Feeding Your Natural Yeast

In a previous post I showed how to make yeast from raisin water. Raisin water yeast has a nice flavor and makes delicious bread but I've noticed that it only seems to last for two batches of bread and then it dies. However the sourdough starter has been very hardy and almost impossible to kill. For those of you, (like me) who might feel like you struggle to keep even the strongest house plant alive this might be a better option to use to make bread. I've met people who have sourdough starter that their pioneer ancestors brought across the plains. It's easy to feed and easy to keep and particularly patient if ever neglected (we all need a vacation now and then).

This post is a step by step for taking care of your sourdough yeast. I keep two kinds of natural yeast in my fridge. The first is a little more sour and I feed it unbleached unbromated white flour. The second is sweeter (less counter time) and I feed it freshly ground whole wheat flour. I feed both of them with the same system but have pictures of both below so you can see the difference between the two.

Here is my white flour starter—fresh out of the fridge. After the last feeding it was double in size but having been in the fridge for a few days it shrunk back down almost to where it was right after I fed it. This is normal and just a sign that you need to feed your yeast. But it can stay at this state for up to a week without being fed. If you notice liquid at the top or the starter has turned a dark color at the top, just scrape it off and throw it away. The liquid is alcohol, a byproduct of yeast. I haven't figured out what the dark stuff is but the starter underneath is perfectly safe to use.

This is my whole wheat starter out of the fridge.

A peek inside the white flour starter before I fed it.

Since the starter measured 1/2 cup I added 1/2 cup water. I always use bottled water from the store. I have tried using water from the tap but it totally killed my yeast and I have tried using filtered water from the fridge and again, no bubbles. Having no bubbles is the only time you can be sure your yeast is dead. Although, even then it can often be revived with a little patience and tlc. Back to the water dilemma, it seems water that has been softened through a water softener system is not good for the yeast and the same goes for distilled water. I just purchase a gallon of water for $1 at the local grocery store.

I have found it important to stir the water in thoroughly.

Next I added 1/2 Cup unbleached unbromated flour. It is helpful to feed your yeast with the type of flour you plan on using in your bread dough. I keep this white flour starter for making boules and pizza dough.

I stir in the white flour until I have a somewhat thick oatmeal like consistency. This often requires me to add a little bit more flour to get it right. It should be wet and sticky but not runny. It takes practice but you don't want it too wet or too dry. Think lumpy oatmeal.

I set the lid back on my jar lightly so it can still get air then leave it on the counter. I also mark the jar with a rubberband to show where the dough is at after I feed it.

Next I fed my whole wheat starter with freshly ground white winter wheat. I added 1/2 cup water and a little bit more than 1/2 cup flour. Note: I occasionally feed this starter with freshly ground rye flour. It seems to perk it up. I have yet to experiment with other flours but will let you know when I do.

 Here is the white flour starter after about 5-6 hours. It will double faster in the summer and slower in the winter depending on the temperature and humidity in your home. This is the optimal time to use your starter to make dough. If you won't be using it right away then put it in the fridge. If you are waiting several days before using it you will need to throw away about half of it and feed it several hours before you plan on making your dough.

Here is the whole wheat starter after several hours.

I decided to use the whole wheat starter to make dough so I didn't refrigerate it. Since I didn't get to it right away it began to shrink. As long as it doesn't shrink too much you can still use it to make bread dough.

I use almost everything in the jar to make my dough. I dump it into my bosch but don't scrape the sides. As I make the dough I let what's left in the jar settle toward the bottom. It measures about 1/4 cup.

So I added 1/4 cup water, stirred well, then added 1/4 cup or so flour.

I marked it, covered it with a lid and then left it on the counter to double. Then I put it back in the fridge.