#Just have to get a scale a jar and some unbleached flour

[slumbering-shadows]

I am going to create a 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 (sourdough starter) soon- does anyone have any advice? I have never done this before but I crave Infinite Fresh Bread (TM)

[kyraisdead]

Secondo x Reader - Merry Christmas (MENTIONS OF NSFW)

"We have enough fat guys in red in this place, agnellino. We don't need to lure in any more." The light jab at Copia wasn't lost on you, but you brushed it off as you gently tugged on his sleeve, silently asking him again. In response, he groaned.

Secondo was a phenomenal cook. A cook, not a baker. He'd whip up classic Italian dishes in less than an hour and still manage to make them taste like something out of a 5-star restaurant. The only thing he baked was bread because the bagged and frozen garbage at the grocery store tasted like sand. (According to him, at least. You still snuck the frozen Texas Toast into the Ministry now and then as a snack.)

"Will it shut you up?" he asked, grabbing your face in his hand and smushing your cheeks together until you were forced into doing duck-lips. Despite his harsh words, there was no malice in his tone. Only begrudging affection. When you nodded, he released you, allowing you to follow him into the fancy kitchen of his chambers.

"Get me the flour from the cabinet, if you can reach it. All-purpose, not the bread flour," he specified quickly. Last time, you'd accidentally handed him cake flour. It resulted in quite the mess. You took your time as he got a few bowls from underneath the sink, arranging them on the marble countertop.

He turned around, watching you carefully with mismatched eyes, like marbles stolen from a child's jar. "Well?" he asked, crossing his arms, black sleeves rolled up as he waited expectantly.

"Coming, Papa," you said quickly. Although you'd been dating for some time, it still felt improper to call him just Secondo. It was always Papa instead.

Despite your hesitance towards informalities, it didn't stop you from admiring his arms as you handed him the heavy bag of flour. As far as you were concerned, the most attractive thing a man could do was to roll his sleeves up to show off him forearms. Sometimes he thought you'd rather him keep his shirt on like that in the bedroom.

"Pre-sifted, unbleached," you read the label on the bag as unraveled the rolled top, standing on your toes to place your chin on his shoulder. "I've only used it for white gravy, or to bread chicken. Why does it matter?" You were certain you were about to spring him into a four-page rant about the different types of flours down to the grain used to produce them, but to your surprise, he kept his explanation short.

"It means you're buying proper flour. Not that cheap, bleached stuff from the grocery store." He ruffled your hair and patted you on the head, a smirk slowly forming on his lips.

He began measuring out the exact amount of flour that the recipe called for, pausing every few seconds to weigh it on his kitchen scale. "This is my kitchen. I need to make sure you're not poisoning me, agnellino." His arm curled around your shoulders, tugging you against his side.

"So, low quality flour is poison... but chain-smoking cigars with a glass of wine in the other hand isn't?" you ask him, pressing your cheek against his chest as he pulled you closer. He chuckled gruffly underneath his breath, the faint rumble sending a shiver through your body. His chest pressed against your ear, muffling all sound until all you could hear was the faint beating of his heart.

"I think the cigars cancel it out. Two wrongs make a right, dear," he responded, a smirk on his lips. Taking your hand, he brought it up to his mouth and nipped on the tips of your fingertips, his mustache scratching your palm. He'd grown it out a little bit, no longer required to don his paints all the time. "It's too quiet in here. Put some music on."

You were about to protest, to point out that no, alcohol did not cancel out tobacco, but he was truly the master of changing the subject before you could scold him for anything. Secondo, for all of his good intentions, was a stubborn old thing that never listened to reason. He knew that his cigars were going to be the death of him, but that same knowledge somehow never managed to stop him from lighting a fresh one.

You frowned slightly, lightly flicking the tip of his nose before walking over to the old 1960's record player he kept. In his chambers, if it wasn't at least 20 years old, he had no interest in keeping it.

"Can I pick the record?" you asked politely, shuffling through the old box of vinyl.

