Sourdough starter

I started the sourdough starter on July 1 with one cup of flour and one cup of rainwater. Then my back gave me a lot of grief so although I could see the starter sitting on the bench, I didn't look at it until yesterday. I really thought that I'd have to come here, apologise, then start all over again. But it just goes to show you what a strong force natural systems are. The sourdough survived very well on it's own - with no feeding - and now it's puffy and fermenting. I gave it its first feed early this morning. It looks happy so I'm going to bake with it and hope to make my bread tomorrow, after it's had two more feeds.

My starter this morning.

Sourdough relies on the wild yeasts in the air you breathe and the beneficial bacteria in your particular environment. Each sourdough will be different, each will have its own individual taste. Isn't that wonderful. I didn't want dust or any bugs to crawl into mine and as I didn't want to put the lid on the jar, which would stop the entry of the wild yeasts, I came up with a simple and old fashioned way of gently protecting the starter. It allows air in and out but covers it at the same time.

It is a piece of thin cotton, you could also use loose weave linen, with some beads on the corners to hold it down. I have several of these milk jugs covers that I use for various things and here is the one I made for the sourdough. I'm going to make another one of these when I have more time. This was a rush job to quickly cover the starter. It's a simple and quick project that you might like to try. It will only take an hour to complete. You need a square of fabric, beads or buttons and embroidery floss, which is a bit sturdier than sewing machine cotton.

I wonder how the other starters are going? If you started one, pease let me know if it's fermenting or if it's changed in any way.