No Commercial Yeast Starter

Came back to add a photo, so easy!

I made this with rye flour and only used 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of bottled water after about 2 1/2 days it was ready. I am so happy with this recipe it was so easy!

Its has been unusually cold here in Indiana this month of May so I am not sure if the recipe is defective or just to cold I have treied it 3 times and have no good bubblely yeast happen

I didn’t throw away any of my starter. I did put it in the fridge instead of the countertop, so I feed once a week; 1/4 c of each (water and flour).

I would suggest a few changes. To make sure you get plenty of natural yeast to get the process going, for the 1st week use organic whole wheat or rye flour. You’ll get more yeast from the outer membrane of whole grain flour than from white processed flour. Later on all purpose flour is great for feeding. Unless you are making a lot of bread often, keep about 200g of starter or you’ll go through a lot of flour quickly even if you refrigerate for a week. At 200g, when you want to feed for bread making you can add another 100g of flour and 100g water without discarding any starter. That way you’ll have the starter you need for bread and still have about the same amount of reserve starter left before your next feeding. A wide mouth pint mason jar with the lid set lighty on the top makes for good storage. Set the jar in a plastic bowl to catch the occasional overflow. To minimize overflow, add a little extra water for a slightly thinner mixture, That way the bubbles will be able to rise through the starter without causing a large foamy mass to overflow your container. Finally don’t throw away your excess starter. Freeze it and keep it in case your starter dies in the early stages. You can thaw the excess and continue with a live batch. Also keep the excess and use it for pancake batter. Just keep adding the excess to a plastic bowl. Refrigerate or freeze the excess and thaw as needed. When ready to use the excess just throw in a little oil, an egg, some sugar and a little v

After a recently developed joy in backing and watching Cooked, episode on Air, I decided to try my hand at making my own yeast. After an internet search I landed on this recipe to try. I incorporated the ingredients yesterday, which was SUPER easy, placed the glass mixing bowl with towel over it on the counter, and this morning there was already separation; based on comments read here, that is a good thing. Once I try the yeast I will update my review.

This is a great starter recipe! I’d have used a smaller ratio, but this is very good. and for anyone asking how much 1 pkg of yeast related to in a homemade starter, its 2 and 1/4 tsp of yeast starter.

Made as instructed did not work

Great starter!! Mine almost grew out of the bowl the 1st. day. I used it on the third day to make sourdough bread using the “Sourdough III ” recipe. Awesome!!! It smelled fantastic and tasted even better!! It makes your mouth water, it smells so good. And the taste is out of this world!!

I just made this, just acouple of questions. When you feed it does it matter how much flour and water you add? It seems like doubling the recipe every 2 days would be way too much.

worked perfectly. thx

Have kept a starter for years, I feed it with the water from my potatoes after boiling them. I use organic and have grown them myself. I also scrub before placing in kettle and strain the liquid after removing the potatoes. Then refrigerate in a glass container. When my starter needs fed..it is on the counter year-round in a stone crock with loose lid…I remove from refrigerator, shake it and pour out desired amount. I NEVER have added yeast to my starter and have fed it with whole wheat, rye, white, potatoes, or any other flour I desire with no change in its consistency

I just racked off my apple wine and started using the Lees (spent yeast) to make hamburger buns. I used regular yeast to start my wine and thought it might be good to experiment and not waste it. I put one tablespoon of the lees in with the recipe amount of water and one teaspoon of sugar and allowed it to ferment for a few hours before it became active. Perhaps I’ll try boiling the water beforehand and cooling it, as I used tap water straight from the tap it would contain chlorine and I see lots of posts about bottled water, which is basically tap water passed through a filter. Boiling water drives out chlorine and this may speed up the fermentation. Thanks for your forum.

I have to get some filtered water first, then I will get this puppy going. I love the simplicity of it. We might have to move in 6 months due to hubs job, so, if my starter collapses,dies, or whatever, it will be quick and painless to start all over again. I sure hope this will work in Herman recipes!

This is exactly the old fashion sour dough starter! Love it, and you can use other types of flour also.

I recently received a recipe just like this one, only starting with less. It just got ‘done’ and I am anxious to try it! It’s so easy to make! I like the idea of capturing the wild yeast rather than using the commercial.

Although I have not used this exact recipe, I use this same method to make my own sourdough starters. Filtered water is very important as I have found using chlorinated water leaves an off, almost bad, smell. The only issues I have had with sourdough starters is the lid of my container blows off during high levels of activity. This has been the end of all my starters as the starter turns an unappealing grey color if exposed to air too long.

PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This looks wonderful. Do u stir in the bowl when u leave it out for 2 to 3 days?

Haven’t started one yet but am curious as how to measure and use in cooking. If a recipe calls for 1 package of yeast (.25 oz) how is that measured out in the recipe?

Makes great bread with the Sourdough Bread III recipe with a few minor adjustments to the recipe.