Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Clean and stem:
24 large-ish cremini (button) mushrooms
Melt in a medium sauté pan over medium heat:
2...
Flour and water. That's all you'll need. Really.
I know, it's hard to have faith in just flour and water--those of us who bake bread have come to love the deus ex machina of instant yeast: its frothy upsurge and predictability. But wild yeasts are no slouches, and they are easily harnessed for bread making, as thousands of years of our ancestry would tell you.
Before we begin, however, I must issue a caveat. Do not be deterred when your starter does not become active immediately. In all likelihood, it will take at least a week for you to see consistent bubbling. This initial stage is the one that prevents most wild yeast hunters from ever making levain-raised bread. Your starter needs plenty of time to develop before you can use it. Have faith.
Also, it is fairly important in these early stages to feed your starter regularly. Later on, when you have a healthy, effervescent starter, you can play with the feeding times and even refrigerate or freeze your starter to retard its fermentation. Right now, though, you need to be present and watchful. Make notes if you have to. Set an alarm on your smart phone to help you remember.
At first, feeding the starter once a day is enough. Once active, depending on the season, you may need to feed your starter once or twice daily. During winter, when fermentation is slower, once a day should suffice. If your kitchen is very cold, you can probably get away with feeding it once every two days. During the summer, however, you may need to feed your starter twice daily. Don't let this variability scare or confuse you. Your starter will tell you what it needs if you pay attention to it.
For now, just focus on the daily feedings. Every day you will discard some of the starter before feeding. You can use this discarded starter in any breads (quick or otherwise) you may be making, or you can turn it into thin pancakes. Before the starter is active, these cast offs will not help to leaven the baked goods, but they will add a bit of flavor. Besides, if you're anything like me, throwing away ingredients seems wasteful, and I like to use every bit of starter that I can.
To add starter to regular bread recipes, just keep in mind that your starter is composed of equal parts water and flour. Thus, you need to subtract equal amounts of flour and liquid from the recipe. For instance, if you want to add 1/2 cup starter to a bread recipe, subtract 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup liquid from the recipe and proceed.
Combine in a large bowl, whisking to blend thoroughly:
900 grams (about 7 1/4 cups) all-purpose or white bread flour (do not use a low-protein all-purpose flour such as White Lily)
900 grams (about 7 1/2 cups) whole wheat or rye flour
This flour blend will be enough to get you through the first nine days of replenishing your starter. After that, simply make more of the flour blend.
On the first day, combine in a quart-sized container:
200 grams (about 1 2/3 cups) flour blend
200 grams (about 3/4 cup) room temperature water
Cover with a small square of cloth secured with a rubber band and allow it to sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
On day two, at roughly the same time that you combined the flour and water, discard half the starter and feed with:
200 grams flour blend (about 1 2/3 cups)
200 grams room temperature water (about 3/4 cup)
Every day, at about the same time, repeat this process, using 200 grams each flour blend and water. Your starter may begin to bubble after a few days or it may take two weeks. Do not be deterred. Continue discarding and feeding, discarding and feeding, until you start to see bubbles and the starter increases substantially in volume every day.
If, during this initial process, the size of your starter gets out of hand, feel free to discard more than half of it. Especially once you see signs of active fermentation, you can toss most of the starter, as only a small amount is needed to introduce the yeasts into the added flour and water.
When your starter becomes a full-fledged levain, it will rise and fall predictably each day. In the twelve to sixteen hours or so after feeding, it will rise, and then it will begin to fall. It will have a range of smells, from slightly sour or fruity to vinegary or cheesy. These are all normal smells--some find them pleasant and others do not, but they are normal. Sometimes, especially if your levain has gone a bit too long between feedings, it will throw off a brownish liquid called hooch--this is nothing to be alarmed about. Simply discard the hooch and half the starter and feed like normal.
Comments
Oh I am so pleased! I began
I'm so glad to hear it's
I always called it "Monster
That can definitely happen.
Hi, I'm wondering if you can
Hi Henry, It definitely
Hi,
Hi Dennis. Yes, your reading
Don't add commercial yeast to
Hi,
Sounds good. Best of luck and
I started making this levain
Yes, you can just pour off
Thanks. My kitchen is not
Oh good. Glad I could help.
I have avoided baking with a
Hi Donna! I totally agree-
I am new to making and using
Glad to hear your levain is
when do you cover the starter
I keep mine covered at all
When you say 'a piece of
I use a piece of flour sack
My starter in the frige seems
Wow! You've got a live one!
Hi Meg! Thanks for the
Hi Sarah. You brought up a
Hi Meg. When using the
Hi John. I actually don't use
Hi Meg, me again. How would
Equal parts flour and water
Hi Meg, This is the last time
Haha--no problem. I'm happy
When making the Levain the
Technically, yes. If you
This page is fabulous -
Thanks, Amy! Glad you found
In order to get the wonderful
Hi Joe. I use 200g starter
What flour/procedure would be
The good news is that, yes,
I don't get why you have to
Hello Sgt Panties, if that is
I saw paul hollywood making
Hello Jeffrey. You're right:
It just speeds up the initial
Hi Meg. I live in Mexico and
Hi Stacy! First, the tap
Ok, tis addresses gluten free
Hello I'm new to this, I
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