Sourdough Starter, Sourdough Starter Recipe

My family love sourdough bread, pancakes, waffles, doughnuts, etc. And I also make them for our guests in our Rocky Mountain Bed and Breakfast Inn as well. You have to have a basic sourdough starter to use in all these recipes. 

Sourdough starter can be kept for years, and I've heard of restaurants and people that have had their starter going for decades. Some people think it can be a lot of work to keep it going, but it's actually really easy and quite forgiving. I cannot keep plants alive for the life of me, but I've had my sourdough starter going for a few years now. 

I have this recipe in the cookbook I wrote, Rocky Mountain Lodge & Cabins Favorite Recipes, and sell at our B&B. This cookbook, which has 350 recipes in it, including a number of sourdough recipes, can be purchased at our gift shop for just $16.95.

Here's the recipe and a few tips at the end. I will also be sharing some recipes in the future, but the starter is the base, and it needs about 5 days to get started, so get your starter going and I'll be back in a few days and share some sourdough recipes.

SOURDOUGH STARTER

• 1 pkg. dry yeast
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar

In a large non-metal bowl soften yeast in 1/2 cup warm (110 degrees) water.

Stir in 2 cups warm (110 degrees) milk, 2 cups flour and 1 tablespoon sugar. Beat until smooth.

Cover with cheesecloth, or place in a jar with a loose fitting lid and let stand at room temperature 5 days, stirring once or twice a day. It will be ready to use in 5 days.

TO KEEP STARTER GOING:
After using some, add 3/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup flour, and 1 teaspoon sugar to the remaining starter. Leave at room temperature, stirring every day or two.

If not used after 10 days, add 1 teaspoon sugar to keep it going. Repeat adding sugar every 10 days if necessary.

This will last indefinitely and can be passed down for generations.

It also makes great gifts at holiday times to give some starter along with some recipes.

TIPS:

I keep my starter in a decorative cookie jar with the seal from the lid removed so it's not a tight seal. It can get kind of gunky at the top after awhile and by not having it in a clear jar you won't notice it, and it looks nice on the counter.

I'll put the starter in a large bowl for a little bit every once in awhile while I wash the jar.

The starter is VERY forgiving. If you forget to stir it for several days, don't worry about, just stir it, it will be fine. It will end up separating a bit, just stir it and all will be well. If it's been more than a week, just add a teaspoon of sugar and stir it.