Sourdough, the adventure

I'm not sure really when, or why, I stumbled across this recipe -- but I found myself reading it...

  Rustic Sourdough bread, from King Arthur Flour

I've been making pizza dough for a while, and reading the ingredients -- flour, water, salt, some yeast -- seemed pretty straightforward...   and then there was one more ingredient.

 the starter

 The fine print on the recipe, " Don’t have any starter? Here’s a recipe for  homemade sourdough starter . If you're making it from scratch, you'll need to feed it for 5 to 7 days before it’s ready for baking. " And so, the adventure begins...

I started this back in January, my love of bread (and salad) goes back many years--   at the time, there was no flour shortage or group of home bakers stuck at home..   The building of the starter process I've only done once, so I don't have much advice other than what I've read -- but if you have a friend or a bakery nearby -- that may be the way to go to get you started faster and wasting less flour...

I keep a small starter in the fridge -- its usually about 20-40grams, it really doesnt matter on the size, and honestly I feel like smaller takes up less fridge space and wastes less (that being said, I rarely toss starter discard). 

The process, is weekly, take it out and leave it out for 12ish hours, weigh it, and if you want to double the volume of it a few times before baking, add in equal parts starter/flour/warm-water.  A whole wheat or hearty flour usually works best.  My typical bread recipe calls for 200g's of starter, and I usually like a bit extra to put back in the fridge...

When its time to 'discard' starter, I just put it in another jar for Discard Recipes (waffles/crackers are my goto). 

 the ingredients

1. flour (any, but a hearty fresh flour best or blended with all-purpose)
2. water (warm, unchlorinated)
3. salt (I have been using sea-salt)

 the tools

kitchen scale

wooden spoon / glass jars

bowls