Sourdough Starter (from Allrecipes)

Have you ever wondered where the heck do you buy sourdough starter? Or any "unusual" baking ingredients? A lot of these items you cannot buy in your regular grocery store. Many things you can make from scratch, right in your own kitchen. If you want to make your own sourdough at home, here is the most simple, handy recipe for you to use for sourdough starter. I will keep posting cheaper and healthier alternatives for baking ingredients for everyone, as much as I can. All credit for this recipe goes to Esther Nelson, here is the link : http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sourdough-starter/


And here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

1. 1 pkg dry active yeast (.25 ounce)
2. 2 cups warm water
3. 2 cups all purpose flour

1. In large non-metallic bowl, mix together dry yeast, 2 cups warm water, and 2 cups all purpose flour and cover loosely.
2. Leave in a warm place to ferment, 4 to 8 days. Depending on temperature and humidity of kitchen, times may vary. Place on cookie sheet in case of overflow. Check on occasionally.
3. When mixture is bubbly and has a pleasant sour smell, it is ready to use. If mixture has a pink, orange, or any other strange color tinge to it, THROW IT OUT! and start over. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered until ready to bake.
4. When you use starter to bake, always replace with equal amounts of a flour and water mixture with a pinch of sugar. So, if you remove 1 cup starter, replace with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour. Mix well and leave out on the counter until bubbly again, then refrigerate. If a clear to light brown liquid has accumulated on top, don't worry, this is an alcohol base liquid that occurs with fermentation. Just stir this back into the starter, the alcohol bakes off and that wonderful sourdough flavor remains! Sourdough starters improve with age, they used to be passed down generation to generation!