Sourdough Starter

By Luci Phillips

One of life's simple pleasures is #Sourdough bread. It is a simple and wholesome way to consume wheat. For those of us with #Mixed connective tissue disorder and lupus bread can cause flare ups. I have made sourdough bread for a long time. The sourdough bread is mentioned in #Bill Shindler's book called #Eat Like a Human. If you haven't already checked this book out you should. It gives sound advice about how our ancestors ate. It also tells you why you should be focusing on eating sourdough bread, meat, and what vegetables are good for you. I read the book and am planning on using the information in this book. Back to sourdough bread. What we are doing on this article is giving the recipe for the actual sourdough starter. You will be feeding it each day and it can last decades that way. The following is a nourishing recipe. I know that you will love it!

Sourdough Starter

Day 1: Starting in the morning or evening get a wide mouth jar, putting ingredients into a glass measuring cup, mix , 1 cup of whole grain flour and 1/2 cup of filtered water. Mix it well. It should be like a thick paste. If you need to add a little more water to incorporate the flour. Place a lid on the jar. Leave the mixture on the counter for 24-48 hours. It should be around 70 degrees in the room where it is stored.

Day 2: After the first 48 hours you should see some bubbling, discard all but 1/2 cup of the starter. Add to the starter 1 cup of bread flour spooned and leveled, and 1/2 cup of the water. Mix well and cover and allow it to sit 24 hours.

Day 3: By the third day, you should see some bubbling. Depending on how warm your house is and how you feed your starter you may have to begin feeding in the morning and the night. When you see it sinking or looking liquidy.

Day 4: Feed 1-2 times, discarding all but 1/2 cup of starter each time. Feed 1 cup bread flour, 1/2 cup of water.

Day 5: feed again, 1-2 times, roughly 12 hours apart, discarding all but a 1/2 cup starter each time. 1 cup bread flour, 1/2 cup water.

Day 6: Baking day. Give it one last feeding in the morning. Discard all but a 1/3 cup. Add 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup water, place in a clean jar so you can see the action better. You can place a rubber band around the jar to mark the beginning level. The starter should double in volume within 4-6 hours of feeding. To test the starter place a teaspoon of starter in a glass of water and it should float.

Day 6 evening: Use 1/3 cup to make bread and place the remaining starter in the refrigerator, and feed it at least once a week, mixing in any liquid at the top, reserving 1/2 cup starter before feeding it the usual 1 cup bread flour, 1/2 cup water.