Sourdough Starter

This is a multi-day process of roughly 7-14 days to get your sourdough starter to the right maturity it needs to be to make bread. Prepare to have a place to store your starter that is at room temperature between 65F and 80F for your first week of feedings. After it's been matured, it can then be put into a dormant rest in your refrigerator for up to 2 weeks at a time between feedings.

The Process

Day 1: Combine 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water in a jar and mix well. Leave in a room-temp  loosely covered.

Day 2: Discard 20g of your starter. Feed your starter 50 more grams of flour and 50 more grams of water. Mix well and return to storage.

Day 3: Discard 100g of the starter and feed it back 50g more flour and 50g more water.
By this day, you may start to see a lot of bubbles forming. This means your sourdough is correctly fermenting. If it falls when agitated, that's also ok, as it will start to strengthen over time.

Day 4: Discard 150g of the starter and feed it back 100g flour and 100g water.

Day 5-14: Repeat step 4 each day.
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At some point between days 7-14 your starter may start to be used for bread backing.  Waiting a full 14 days is recommended if your starter doesn't have a strong yeasty flavor, or doesn't have a strong bubbly structure. Flour can tend to behave differently every time you use it, so results can vary. It's best to use instincts, your nose, and your eyes to judge if the starter is being more active each day.
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Tips for baking and storing

1. To test your starter is ready after around day 7-10, add a teaspoon of the starter to a glass of water.  If it floats, your starter is strong and ripe. If it sinks, repeat step 4.
2. If you're starter starts to become too much for your container, ie: fills more than 60% after it's been mixed, it will need room to expand. Consider discarding more starter to keep it around 50% of it's condensed container size, or upgrade to a larger container. 50% is usually a sweet spot to allow enough empty space for it to expand.
3. The day you plan to make sourdough bread, repeat step 4 for the morning of, or the night before you start making dough..  This will give your starter a boost and make it more active to add to your final dough.
4. You can store your starter in the fridge after the 14th day with feedings once every 1-2 weeks.  It's best to place a reusable sticker or masking tape on your container so you can write the dates of your feedings and know when it's time to feed again.
5. If your starter forms a brown liquid on top, this is ok.  It's called "hooch".  You can dump off the liquid and feed your starter per usual for the next couple of days at room temperature.
6. Your starter should always smell great.  Like brewing yeast or beer.  If it smells like mold, or shows signs of visible mold, it's best to start over.
7. Starter can also be spread thin on parchment paper and dried out to form your own bakers yeast. Store it in an airtight container in your fridge for up to a year.