"No, bella," he said, shaking his head. "I don't trust those terrible tastes of yours. You'll turn on the ABBA again."

"Insulting ABBA is like insulting Swedish Dolly Parton," you said under your breath, noticing the hint of confusion on his face before you just waved your hand, dismissing what you said before he could question it. "I'm not putting on Frank Sinatra. That record is going to snap in half the next time you use it."

"Frank Sinatra and The Supremes are musical legends, I'll have you know," he said, pressing the forming dough a little harder with his hands. If he had the nerve, he'd throw you out of the room on your ass. Unfortunately, though, he found your ass too cute for that.

After a few minutes more of digging, he huffed like a petulant child, shaking his head. "Just put anything on. But I swear, if I hear the song Waterloo one more time-"

I really can't stay...

Baby, it's cold outside...

The sweet sound of the soft tune caught him off guard, silencing him abruptly and softening the hard lines at the corners of his seemingly permanently downturned mouth. He lifted his head again, hands becoming gentle as he carefully greased a baking sheet.

You smiled, slipping away from the record player and back to your original spot behind him, arms snaking around his waist as you squeezed him firmly.

He grumbled something under his breath, pausing in his work to glance down at your small hands hugging tightly around his middle, pressing yourself against his back as though you were a parasite, leeching heat from him like a damn lamprey.

He grunted quietly and continued kneading the dough, careful not to dig his fingers in too hard. He'd accidentally made that mistake before, leaving a permanent print in the dough when pressing his fingers into a shaped cookie. Primo had laughed his ass off, more at Secondo's frustration than anything.

He sighed and leaned back against you, resting the back of his head on top of yours. "What are you doing back there, tesoro?"

"Convincing you to dance with me," you responded, slowly swaying from side to side, your breath cool on his skin, a stark difference from the heated air of the room, additional warmth emanating from the preheating oven. You pressed a soft kiss to the back of his neck. "Is it working?"

He hummed like an old machine, turning until his nose was buried in the crook of your neck, breathing against your skin. He nipped on the sensitive skin just beneath your ear, feeling your body shudder against him.

"It's working a little," he admitted after a few seconds, wrapping his hands around your hips and pulling you snugly against him. "Keep going."

You held him a little tighter, continuing the soft sway. It wasn't often that Secondo was this soft with you--- even when he was soft, he wasn't entirely too sweet. Pacified was a better word. Content.

You led him for a moment before he seemed to remember he did in fact exist. He shifted his hand to sit just above your bum, supporting your lower back while his other intertwined with yours.

His movements were graceful, gentle, and slow, the way one would expect a man with the title of 'Papa' would move. He pulled you effortlessly around the kitchen, guiding you through the space like you were made of glass. He knew you were strong, but it didn't stop him from wanting to take care of you.

He dipped you gently under the dim lights of the kitchen, a slight smile spreading across his lips. "What would you do if I picked you up right now, hm?" he asked, his lips brushing against your ear once more. "Take you upstairs, into my bed, where it's all nice and warm... never let you go." His smile turned into a grin as he brought you back up, already bending at the knee to fulfill his suggestion. *Ding!* The sound of the oven's little song-like chime snapped him out of his focus, alerting him that no, he shouldn't leave balls of raw egg on the counter to collect dust and E-Coli. He groaned, as he stood back up, pressing his face into the front of your top, a kiddish expression of his frustration.

"Cookies first," you told him, gently caressing his head with soft fingers. The man was a fiend, but he never failed to make you smile. "What comes after is your decision." He lifted his head again before tilting it to the side, giving you a grain before his arms went under your ass, hoisting you up suddenly and placing you on the counter, standing between your legs as he kissed you suddenly.

Despite your initial focus on the cookies, it was hard to say no to him. He breathed like an old dog, pressing firm, quick kisses against your mouth after that first long one, before he suddenly pulled away, returning to the stove. "Secondo!" you said breathlessly. Secondo, not Papa. The sound of his name from your lips made him smile. "Cookies first, agnellino," he reminded you with a smile. "But we can do something else after, if you want to?" Bastard.

