Feeding your Sourdough Starter

Those who came to our DIY Bacon and Pancetta event will be lucky recipients of some sourdough starter I have been raising.  Below, I describe the process for feeding your starter so you can make some really awesome bread.

Equipment and products needed

• kitchen scale
• see-through container to hold the starter (like a mason jar or gladware container) which is at least twice the size of the volume of starter you have
• second container to weigh/measure the starter food
• bag of whole wheat flour
• bag of bread flour
• water filter (like Brita) or purifed water

Process

• Select a consistent time each day to feed your starter.  I feed mine each morning before leaving for work. 
• Prepare a container with a mix of 1/2 (by weight) bread flour, and 1/2 whole wheat flour (because this is the mix in the starter I gave you.  You can use plain all purpose flour if you like, it won't hurt anything. It just will have a slightly different taste).  This mix will be the food for your starter, and preparing it ahead will save time.  I mix up about 500- 800 grams at a time and store it in a sealed container.
• Each day:
• Take a clean container, set it on your scale, and tare the scale (set the weight to "0"). 
• Scoop out half of the bubbly starter into the container and weigh it
• Divide the weight in half and note the value.  For example, it may weigh 200 grams total weight; this divided in half is 100 grams
• Throw the starter you've scooped out away (or give it to a friend), wipe out the container, set it back on the scale and re-tare the scale to "0".
• Add in your flour food until you reach the desired weight (100 grams in this case)
• Slowly add in purified water (which has chlorine, bromide, & flouride filtered out) until the scale registers the total weight you had originally removed (200 grams in this case). You will have effectively added 100 grams of water to the 100 grams of flour food you'd already weighed out. 
• Stir this together into a paste
• Add it back into your remaining starter, and stir to combine
• Cover your starter and let it rest until the next day

If you are not going to be able to feed your starter for a few days (due to travel or whatever), you can place the container in the refrigerator and then resume your feeding when you return.  

Finishing and using the starter

Refer to these excellent podcasts for how to determine when the starter is ready to use, how to trouble shoot if it starts to smell off or act strangely, and how to bake your bread using the starter.

How to make a Sourdough Starter:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F86r7ByDFM

How to make a Basic Loaf of Sourdough Bread:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfWcs2k7oQ4