SOURDOUGH STARTER

Bon Appétit

BREADS AND MUFFINS

*RECIPE NAME:*	SOURDOUGH STARTER
*RECIPE BY:*	BON APPETIT!
*SERVING SIZE:*	-
*PREPARATION TIME:*	-

Sourdough gets its leavening or rising power from natural bacteria in milk products which have been allowed to sour in a controlled manner. Once you have made starter, which is the basis for sourdough breads and muffins, you can keep it in the refrigerator and replenish it as directed every couple of weeks (or store it in the freezer for several months). Each time you use some of the starter, you replace the amount used with equal amounts of warm milk and flour. This reactivates natural bacteria in the starter, and after a few hours the starter becomes bubbly again.

The bacteria which you want in your starter mixture comes from those present in yogurt, (either low-fat or plain unflavored commercial yogurt). By stirring in some yogurt, you "seed" the starter with desirable bacteria, which from then on, are always present. These bacteria give the sourdough recipe its characteristic sour and tangy flavor, and also make dough rise.

Your attempts at making sourdough starter may not always work. If not, try again. Once you are successful, starter can be used and replenished for years. Use the same type of milk for each replenishing and starter will not change flavor. Use either skim, low-fat or whole milk to begin your recipe. Each gives the recipe a characteristic taste. If you started with skim and later replenish with whole milk, the flavor of your sourdough starter and your muffins will be altered.

To make your first batch of starter, you will need a 1 quart container. This can be a stainless steel, glass or glazed pottery.
Rigid plastic containers are also suitable.
Begin by rinsing container under the hottest available water for several minutes. The fermentation will take place in this container.

In a small pot or saucepan, heat 1 cup milk to 90F to 100F using a thermometer in the milk to be precise.
Do not allow milk to get any hotter than this, or the desirable bacteria will be killed.
Remove milk from heat and stir in 3 tablespoons of yogurt as specified above.
Pour milk/yogurt mixture into warm container in which you will store starter.
Cover it tightly and set it aside to stand in a warm place, with a temperature of 80F to 100F. (Some places to maintain this temperature: on top of your hot water heater, on top of your refrigerator or on a gas stove burner near but not over pilot light).

You can also place starter in an electric oven, if you don't have any of the above places available. Carefully follow this procedure:

Move upper shelf of oven to a high level so that when starter container is placed on it, container will be 2" to 2 1/2" below oven light bulb. The light bulb should ot touch the top of the container, or the starter will get too hot and the bacteria will be killed.
Before placing the starter container in the oven to ferment, turn oven on to its lowest setting and allow the interior to become a bit warmer than room temperature.
Turn oven off.
Place starter container in the oven, directly in front of but no touching oven light, and turn light on.
Shut oven door, but leave ti slightly ajar, perhaps held open with a wooden spoon.

The starter container must be allowed to stand undisturbed for 18 to 24 hours. Then open container and see what has taken place. If your starter is successful, it will have formed curds or lumps on top and have the same consistency as yogurt. If you tilt the container, the starter should be stiff enough to hold it position. IF some clear liquid has risen to the top of the starter, stir it back in with a spoon.

If the starter liquid has changed to alight pink color, however, the milk has spoiled rather than soured. The starter should be discarded, the container again rinsed with very hot water, and the procedure begun again.

Once you get the desired curd and yogurt-like consistency in your starter, proceed to the next stage:

Slowly stir into starter 1 cup all-purpose flour.
Keep stirring until there are no lumps left from undissolved flour.
Cover container tightly, and set mixture aside again in a warm place 80F to 100F to continue fermentation, this time for 3 to 5 days.
Starter should be full of bubbles and take on a strong sour smell during this period.

When you check it, you may again note that some clear liquid has formed and risen to the top. If so, stir it back in. At this stage, it is also possible for the milk to break down and form a pink liquid. If this happens at the second stage, the mixture need not be entirely thrown away and begun again. (Don't be discouraged! A number of factors could account for the spoilage, such as excessive heat, overly cool storage conditions, presence of unfavorable bacteria in milk or yogurt, etc.).
Remember that once you have a good batch of starter it can keep being replenish for months or sometimes years.

If it has started to go pink at this second stage, discard all but 1/4 cup of starter and add in 1 cup of warm milk 90F to 100F. Also blend in 1 cup flour. Cover container tightly and set aside in a warm place again for a few days until it is bubbling actively and has a strong sour smell.

The starter can now be used immediately or it can be kept in the refrigerator. You can also freeze it for 1 1/2 to 2 months.

If you use starter immediately in a sourdough recipe, you do not use the entire batch. Always leave about 1/2 cup of starter in the container, to seed the next batch. Then stir in equal amounts of warm milk and flour. For instance if a particular recipe calls for 1 cup of starter to be added to other ingredients, then replenish your container with 1 cup warm milk, and 1 cup all-purpose flour. If a recipe calls for 1/2 cup sourdough starter, then replenish container with 1/2 cup warm milk and 1/2 cup flour. Milk and flour are mixed together first, then added to starter container.

After replenishing in this way, cover it tightly and let it sit in a warm spot for a few hours until bubbles again form in the mixture. The container can then be kept covered in refrigerator until the next time you bake. Allow starter to return to room temperature, for about 4 to 6 hours before you bake with it. Set container out the night before to warm up, if you prefer to bake in the morning.

If you use starter for frequent baking, it will stay active by replenishing with milk and flour as described above. If you do not bake regularly with starter, then to maintain its activity and sour taste, discard about 1/2 the starter from the container every 2 weeks, replenishing it with the proper mixture of new milk and flour.

If you choose to freeze starter, this should b done after it has been freshly "fed" with milk and flour mixture. This will commence activity. Then freeze starter, which slows fermentation, but allows it to continue for about 1 1/2 to 2 months.

To use frozen starter, remove it from the freezer at least 24 hours before baking, and set in a warm place until it again becomes filled with bubbles.

If you bake bread regularly, you will note a certain feel to the dough. Sourdough has a slightly different feel after kneading than most doughs made to rise with yeast. When you touch it lightly with one finger, it may adhere or have a slightly sticky feel. Do not add more flour to reduce this slight tackiness (which you would do with regular bread dough).

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