Sourdough Starter

The above photo contains three things that alone are not that spectacular, but when they get together: magic happens. Flour. Water. Grapes. Done. Thats all. Well, plus a little time. Behold: my first sourdough starter.

Since the weather is still too warm to do much serious cooking, I've taken to starting up a more long term project. Making my own sourdough starter seemed to fit the bill. With the recent acquisition of a digital kitchen scale, I figured bread baking season is open for business. Unless you have worked in a carnival and/or understand how humidity affects flour, using a scale (digital or otherwise) is the only way to accurately know how much flour you are using. Conclusion: if you are baking, you should have a scale. End of story. Back to the starter:

1 lbs flour
1 pint water
1 lbs crushed organic grapes
a large bowl
a clean dish towel
cheesecloth

In a large clean bowl, mix flour and water (measured by weight). Crush grapes and wrap in cheesecloth. Reserve any grape juice and add to mixture. Add packet of grapes. Cover with a clean dish towel and store at 70-80F. After the mixture has started to ferment (anywhere from 1 to 5 days, remove grapes and add 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water. Do this once or twice a day for 3-4 days, then transfer to a clean container and refrigerate until ready to use. You will have to feed the starter periodically.

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