Sourdough Starter; Not as Hard as I Thought!

 Throughout my 30 some odd years of running my own household, despite taking on challenges of bread making, canning, etc; one thing always struck fear into my heart: The dreaded sourdough starter.   I'd tried a few times and they all died.  Just like those that say they have a black thumb, I stopped trying so as not to become a serial starter killer.  I'd resigned myself to always needing store bought yeast and baking powder to have a successful result.  

BUT!  All is not lost!  My wonderful niece in Tennessee gifted me some of her starter.  Her starter had come from someone else's, and so on and so forth all the way back to Italy centuries ago.  It was a really strong starter.  Surely I couldn't kill that!  Yea.  Not so fast.  I did!  Mrs. Ox, if you're reading this, don't hate me!  Totally not my fault!  I kept it going for a while.  So much so that I needed to take a rest from the starter.  I checked online and it said you can freeze sourdough starter.  So I did.  Problem is when I took it out it was weak!  

I fed it and worked with it and finally got it back to okay, but it wasn't the original starter.  It never was right again(Sigh).  So the bad news is that starter has gone to that big crock in the sky.  Fortunately, my niece still has hers so it goes on through the next century.  The one thing good that came out of this experience was the feeling that I could, maybe, just maybe start my own starter!  So I did.  Apparently I had learned enough in keeping him alive( yes, he was a guy; Ceasar.  Et Tu Brutes?) to begin again.  I say ALLLLLL this to share how and also the fact that sourdough doesn't have to be scary!  Let me save you from that worry at least. 

 

So here goes!  

1.  First off, I didn't want to have to buy distilled water to do this.  With having city water, I'd need to do that first.  Or do I?  I'm into saving money and convenience.  So since I didn't want to buy water, my first step was to fill a glass jar ( any size with a lid, but even that is optional. Plastic wrap is an option as well) with water from the tap.  Sit the lid on top or loosely cover with wrap.  Let sit out on the counter overnight.  This allows chlorine to dissipate from city water treatment.  This water can be used anywhere distilled or filtered water is called for.  

2.  The next morning, measure out the flour.  Doesn't have to be much; about a half cup or so.  Put the flour in another glass jar or crock( not the one with water).  A quart size mason jar is a good choice.

3.  Add the "distilled" water to the flour you just measured out.  Add enough water to make a batter about the consistency of pancake batter.  Start with a little water and add more as necessary.  It just needs to be the consistency of pancake batter.  

4.  Cover loosely with either a lid, wrap, or towel. 

5.   Let it sit on the counter about 12 hours.  I've always heard 24, but it stays warm in my house during the summer.  As a result the yeast forming is very active and needs food.  When it stops bubbling, I feed it again.  In colder months this will be longer.

6.  TO FEED IT:  You don't have to discard starter to feed it again, but realize you will need to add enough flour and distilled water to match the amount of starter you have already in the jar.  If you don't want to discard, I suggest moving your starter to a bigger glass container or crock.  If you do plan to discard, I have some easy recipes to use the discard.  Discard or not, to feed the starter simply add enough flour and water to match the amount in the container and keep it about the consistency of pancake batter.  Repeat this process for a few days until your starter is good and strong.  You will at some point have to discard and use it, but see below for two things to do that aren't bread.  They are very good, and easy.  

7.  DON'T USE METAL.  It reacts for some reason to the starter.  Keep it glass or a crock.  

8.  If you don't want to have to use/ feed it daily, you can put it in the fridge for up to a week between feedings.  

USES FOR DISCARD

1.  Sourdough Pizza.  Easy!  Put cast iron pan in a cold oven.  Preheat to 375 degrees.  Once your oven is preheated so is the pan.  Remove the pan and pour in a little olive oil.  Spread it around to coat the pan.  Pour about 1 cup of sourdough starter into an 8-9 inch cast iron pan.  Use a fork to help spread it if needed, but sometimes you can just angle the pan to spread it around.  Top it with a little salt.  Put it back into the oven to bake.  It won't take long, maybe 10 minutes.  Prebake it until it's no longer shiny.  Remove from oven.  Top it with whatever toppings you want and put back into the oven to bake as usual

2.  Sourdough crackers -  1 cup flour, 3 TBS olive oil( or oil of choice), 1 tsp salt, 1 cup of starter.  Mix all together.  Put in the fridge a few hours.  Roll out as thin as you can.  I use silicone baking mats to roll mine out and then pick up the mat and put it on my cookie sheet.  So much easier this way.  Cut the crackers before baking.  Salt the tops and roll the rolling pin over lightly to press the salt in.  Bake 350 for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.   I've varied these a lot.  I've added  Tbs of my homemade spaghetti sauce mix to the crackers instead of salt.  I've used cornmeal instead of the cup of flour to make a tortilla chip substitute.  I've used coconut oil(in place of olive oil), 1/3 cup of sugar, and a tsp of cinnamon to this recipe then made graham crackers.  Just use your imagination.  

I'm still learning about all t his, so any tips or trick would be appreciated.  Please comment below!  What works for you?