you add up all the times I was baking! Have you looked at the jars of yeast? There's a bit of sticker shock when you first pick it up, but at least you're not buying it every week!

I love sourdough, but not for everything - you know? So I keep a jar of yeast around for my pizza dough & sweet breads, etc.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

That's what I want the yeast around for...I love to bake bread and make my own pizza dough. I looked at the jars of yeast and all I can say is YIKES they are expensive.

Alright..thanks for the info, piratesmate. Now to go find a large enough jar to start my starter in....

TOV

 

[bevtoy]

Would anyone have a sourdough starter recipe and bread recipe they are willing to post?

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

I got my recipe for my starter off the internet. It's basically one cup of flour, one teaspoon of sugar and a cup of water. Mix well, cover with either a paper towel or perforated plastic wrap (to allow the release of gasses), remove to a dark, warm place and let sit for 3 days. By the third day, you should know whether or not you've got yeast growing in there..it should smell sourish. Once you have a well developed colony, you can remove the whole mess to the fridge, where you can store it pretty much indefinately as long as you remember to feed your yeasty friends after each use.

Or at least that's what I found out anyway.

TOV

 

[Glynis]

I always use AP flour with my sourdough.

I have a really neat story behind my start. I got my sourdough start from my father's great aunt. She is now 103 years old. She got the start from her mother, and her mother got it from her mother who used it as she travelled in a covered wagon from Illinois to Utah in 1847.

We use ours a lot. We make bread, biscuits, hotcakes. So yummy! My kids prefer "sour bread" to regular.

We also recently purchased a start from a company in San Francisco, and it has a diferent taste to it. It's a lot more tangy. Both are really good!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Wow, that is really cool Glynis.

I checked on my starter again about 20 min ago and WOW. Those yeast are really comin' and gettin' their love, because holy SMOKE are they reproducing like mad. The foamy bit (which I assume is the yeast) has tripled in size since this morning and is bubbling away like mad. And the sour smell has increased.

So I guess my glass jar has turned into a Love Shack for yeast.

TOV

 

[Glynis]

And the longer you let it ferment, the more sour it will be!

One thing I was always taught is that you should never stir it with a metal spoon. Only wood, or in a pinch, plastic. Don't know why, but that's how my grandfather taught me, and he was a sourdough expert.

 

[bevtoy]

I got my recipe for my starter off the internet. It's basically one cup of flour, one teaspoon of sugar and a cup of water. Mix well, cover with either a paper towel or perforated plastic wrap (to allow the release of gasses), remove to a dark, warm place and let sit for 3 days. By the third day, you should know whether or not you've got yeast growing in there..it should smell sourish. Once you have a well developed colony, you can remove the whole mess to the fridge, where you can store it pretty much indefinately as long as you remember to feed your yeasty friends after each use.

Or at least that's what I found out anyway.

TOV

How do you feed it after each use?

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Add a cup of flour, cup of water and stir it in.

I decided I couldn't wait until later this week, so I attempted to make bread today. I guess I didn't use enough yeast (or the fact that I'm using self-rising flour is causing a problem) because my bread turned out very dense and chewy. Or maybe I beat too much air out of it when I attempted to knead it. Not really sure.

Maybe I'll try again later this week or next week and not knead it so much. Or use more yeast.

TOV

 

[tinkamom]

I just thought I'd let you know that Costco has a large (maybe 2 lbs!) bag of yeast for less than $3.00. My membership expired and when I went to buy yeast at the supermarket I was shocked at the price...$6.99 for a tiny jar! I need to renew my Costco membership or have someone who has one pick it up for me! They also have bread flour very cheap too!

 

[hlbtimes2]

I just thought I'd let you know that Costco has a large (maybe 2 lbs!) bag of yeast for less than $3.00. My membership expired and when I went to buy yeast at the supermarket I was shocked at the price...$6.99 for a tiny jar! I need to renew my Costco membership or have someone who has one pick it up for me! They also have bread flour very cheap too!

That is exactly what I was going to say. I get my yeast at Costco. Its super cheap.