A fuss-free, tasty and very tangy sourdough starter, including instructions for "Putting to sleep" and "Waking up."
Yield: about 2 cups "Sleeping" sourdough starter.
Time to make: 45 minutes active, spread over 4 days.
Equipment needed: Measuring Tablespoon. Stirring spoon. Plastic, stainless steel, or glass container with lid. Clean spice grinder or coffee grinder or home grain grinder.
Ingredients
Procedure:
1) Place 2 Tablespoons fine brown rice flour and 1 Tablespoon tap water into a plastic, glass, or stainless steel container that has a lid. Stir until well blended, cover loosely, and set in a room-temperature location (65 - 80 F).
2) After 24 hours, add 3 Tablespoons brown rice flour and 1 1/2 Tablespoons tap water to the mixture. Stir well, re-cover, and return to room temperature location.
3) After another 24 hours, add 5 Tablespoons brown rice flour and 3 Tablespoons tap water to the mixture. Stir well, re-cover, and return to room temperature location.
4) At the end of the next 24 hours, the mixture should be bubbly, have a beer-ish aroma, and a pungent, sour taste. If so, it is ready to be "Put to sleep". If it smells foul or is moldy, discard and start again. To put it to sleep, place 9 Tablespoons long-grain brown rice in a spice or coffee grinder, or a grain grinder set to coarse, and grind into a gritty textured flour. Add this to the wet starter and stir until the mixture resembles damp sand. Place into a zip-lock bag, squeeze out all the air, date and label the bag, and refrigerate.
5) To "Wake up" for use: remove sleeping starter from refrigerator. Place 2 Tablespoons into a bowl or container that can be covered loosely. Add 2 Tablespoons of coarse brown rice flour made from long-grain brown rice and 1 1/2 Tablespoon tap water. Cover loosely and place in a room temperature location until mixture swells, becomes aromatic, and bubbly - about 4 hours. It is now ready to be added to bread dough. See additional sourdough recipes. NOTE: Any starter that becomes foul-smelling or moldy should be discarded.