Sourdough Bread Starter I'm not a huge fan of sourdough bread, but my husband is and I like to cook, so I thought I'd start making some. Like other "starters", you kind of have to get over the modern idea that everything should be refrigerated. Once you get past that, you'll be fine. Ingredients 1/2 cup organic whole wheat or rye flour high gluten flour or bread flour lukewarm water D'ough! Use only wooden, plastic, or ceramic utensils and containers. Metal can mess up the yeast reactions. Also, use good clean water. If you have hard water, you might want to use a filter. In a tupperware container with a lid or a covered crock, combine 1/4 cup lukewarm water and 1/2 cup organic whole-grain flour. I prefer wheat, but rye actually works better. Keep at room temperature until it puffs up and doubles in volume. This can take between 12 and 72 hours depending on a variety of conditions. When it's doubled, stir it down and add another 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup high gluten flour or bread flour. Stir thoroughly, and let it sit again at room temperature until it puffs up and doubles in volume. It should take less time this time, and each time you repeat this step. When it's doubled again, this time discard half the starter (you would be wasting more flour in the long run if you didn't do this. See Notes.) and add another 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup of the high gluten or bread flour. Stir again, let it sit until it puffs up and doubles in volume. With each "feeding", doubling time should reduce. Keep repeating until it takes four hours or less to double in volume. At this point, if you want more starter (for example, to give some away), you can increase your starter by doubling it without throwing any away. (Add twice as much water and twice as much flour, though.) When you have as much as you want, you can store it in the refrigerator. If you don't use the starter for 3 or more weeks, discard all but 1/4 cup, and start the feeding over again with 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup bread flour. You can store it for a few months without using it, but do remember to refresh it like this before using it in a recipe. You can keep starter going indefinitely if you continue to use it and leave some behind. Notes and Hints and Stuff Throw it away? Yes, it's wasteful, but it's not as wasteful as it would be otherwise. If you throw away half, then add 1/2 cup flour, then throw away half in the next step, you've tossed out 1/4 cup of the "new" flour. If you didn't throw away half, you'd have needed to add 1 cup of flour. With the next feeding, you'd have needed to add 2 cups of flour. And 4 with the next...no one needs that much starter. So it's easier to throw away small amounts than to add huge amounts and waste it later.