[the-solarpunk-activist]

Y'all know what's solarpunk? Or at least sustainable? A good sourdough starter. It requires flour, quite a bit of it to get started, but it's healthier for you, and you can use the discard after the initial start phase for all kinds of tasty things meaning no waste and less store bought pancakes, crackers, brownies, breads, etc.

Here's how you make a starter (disclaimer this is how i made it, I've noticed a lot of sourdough purists insisting u need to weigh everything every time you feed and you need a scale for all your recipes, etc i have done none of that and i don't have the energy for all that either)

You need:

Flour, i use unbleached but that's because i had a bag lying around i used for vegan cookies as a gift and i heard it works for starters, Harold (my starter) seems to like it so why change, but I've heard of people using literally any kind of flour

Water, enough to mix into a thick pancake batter consistency

If you feel weird wasting flour you can try the quarantiny starter idea from king Arthur's flour which uses only a tablespoon of flour and some water until it's active and then you bulk it up when you want to bake with it.

You're going to want to add your flour and water and mix until it's a thick pancake batter consistency, i started with a half cup of flour but i left on vacation and my grandma accidentally bulked it up so now it's up to like a cup.

Every 24 hours (not exact measurement and some people swear by feeding it every 12, i do 24 but it varies by person and starter) you are going to want to toss half (in the garbage at this stage) and mix in about the same amount of flour as the mixture you just tossed (ex. You estimate you tossed half cup of starter, add half cup of flour to remainder in jar) add enough water til you reach consistency. I've gotten told this doesn't work but my starter is happy and thriving so I'm sticking with it.

Once your starter is active and consistently doubling within 8 hours after feeding (you will notice it does this in the first few days, that's Bad Yeast do not use. Your starter will hit a slump and then come back to rising, that's good yeast. I recommend putting a rubber band or hair tie where it is after u feed so u can monitor rise easier) experts recommend waiting ten days from initial starter start date to use it, i waited three weeks. Toss all starter at feeding during this time.

ONCE UR STARTER IS ACTIVE then u can save all the stuff u were tossing in a jar in the fridge (i use an old spaghetti sauce jar, and my starter is also in a big olive jar lmao) and use it in recipes that doesn't require yeast, this is sourdough discard and you can find a ton of recipes online for it.

If you want to use it to bake bread, you will use it when it's at its peak rise area, usually double what it was when you feed it. This is the yeast being all active and happy which will rise your bread. I recommend this recipe for beginners:

I reduced the salt to 1 tsp and added probably around a cup and a half of whole wheat flour, i had it lying around and why not. Changes will depend on your elevation and what works for you, it's not a science which is why no recipe will work for literally everybody. Almost everybody's first sourdough bread will fail one way or another but 98% of the time it's still edible and you learn!!!

Feel free to ask questions :)

Edit: forgot to mention that you should keep your jar covered, but don't screw the lid on, i just use the flat part of a canning lid placed on top

[trillian-anders]

sourdough

pairing: chef!bucky x plus!reader

warnings: fluff, domesticity

word count: 1542

description: chef!au; exploring new and old hobbies during quarantine

just a taste masterlist

“What are you doing?” It wasn’t uncommon to have comfortable and long lasting silences in the apartment. That’s, realistically, the only way you were going to be able to be in close quarters for so long. The New York quarantine had been going on for about six weeks now, and while both of you were going a little stir crazy, you’d found things around your NYC loft to keep yourselves busy. Bucky, just five minutes ago started pulling things from the pantry, flour, and a weck jar, the kitchen scale. 

“I’m gonna make a sourdough starter.” He left his phone open on the kitchen bench, scrolling through the instructions that must have been on the screen. A dark rye flour, his favorite unbleached bread flour, and warm water. “That’s all it is.” He said, “And well… time.” 

You’d been working from home, part time, as Tony put almost all projects on hold in order to focus his direction into making masks and other medical supplies. Your job mainly consisted of scheduling drop offs and ordering the base supplies needed to produce them. In the other hours of the day you’d started on a new novel. 

