We're starting simply tonight, intrepid breadheads: one white starter recipe, one rye starter recipe, from nothing but flour and water to (hopefully) a happy, bubbling culture six days later. We will build starters, we might have a little discussion about baker's percentage's, but that's it for now. This is mostly due to my desire not to bludgeon you over the head with too much information, too soon, but also due to the inevitable and sad aftereffects of insomnia on my little mind. (Apparently at one point at the office today, I sat with my mouth hanging open for a good three minutes, until I caught my reflection in my computer monitor. If a picture had been taken of me up to that moment, and if you had been asked to write a caption for that picture, I'm betting that seven out of ten of you would have written "Braiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiins..."
But back to the topic at hand. For ease of explanation, I'll explain what I did, i.e. how I built my starters (scaling down a bit, of course, because I built my starters at Chef Jeffrey Hamelman's Advanced Bread Baking class at the King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center, where we were working with much larger quantities of dough), but I hasten to reiterate that these starters are not the be-all and end-all of starters. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of terrific books on bread baking that can point you toward something that you can use with ease. I will be glad to share a list of those terrific books, but for now, leave us roll up our sleeves and get to work.
White Sourdough Starter (a/k/a chef)
Day one: In a bowl, crock or plastic container, combine 250 grams whole rye (or pumpernickel) flour, 312 grams warm water (about 85-90F) and 5g honey (the honey is optional, but it will assist in the fermentation process). Mix well, cover and leave for 24 hours.
Day two: Measure 285 grams of the day one mix; discard the rest of the mix and return the scaled mix to the bowl. Add 67.5 grams whole rye flour, 57.5 grams all-purpose flour and 155 grams warm (90F) water. Mix well, cover and leave to ferment. Do this twice on Day Two, about 12 hours apart.
Day three through five: Measure 282.5 grams of the starter mix; discard the rest. To the reserved starter add 125 grams all-purpose flour and 156 grams 85F-degree water. Feed the starter in these proportions twice a day. By day six you should have an active culture, ready for raising bread, but Chef Hamelman advises that if you can keep feeding it for two or three more days, you will have a stronger and more complexly-flavored starter.
Rye Sourdough Starter (a/k/a rye chef)
Day one: Combine 227 grams whole rye (or pumpernickel) flour and 227 grams warm water (90F). Mix, cover and let ferment for 24 hours.
Day two and three: Measure 125 grams of mix; discard the rest. Add 125 grams of whole rye flour and 125 grams of warm water. Mix, cover and let ferment. Feed this starter once a day for these two days, unless it becomes so vigorous so quickly that you think it can support a second feeding (unlikely at this stage, but possible).
Day four and five: Feed the starter in the same proportions you used in days two and three, only this time give the starter two daily feedings, not just one. Like the white chef, the rye chef should be ready for baking by Day Six, but if you can hold off for a couple more days, the resultant starter will be stronger and better flavored.
More will follow, dear friends, when I am not quite so brainfully challenged. (Braiiiiiiiiiins...)