Sourdough Part 1

I saw a posting about sourdough and first I need to make sourdough starter. Recipe is from Lauren Groveman’s I Love to Cook Book. This sourdough starter appears in Lauren’s recipe for Pane di Casa.

2 c. warm water
1 teaspoon, plus a little of mild honey
2 TBSP yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, honey and yeast. When the yeast is dissolved and bubbly, stir in 2 c. flour until smooth. Add the rest of the flour 1/2 c. at a time, stirring until well-mixed each time. Cover the bowl securely with plastic wrap and let it sit. It will initially balloon up HUGELY, and then settle down. (Once it settled, I transferred it to a plastic ice cream bucket and put the lid on.) Let it sit and ferment for 4 days in a warm spot.

First 15 minutes, it looked like this.

After about an hour it doubled. I'm sure it takes less time, but I just was checking in sporadically.

Eww.

Now it sits on the counter for 4-5 days! This can the starter that keeps on living as long as I feed it.