Lots of people who love sourdough bread don’t bother to make it themselves because they think it’s too much work to keep the starter alive. I have one friend who has a “no pets” rule in her house – and that means no sourdough starter too! But once the starter is established (see how to do this here) it’s pretty easy to keep it alive without catering to it every day. Here are some options:
Option 1: Discard half of the starter and add 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water to the remaining starter every day. Not a very useful method unless you plan to make bread almost every day.
Option 2: Store any remaining starter (after making bread) in the refrigerator and feed it once a week. To feed, discard half of the starter and add 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water to remaining starter one day each week. Allow the starter to ferment at room temperature for at least 2 hours before returning it to the refrigerator.
Three days before you want to bake another loaf of bread, remove the starter from the refrigerator and feed daily, following days 5-7 of Sourdough from Scratch for best results.
Option 3: You can keep the starter in the refrigerator for several weeks at a time without feeding. However, it may take more than 3 days of feeding to get it bubbling again.
Awww it’s sad to think people wouldn’t want to keep sourdough because they think it’s too much work. I just bake once a week since I’m baking for myself only, and do the fridge method. Really low maintenance.
Posted by viggie | January 20, 2012, 9:06 amGood for you viggie! I agree, keeping the starter alive only takes a few minutes a week – and it’s lots easier than trudging to the store to buy a loaf! Not to mention better tasting, better for for us…….
Posted by winebarrelgourmet | January 20, 2012, 11:53 am