“Maybe you should write a crime story.” Bucky offered, the two of you wrapped in a blanket on the couch watching Forensic Files half asleep. You hummed, snuggling further into his chest, drifting off,

“Maybe.” 

The next day you lay out exactly what you wanted to happen and when it was going to happen, a chapter by chapter outline which is something you’d never done before and the writing flowed so easily for the first three chapters it almost seemed surreal. You were surprised how easy it was to start the story, but now halfway through it was difficult to maneuver all the different pieces. 

You watched him measure flour, spooning it into the jar placed on the kitchen scale. “Baking is more of a science,” He said, “It’s harder to eyeball it.” He measured the unbleached flour and the dark rye flour, before temping water and mixing the three together and placing the loose lid on top. It took five minutes, tops. Then he sat back down on the couch, hand on your thigh, going back to watching Outlander. 

“That’s it?” You asked, looking at the jar left on the counter. He nods, 

“Yeah, that’s it.” With a rinse and repeat for seven days. A five minute small task of letting natural yeasts ferment the dough, it smelled tangy and a little sour. “That’s how it should smell.” He said. 

You looked at him skeptically, but trusted that he knew what he was doing. He fed the starter every day, and on day eight he decided to make bread. 

You were working at the kitchen bench, sipping your second coffee of the day when he brought out more flour, water, salt, and the very expensive and well used dutch oven he’d brought over when you decided to quarantine together. 

He’d made something last night and left it covered in a dish towel on the counter. “Leavening.” He called it, “It uses the starter and some more flour to act as the yeast in the bread.” He dissolved salt in water and mixed in the leavening, adding flour until it started sticking together and began folding it in the bowl.

“Do you need me to move?” You asked, trying to ignore the urge to bite his bare shoulder. He’d tumbled out of bed and immediately started making this bread, clad only in his briefs. That was a distraction enough, let alone now the muscles in his arms working as he worked the dough, using his fingers to fold and turn, before covering it back up with the cloth. 

“No, you’re good.” A minty kiss to your lips, “Did you have breakfast yet?” You smiled, 

“Do you mean lunch?” His eyes met the clock above the stove.

“Oh, well do you want lunch?” A grin.

He continued the process for a couple hours, folding the dough over a few times and then letting it prove. 

You were taking a break, watching Brooklyn-99 reruns and snacking on pretzels when a timer went off and he got back up from the couch, shaping the dough into a round shaped loaf, covering it back with the dish cloth and sitting back beside you on the couch. This was a long process apparently, but Bucky was patient. 

It was something you admire about him, he was willing to put in the work if that meant he was going to create something better. Even if sometimes it wasn’t. There were projects that failed, recipes that didn’t work out or were sometimes off. The trial and error of trying to create something new. 

It wasn’t until late, that he popped the dough into the dutch oven and started baking it. The two of you snacked late because, “I’m going to make dinner.” But he wanted to use the bread. The bread baked for about an hour and came out crusty and brown. “You hear that?” The scratch of the knife against the crust. Roasted crushed tomatoes, olive oil, some herbs and pancetta, you ate it open face at the kitchen bench on the bread he had griddled on the flat top pan he’d also brought with him. 

“This,” You moaned, “Is so fucking good.” He nods, the crunch of the bread so satisfying. 

“It really is.” 

He continued to feed the starter, every day, without fail. Practicing with different recipes, crepes, pretzels, pizza crust, crackers, pancakes, muffins. 

“Here,” He would say, “Try this.” Something else new and experimental. He made whatever he could with that sourdough, apple fritters and an attempt at pie crust that didn’t really work out. You hated to say it, but you were getting sick of sourdough. Everything tasted similar, and you’d been feeling so gassy and began feeling a little uncomfortable from the amount of bread products you’d been consuming. 

But Bucky seemed to be so fixated on it, proud of what he was making with his new baby starter that he took care of and cultivated it daily. You just didn’t know how to tell him. He seemed so excited every time he presented you with something new. 

“Baby this is incredible.” He was scrolling through the open word document on your screen. 

