Knowing how to replace the staples in the kitchen in some other way than a trip to the store is an important survival skill. One of those things is bread.
The first step to making bread is taking the time to learn to bake, which, unfortunately, is becoming a lost art in and of itself. The second step is to learn how to obtain the components of bread, such as flour, water, and yeast.
If you are ready to go beyond the basic sourdough starter, try these yeast procurement methods for all new flavors and textures in your baking.
Feeding the Starter
Whether you are talking about a standard sourdough starter, or one of those listed below, you will see many recipes talking about “feeding” the starter. This means adding 1 cup flour and 1 cup water to the mix so that the yeast can keep growing. You will need to feed the starter daily if it is at room temperature, or weekly if it is in the fridge. If you don’t bake bread that day, you will also need to toss out one cup of the starter so that the ratios stay the same. This is an important step—and can be a great motivator to bake regularly so that none of your hard work goes to waste! Yeast starters are one thing you will not want to throw in the compost pile, as the bacteria can grow out of control and give you a very unpleasant result.