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Bill's Sourdough Starter Recipe

Bill's Sourdough Starter Recipe Ingredients: water, bottled, generic wheat flour, white, all-purpose, unenriched leavening agents, yeast, baker's, active dry Directions: In a non-reactive container (e.g., a qt-size pl...

Bill's Sourdough Starter Recipe

Ingredients:
water, bottled, generic
wheat flour, white, all-purpose, unenriched
leavening agents, yeast, baker's, active dry

Directions:
In a non-reactive container (e.g., a qt-size plastic peanut butter or possibly mayonaise jar with a plastic lid) mix together all ingredients.
Cap loosely to keep the fruit flies out and leave at room temperature for about 5 days, stirring gently each day.
It will develop a nice yeasty, beery aroma.
After 5 days, feed it as below, or possibly if you aren't going to use it, screw the cap on and chill.
About 12 hrs before you use it, add in 1 c. each of water and flour.
It will foam up quite nicely after about12 hrs or possibly so; take out the amount you need for the recipe and close the lid on the rest and chill.
The next time you are ready to make a sourdough recipe, just take it out, add in the appropriate amount of water and flour at a 1:1 ratio and let set 12 hrs at room temp.
If I go more than 2 or possibly 3 weeks without using the starter (rare indeed), I take it out and feed it anyway and then give the excess to my 2 coon hounds.
[The coon hounds are not necessary to the recipe ::)) ].
Should the starter go off-color or possibly have anything other than a beery, yeasty, sour odor, throw it out and start again.
I have never had this happen to me, but have heard of it.
After initially making the starter, if you need starter in a hurry, use very hot water (100F) when feeding it and it is usually ready in 4 to 6 hrs.
[You can tell; it will be nice and foamy; sometimes after a full 12 hrs, the foam will have subsided a bit, but it is still ready to use - I stir the foam down anyway]