“Yeah?” You felt pretty proud of it so far, you liked how it was turning out, and while you hadn’t gone through to edit any of your writing, you were happy for the feedback. You leaned over his back, scratching softly on his sides as he scrolled through the last chapter. His hand found yours, turning in his seat to bring you to stand between his legs. 

“It's really good baby.” A kiss. “I’m so proud of you for actually working on this.” Another kiss. 

“Thank you.” Kisses moving down to your neck and shoulder. He hums, 

“What do you want for dinner?” He asked, face buried into your neck. You sigh, running your fingers through his hair. You just had to come out with it or else risk more dough that would further bloat you and make you need a carb nap. 

“Anything that isn’t sourdough.” He grins against your neck and laughs. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do it anymore and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but could we just have salad or something?” 

He squeezes your hips, pressing his lips back to yours one more time, grinning, “Okay baby.”

.

.

.

taglist //  @93generation​ @technicallykawaiisoul​  @bookish-shristi​ @saturnki​ @jennmurawski13​ @geeksareunique​ @the-soulofdevil​ @tinmunky​ @gifsbysimplysonia​ @alwaysbenhardysgirl @beck-alicious

[corneliusthesourdough]

Grananna & Cornelius’ Master Guide to Sourdough Bread

Congratulations on your new pet! This starter’s name is Cornelius, and he has been thriving for over 150 years! He comes from Basque and has travelled all over the world. He is a bubbly character and is quite forgiving. All he asks is to be fed every now and then and to be showered with love. If you share your creations online, his hashtag is #corneliusthesourdough

If you’re new to sourdough, don’t be intimidated! There are countless ways to explore this ancient baking method, especially online! Some bakers are quite strict with their methods, rules, and tools. But there are just as many who take a very relaxed approach to their craft. With patience practice, you will quickly find what works for you! I’m very new to the whole thing myself. There are a few special tools that are helpful for baking sourdough, but don’t worry if you don’t have any! You can improvise pretty much all of them.

A very basic guide for feeding Cornelius is as follows: If not baking, he can live in a jar in the fridge. Feed about once a week with equal parts in WEIGHT of flour and water. If you don’t have a scale, that’s about 1-part water, 2-parts flour. Because your starter is constantly growing, you may have to throw away (or “discard” as it’s called) some of the starter. When I want my starter to get really active, I weigh equal parts starter to flour and water, and he usually triples in size on the counter.

Sourdoughs prefer unbleached flours, but it’s not essential. All-purpose flour has kept him going for years. After feeding, make sure he has the space to triple in size and cover loosely so air can escape. After that, back in the fridge he goes!

If you’re getting ready to bake, a more active culture is preferable. Wake Cornelius up by feeding and then keep him on the counter. Using warmer water and keeping the starter in at least room temperature (somewhere between 20-27 ˚C) helps him get going. If you wake him up the night before, keep things cooler so he’s still active in the morning. A warm and happy Cornelius fed unbleached flour usually doubles or triples in size in about 4-8 hours.

[charltonsourdough]

Congratulations - you’ve got starter!

If you just got some sourdough starter (”Lazarus”) from me, here’s what to do with it:

- if you got dehydrated starter (flakes from me, or granules from a store or commercial source), scroll down for the link I posted for reviving a dried starter before going to the next step.

- if you don’t intend to work with your starter right away, it is fine to put it in the fridge. It won’t spoil, and it’ll stay pretty active for a week or even more. Refrigeration doesn’t stop the fermentation process, but it slows it way down.

- when you’re ready to feed your starter, have ready: a one-quart wide-mouth glass canning jar (with lid and sealing ring), a rubber spatula with a handle long enough to reach the bottom of the jar, a for or Danish dough whisk (don’t use a standard kitchen whisk), some all purpose flour (unbleached is preferable), optionally some whole grain flour (rye flour works really well),  a bit of plastic food wrap, and a couple rubber bands. Also PLEASE have a kitchen scale.  I will give you instructions in grams.

