Natural Leaven Starter

Dry Old World Natural Leaven Starter and 6 pages of instructions and recipes can be purchased at the rates.

1 = $12 (price includes shipping)

5 = $40 (price includes shipping)

10 = $60 (price includes shipping)

As you embark on the journey of making Old World Naturally Leavened Bread, you will eventually come to the realization that the leaven is the foundation that the whole bread making process is based upon. Having a good, active, tenacious, fragrant leaven will solve most problems with your bread making. With that in mind I have outlined below some simple steps to follow to care for your leaven. Remember that the leaven is full of living organism that need to be nurtured.

Reactivating a Dry Starter takes up 18-20 hours. Using a glass, ceramic, or plastic container, add one tablespoon of lukewarm water to 1/2 teaspoon of Old World Natural Leaven Starter and let stand for a few minutes to soften the start granules. Then mix in one tablespoon of flour, the mixture should resemble pancake batter. When the mixture gets bubbly or by 12 hours, stir in 1/4 cup of lukewarm water and 1/4 cup of flour. When that mix rises up (in about 3-4 hours or so) add 1/2 cup of lukewarm water and 1/2 cup of flour. When this bubbles up (in about 3-4 more hours), you will have about 1 ½ cups of very active starter that is ready for use in Quick Breads (p.3), Simple Naturally Leavened Dough (p.4), and many other Recipes Using the Naturally Leavened Dough (p.5). If you go longer in between feedings, like 4-8 hours, it’s perfectly acceptable.

Refreshing or “Feeding” a Wet Starter After the dry starter has been reactivated you can keep it going by either using the starter every day and feeding it daily or by storing it in a cool environment such as the refrigerator and then pulling it out every few days to feed it. When feeding a starter a good rule of thumb is to triple the starter at feedings: If you have about ½ cup of starter, then feed with a ½ cup of water and ½ cup and flour. Feedings do not have to exactly triple the starter—a little less or a little more flour and water is fine. Large feeding will give the starter enough food to overcome any acid buildup and allow the microbes to replicate quickly. If you decide to store your starter in the refrigerator you will find that the starter has begun to separate and a grey liquid has formed on top. This liquid is a mixture of alcohol and vinegar. For the quickest return to a good smelling starter, carefully dump or spoon off just the alcohol mixture on top. Then feed the starter as above. Test the starter by smelling it before you use it. The starter should have a good aroma and not a sour pungent aroma. The sour pungent aroma is an indication that the overall acid load in the starter is too high for good growth. If your starter has been neglected in the refrigerator for a long period of time you can still revive it by the same methods just mentioned but it may take several more feedings to create a good active culture that smells good. One dilemma that you will run into by doubling, tripling, or quadrupling the starter is that you will end up with quite a bit of it. This is not a problem because the starter can be used with any quick bread recipe—see Soaked Grain Recipes, p3.

Note: In the future you can expect the first sign of starter activity (bubbling), after refreshing, to take from 4-12 hours. Keep lightly covered while refreshing. When you feed your starter, the time between refreshments (additions of flour and water) will depend mainly on temperature. Good temperature for the starter is between 68-77F. Cooler temperatures will work but just slow down the growth process.

Storing Your Starter—Choose from Three Methods.

(1) Wet Method is the most commonly known method. Take 1 Tbsp of wet starter and add it to a jar in the refrigerator. Stir in 1/4 cup of lukewarm water and 1/4 cup of flour and place jar in the refrigerator. Feed the starter every few days or even once a week with 1 cup of fresh whole wheat flour and 1 cup of warm water.

(2) Stiff Dough Method is probably the most traditional. Mix ½ C of starter with flour to make stiff dough. Store starter in a ceramic jar surrounded by whole wheat flour, cover, and seal. In dry climates, this will store for about 1 week on the countertop and for an extended time in the refrigerator.

(3) Dry Method is our favorite method! After making bread dough, let the dough dry on the edges of your mixing bowl until thoroughly dry (no joke!). Air drying takes a few days in dry climates and may not happen at all in more humid areas. This dried dough residue can become your dried starter for your next recipe or you may grind it and save it for short or long-term storage.

Alternatively, you can dry activated or refreshed Natural Leaven Starter. Spread the Natural Leaven Starter ¼” thick on in a shallow pan and allow to air dry for a few days or place on dehydrator sheets and process on low until brittle. Break the starter into small pieces and grind it in a blender, coffee grinder or food processor. The dried Natural Leaven Starter will store for a long time in a plastic bag or container in your cupboard. You may reconstitute this dried Natural Leaven Starter per directions on this page, Reactivating a Dry Starter.