Apple or grape Starter Recipe
Juice 3 fresh organic apples or 300g organic grapes. Strain juice and leave at room temperature in a jug covered with a cloth. Leave for 7 days; juice should be fermented and bubbly. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add 150g high-grade flour and 150ml water. Mix well. Leave for 2 more days, covered loosely with a cloth. On the third day add another 150g flour and another 150ml water. Leave overnight. On each day following, discard half the mixture, then weigh the remainder and feed it with half its weight in both water and flour: ie, for a 300g starter use 150g flour and 150ml water. You will need to do this for several weeks to activate the starter properly (mine has been going now for about 2 years).
If you don’t want to make bread every day, the starter will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge without feeding. Reactivate it by feeding it a day or two before you plan to use it.
Milk or Yoghurt Sourdough Starter
2 cups of high-grade flour
1 cup low-fat milk or unsweetened yoghurt
1 cup water
1 tsp active dried yeast.
To prepare the starter, mix the ingredients in a clean jar, leaving 1/4 of the jar clear for headspace.
Cover the jar and leave it in a warm room, out of the sun, for 4-7 days, depending on the temperature. (mine in 4 days)
Each day, stir the starter with a clean spoon.
For the first few days it may bubble up and overflow, but it will quieten down and become thinner after a few days.
Refrigerate in a lidded jar after the mixture takes on a definite sour smell and develops a clear layer on top.
Keep it free from contamination. A slight greyish colour is fine, but if it develops a nasty smell or changes colour, especially pink or purple, throw it out and start again.
To use the starter, stir well and pour off as much as you need. Replace each cup used with a cup of water mixed with a cup of high-grade flour. Leave the jar at room temperature for a day before using any more of the contents or refrigerating it again.
(mixture could still bubble over, rest jar in a shallow bowl to catch over flow)
If you do not use your starter regularly, throw out or give away a cupful of it once a week and add fresh flour and water as above.
Before using take the amount required of starter out and leave at room temp for an hour to allow it to reactivate.
Sourdough bread
225ml lukewarm water
3/4 starter (see below)
3 cups strong white flour (or high-grade)
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sugar
Mix all ingredients together in a breadmaker on dough mode or in a mixer using a dough hook until just mixed. Rest 4 hours then knock back on a lightly floured board. Refrigerate overnight, knock back, shape and allow to rise for 30 minutes. Bake in a preheated 200°C oven for 60 minutes until golden. Brush loaf with water after 30 minutes to give a golden crust. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped. Allow to cool before slicing and serving.
Serves 6-10.