- “feeding” your starter is surprising terminology, because you’ll use much more food than you use of the starter, but here’s the process. You’ll dissolve a little starter in water, then add flour, stir it up, cover it, and let it ferment. 

- here are the specifics. Pour 150g water into the jar.  Add a tablespoon of the starter you already have (about 30-50g) to the water and use your fork or whisk to dissolve it. Next, spoon 150g flour into the jar. You can use 50g whole grain and 100g all-purpose, or 75g/75g, or entirely all-purpose, Any of these will work. Use your rubber spatula to stir the mixture, scraping the sides down until it resembles thick pancake batter.

- use one of the rubber bands to mark the level of the starter at this point - this will help you measure how much it has risen later on. Use a square of plastic wrap to cover the top of the jar, secure it with the sealing ring or rubber band, and puncture the wrap a couple of times to allow air into the jar. 

- place the jar on a shelf at room temperature, and allow it an overnight or half a day to rise. At that point it should appear bubbly through the glass, and about doubled in height. 

- Now you have fresh starter to save or use in baking. A portion of starter like that is called a “levain” (French) - or “leaven” - if you use it to promptly to make bread dough. The quantity will be about 300g and will work in any of the recipes you find in this blog, in a book, or elsewhere on the web that call for sourdough starter. Once you scoop the starter out of the jar into a bowl for use in your dough, as long as you don’t scrape the jar completely clean, the residue on the jar walls is plenty to repeat the process above and feed again for the next time. 

- Although this is the best time to use your starter for best rising, you can absolutely put it in the fridge, covered with the lid. If you don’t bake with your starter right away, it will stay reasonably active for a day or two. If you leave it too long, just feed it again to reactivate.

- Starter you do not use or feed right away is referred to as “discard,” but you don’t really have to throw it away. It works great in sourdough recipes that don’t require a big rise to be successful. Pancakes and pizza dough are two great examples.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with your starter.  Many people get concerned they will kill theirs, but it’s actually very difficult to kill, and it only takes a little smidge of the stuff to bring it back to life and create as much more as you need.

I’m happy to coach anyone working with sourdough, if I can help. Email me at “baking at thetryongroup dot com”.

Congratulations on your sourdough journey - happy baking!

[tejasfarm]

Maintaining Sourdough

I first got excited about sourdough in August 2017. I was reading a post & thought, I can do that.

So, I jumped in the kitchen, grabbed my King Arthur Flour & added some water….a few weeks later, I was ready.

Sourdough really teaches you to chill out. You can’t rush it. I mean, you can add yeast to make ‘yeasted bread’, but that’s not sourdough, so stop it.

If you want to try making your own, I highly recommend King Arthur Flour’s directions.

Maintaining your starter:

My best advice (as with most things!) is be patient. Sourdough does not care about your schedule. 

Refrigerator storage: Feed once a week

I swap out 1 pint yogurt jars when feeding, or at least once or twice a month. Clear jars are great options. A large opening is best for pouring, mixing, and scraping.

Measure out 113g (1/2 cup) of the starter; discard the rest (or bake something with it).

Feed this 113g of starter with 113g each water and flour.

Cover it and let it rest on the counter until it starts bubbling (1 to 2 hours) before returning it to the refrigerator.

My preferred method, unless I’m baking a lot, then I let it set out for a few days, as noted below.

* I feed mine about 2-3 times a month and have had no problems reviving it – sometimes it takes 1 feeding, sometimes 2 to get it going again, depending on how long I waited in between feedings.

Room-temperature storage: Feed twice a day

Starter that's kept at room temperature is more active than refrigerated starter, and requires more attention and more feeding.

Room-temperature starter should be fed every 12 hours (twice a day) using the standard maintenance feeding procedure: discard all but 113g, and feed that 113g starter with 113g each water and flour.

Discarded Starter:

Throw in Compost

Find recipes online, like pancakes, crackers, quick breads.

Avoid the sink drain as much as you can!

Best online guides & books:

King Arthur Flour

King Arthur Flour Website

I only use King Arthur Flour for feeding my sourdough and for all my sourdough recipes!

