*  Exported from  MasterCook II  *

                            Sourdough Starter

Recipe By     :
Serving Size  : 1    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Bread With Yeast                 Sourdough

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
   1      tablespoon    dry yeast
   2 1/2  cups          warm water
   2      teaspoons     sugar -- or honey
   2 1/2  cups          flour


Combine ingredients. Let it ferment for five days, stirring daily. May
be
kept indefinitely in the refrigerator, although it's best to use it
regularly to replenish the starter. If liquid rises to top during
storage,
just stir back in.
Many sourdough recipes use a sponge method of rising, using the starter
as
the leavening agent and mixing about 1 cup for every 6 cups flour and
4-6
cups water to make the sponge. This ferments overnight at room temp. You
then replace the starter used from the new mixture, add oil, salt and
enough flour to make the dough. Knead, cut, form into loaves  and allow
to
rise for two hours, then bake (425  for 20 minutes, turn down to 375 
and
bake for another 1 to 1-14 hours, brushing loaves with water before each
oven entry).


For English muffins, instead of cutting for loaves, roll dough out to
@1/4"
thick and cut into rounds. Let rise for an hour or so, until doubled,
then
bake slowly on an ungreased griddle, starting with high heat and
reducing
heat to brown slowly for each batch, baking 5-6 minutes on each side. I
like to roll mine out on corn meal, which gives them sort of a pro
finish.
They freeze well, but you may want to fork split them first

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NOTES : See directions