onlygrans

We're going to kick things off with the Welshman's rough and ready guide to starting a sourdough as lush as his moustache is.  I did try to enlist the help of Ziggy, but he's being a bit elusive today as we changed the bedding in one of his cages and he's got the hump...

YOU WILL NEED:

You'll need a reasonably sized jar with a lid/rubbery seal bit

Rye flour (or white - to be honest, we've fed her every kind of flour under the sun and she seems quite content with life)

Tap water (we're not fancy here)

Some measuring implements (we originally used a jug, but have upgraded to some fab measuring spoony things - very technical)

A warm place to keep her happy (we recommend the airing cupboard, wrapped in a towel)

*note: none of these links are sponsored, they're just for illustrative purposes and we have no affiliation with any brands mentioned, we just like them 😊

GETTING THE STARTER STARTED:

1) Give your Kilner jar a bit of a clean so she's ready for the doughy mother.  Measure out around 100g of flour and 100ml of water (this can be rough as we did a few tablespoons of each) and pop them into the Kilner - give her a bit of a stir.

2) She'll want to sit for a bit with the top off (don't we all), so leave her in a room temp area for a bit (we did it for half an hour so she could get some air to her).

3) Take the rubbery bit off the top of the Kilner jar and then close the lid.  Wrap her in a towel and pop her into the airing cupboard.

4) Around the same time the next day, take her out and feed her a tablespoon of flour and water, mix and then pop her back, wrapped in her towel to keep some heat in (don't wrap the top, just the sides, so she can breathe).

5) Repeat the feeding for about a week - you'll know she is starting to work because she'll smell like playdough and have bubbles (this means the magic yeast in the air is starting to work!!).

6) If you haven't killed her after a week, then she should be ready to use!  Halve the contents and use them to make a loaf, or you could give it to a friend or family member as a yeastie boys present.

Keep feeding her as long as you want to use her - we usually do this by tablespoons or even by eye - and then every 3/4 days you can halve her and use this to make the bread mix.  We'll be back with Grandma Sally to talk about how to create different kinds of bready goodness, but let us know if this works for you too!  We've been having a great time with the Mother, although it's not so good for my waistline...Ziggy is still salty because we haven't let him have any of the sunflower loaf.