Just Google “King Arthur Flour Sourdough” for tips, recipes, and lots of explanations.

Favorite Recipes:

Extra-Tangy Sourdough Bread

Classic Sourdough Waffles or Pancakes – Overnight recipe

The Clever Carrot

The Clever Carrot Website

“Artisan Sourdough Made Simple” beautiful full color cookbook by Emilie Raffa

Troubleshooting Tips

I love her recipes for basic sourdough especially, there are a lot of flour dusted pages and many handwritten notes added!

I generally make a couple loaves at one time.

They freeze great, either let cool & wrap well as a whole loaf, or cut into slices.

Or eat them all in one day, whatever.

After 1-2 days, the bread starts to dry out a bit, which is still great for toast!

After about 4 days, it gets moldy, which is probably not the goal you had in mind.

Favorite Recipes:

Saturday Morning Fruit and Nut Toast – my favorite in the book

Cinnamon Sugar Sourdough Waffles

Multigrain Bread

In Jennie’s Kitchen

In Jennie's Kitchen Website

THE BEST PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE!  (And I’ve tried A LOT) – takes a couple days….patience 😊

Sourdough Pizza Crust Recipe

Cooking Pizza Dough instructions

Reviving Dehydrated Sourdough Starter

Hydrating a dehydrated sourdough starter back to life.

(Adapted & condensed from King Arthur Flour’s instructions - for photos, go here.)

Measure out 1 ounce.  (You absolutely, positively must have a scale, here is the one I have, yes it is green.)

Place the dried starter chips in a large (at least 1-pint) container.

Add 2 ounces (1/4 cup) of lukewarm water.

The water should barely cover the chips; tamp them down, if necessary.

Stir the chips/water occasionally; it'll take 3 hours or so, with infrequent attention, to dissolve the chips.

Once the mixture is fairly smooth/liquid, with perhaps just a couple of small undissolved chips, feed it with 1 ounce (about 1/4 cup) of unbleached all-purpose flour.

Cover it lightly (I just set the yogurt lid over the top without closing it), and place it somewhere warm.

Let the starter work for 24 hours.

At the end of that time, you should see some bubbles starting to form.

Remember, this is at about 85°F; if your temperature is lower, this will take longer.

Forget your timer; just wait until your starter has a mixture of larger and smaller bubbles covering the surface

WITHOUT DISCARDING ANY OF THE STARTER, feed it with 1 ounce of lukewarm water, and 1 ounce of flour.

Cover, and put back in its warm spot.

After "X" hours (depends on your kitchen), you should see some serious bubbling; could took eight hours to become nice and bubbly.

Feed the starter again – 1 ounce of lukewarm water, 1 ounce of flour – cover, and wait. Again, you're not discarding any at this point.

It could be exhibiting a host of tiny bubbles, and expanded.

You may also notice, from the side of the container, that it's risen, and then fallen; this is completely natural.

Put the starter on a regular feeding schedule.

DISCARD all but 4 ounces (about 1/2 cup).

Feed it again, this time with 4 ounces each lukewarm water and flour.

This time, it should really expand quickly.

Your starter is now revived and healthy.

 At last – you're ready to bake!

To ready the starter for baking (while saving enough for another day), feed it again.

Discard all but 4 ounces; and feed the remainder with 4 ounces each lukewarm water and flour.

Let it become bubbly – and let the baking begin!

This all seems like a lot of work, but the end result is amazing. And now I am off to wake up my starter to recreate some of this magic:

Do you have any beloved recipes to share?

Any comments, questions, tips?

Please let me know in the comments below!

Thank you for reading.

 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases when you click on & purchase from the above links.

I only post items I have used and love. Thank you for your support.

[corneliusthesourdough]

Tools, Terminology, & Ingredients

Scale: A cooking scale is probably the most helpful tool for baking and maintaining starter, but if you don’t have one the internet will help you convert weight to volume measurements. Remember, flour is measured at its fluffiest (so whisk or sift it etc.)

