Starter Basics

So, you got some starter from Slow Rise. Now what? Well, first things first. Her name is Winona. Tell her we said hi.

As long as you feed your starter regularly, you can keep it alive indefinitely. Winona was started in 2014 in Winona Lake, IN.

To feed your starter, mix the following ingredients in a container with a loose fitting lid:

• 1 Tbsp starter

• 1/4 C flour

• 1/4 C warm water (80º-90º)

The microbes in your starter will begin the amazing work of fermentation, multiplying and digesting the nutrients in the fresh flour you just gave them, converting them to gas and acid. Once they have used up all the available food, your starter will have risen and fallen, and the microbes will begin to die off. That is why your starter needs to be fed regularly. If you keep it at room temperature, you will need to feed it daily. When you feed your starter, discard all but 1 Tbsp of it before giving it fresh flour and water. Otherwise it will keep growing and growing.

If you don’t want to discard so much, you can slow down fermentation by keeping your starter in the fridge. This way you will only need to feed it once a week to keep it alive. Make sure you feed with warm water, and leave the freshly fed starter out at room temp for an hour or two to make sure fermentation gets a good start before going back in the fridge.

This will keep Winona alive. But if you want to make bread, I suggest the book Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson.