It’s Alive! I mean literally a living thing!

For many years I maintained a sourdough starter with which I made bread, biscuits, waffles, pancakes and more. During my recent health issues I reluctantly got rid of it as it requires daily feeding and maintenance and I was simply not able to tend to it.

As I continue to improve I thought I might give it a shot again. Recently I put equal volumes of flour and water into my crock and set it aside. That’s how easy it is. Wild yeast and lactobacilli (which are in the air around us) recognize the slurry as a feast and dive right in. The lactobacilli give the mixture a distinctive twang and yeast provides leavening as the organisms chomp on the mixture and release carbon dioxide gas.

Before going to bed I filled less than half the crock with the flour and water. The next morning it was overflowing, that is how active the mixture was (see the photo below). I am still cultivating the starter and will perhaps soon start baking things again. Good to have it back.

As always you can find more at http://www.walterthinnes.com and on Twitter @walterthinnes