A sourdough starter is needed for any sourdough recipe and an easy one can be made using equal parts of distilled, blood-warm water, and flour. The yeast may be harvested from the air by leaving the flour-water mixture exposed, sitting on the counter, yet covered with cheesecloth. Another way is to use apple or unsulfured raisins to inject yeast directly into the water before adding any flour. In both methods, you are watching for bubbles to occur within a few days or a week, depending on the temperature in the room. Likewise, both should be stirred after twenty-four hours, and every day after that. The fruit solution should remain free from mold and neither one should ever be allowed to obtain an off smell. What you are looking to achieve is sourness, not turpentine! Once the bubbles appear, however, you have yeast activity! With the fruit-yeast injected water, the fruit then gets strained and flour added to equal the amount of water.
The easiest way to get a good sourdough starter is to use packaged yeast. Mix one cup of tepid or blood-warm distilled water to one cup of white flour. Add a pinch of yeast and wait for the bubbling action to take place. As it sits on the counter, the yeast will awaken and feed on the starches in the flour. After eating they burp and bubbles are the result. These little guys will continue to multiply at a rate according to the warmth of their environment.
The easiest way to get a good sourdough starter is to use packaged yeast. Mix one cup of tepid or blood-warm distilled water to one cup of white flour. Add a pinch of yeast and wait for the bubbling action to take place. As it sits on the counter, the yeast will awaken and feed on the starches in the flour. After eating they burp and bubbles are the result. These little guys will continue to multiply at a rate according to the warmth of their environment.