Roasting Pan: Sourdough needs moisture for part of its baking, so a lid is helpful. It is also baked in a very hot oven, so you need a pan that can withstand 450-500˚F. I use a classic, cheap enamel roaster with a lid, while some use Dutch ovens or cast-iron skillets of some kind. If you’re unsure if your pan can take the heat, try searching the brand online. If you don’t have one with a lid, you can fashion one with tinfoil!

Proofing Basket: Also known as a banneton, this is basically just a non-airtight, non-stick dish for your bread to proof in. I use a colander/shallow bowl lined with a clean, lint-free towel. I dust the towel with rice flour to make sure it doesn’t stick and mark the skin of my dough. To loosely cover, I use shower caps (they are literally perfect for this) but clean plastic bags are just fine!

Rice Flour: Super helpful because it doesn’t make a glue when wet. If you don’t have any, just throw some uncooked rice in some sort of blender/food processor and zap it into a fine powder! Don’t feel like doing any of this? Totally cool! Regular flour works too. For dusting, I use a tea-strainer to get an even coating.

Razor Blade: Known as a lame, a super sharp razor blade is extremely helpful for making proper, pretty scores in your loaf. If you don’t have one that’s super sharp, pop your dough (in its proofing basket) in the freezer for 10ish minutes so the skin is easier to slice

Flour: There are countless types of flours and grains you can use! Online you will see lots of talk about brands of flour, bread flour vs. all purpose (AP) etc. Elsewhere in the world, AP flour has a low gluten-protein content, which isn’t ideal for sourdough. But Canadian flour is almost always about 13% protein, so don’t worry about that. The one thing sourdough really does prefer is to have unbleached flour. After I started feeding unbleached bread flour, my starter changed completely. Many folks swear by rye flours, whole wheat, etc. You’ll find what works for you/what you have available. I’ve also had better crumb (amount of air-bubbles inside the loaf, basically its density and texture) with unbleached bread flour. But again, don’t feel like you can’t bake great bread without it. Search online, ask around, experiment!

Scraper: This doesn’t come up in a lot of recipes, but I LOVE mine. Its just a piece of plastic that’s curved on one side to scrape bowls. This is great for when you’re first working your dough and its sticking, for transferring between bowls, and for scraping up dough off the counter. Not essential, but I find it helpful.

Plumbing: Okay this one only really matters if you’re going to be baking A LOT. Your pipes can only handle so much flour going through them. When I’m feeding my starter a lot and baking frequently, I really limit the amount I’m pouring down the sink, and when I do pour it down, I make sure its with plenty of water to flush it through. I usually have a big jar of water out to keep my utensils in by the sink and only empty it every few days. Otherwise if you can let bits of dough dry and throw them out, that’s ideal. Using gloves when the dough is really sticky helps so you don’t wash a bunch off your hands down the drain. I also like to discard my excess starter into a big container and throw it out when it fills up.

Temperature: “The warmer things are, the faster they go!” In a hurry? Use warm water to feed your starter and make your dough in a warm bowl. To speed the first round of bulk fermentation, I turn the light on in my oven which brings it up to about 27˚C, but MANY ovens will go much warmer than this so BE CAREFUL. This is when a thermometer may be crucial. To prolong the fermentation, (usually so I can sleep in) I put it in the basement where its about 15˚C.

Stretch-and-Fold: Sourdough doesn’t require kneading, but to be stretched and folded over itself. Basically, you’re pulling the dough to stretch and develop the strings of gluten, then folding them over the center. Get a good grip on one side of the dough, and slowly but firmly pull upwards. I open my fingers a bit to open it up widthwise. It’s a lot of fun watching the gluten fibers do their thing! Then you simply fold the dough over to the opposite side from where it was pulled. Lightly tuck it down, rotate the bowl slightly, and repeat. What’s neat about this process is you’ll find the more you work it, the tighter it becomes, until it rests for a while. Each time you return to your dough, the first pull will be a lot easier than the 3rd-4th!

Check out some youtube videos of this technique!