Creating a Sour Dough Starter - from Apples

If you have ever wondered how to make your own sour dough starter to make fresh sour dough bread this is one way.

A starter is a homemade yeast. You can make bread with commercial yeast available in either dry or fresh forms or you can use a starter or some of both.

You can make a sour dough starter which you can keep in your fridge for years as long as you continue to keep it alive. It is a nice way to start bread or add to your bread  recipes. I had a starter that I had alive for 5 years and then we moved so I had to let it go. I had previously created my starter with a bit of warm water and a package of yeast and flour and then just kept it going.

This starter is made with yeast that is on  organic apples. Yeast is naturally on some fruit and some vegetables like apples, grapes or red cabbage. I have used organic apples and some filtered water plus an organic flour. I like this type of sour dough starter because it retains a slight apple essence when you bake your bread. 

This is a 5 day project however, it only takes a few minutes of activity each day.

You will need:

3  organic apples - peeled with a bit of the fruit on the peel

1/2 cup of warm filtered water

2 tbsp of flour- you can use organic white or a rye or whole wheat

second day

1 more apple peeled with some of the fruit attached to the peel

2 tbsp flour

third day

1 tbsp flour

fourth day

1 cup warm water

1 more apple peeled with some of the fruit attached to the peel

1 cup flour

Day 1: peel some unwashed organic apples along with some of the fruit. There is natural yeast that is attached to the skin of the apples and well as some in the air. I add the peels to a bowl along with the warm water.

Sprinkle the flour over the apples and warm water and stir. Flip the peels to be touching the liquid. You want the yeast to ferment with the flour and the sugar in the fruit. Leave uncovered on the counter for 12 hours.

Day 2:  discard the peel and add a bit more flour and a new apple peel then leave overnight again. This time cover with plastic wrap.

Day 3: discard the peel and add 1 tbsp of flour, stir and leave covered for another day.

Day 4: I am starting to see little bubbles  which indicates fermentation. Smell it. It should smell yeasty and like apples. If it smells bad start again.

add 1 cup flour, 1 cup warm water and another apple peeled. stir and cover with plastic wrap for another day.

Day 5: your starter should be active and bubbly. You can now store in a sealed container I like to use glass. You can keep it in the fridge and then you need to feed it once a week. You simply remove from fridge, smell it to make sure it does not smell bad, it should smell sour and of apples. Stir it because the liquid will separate to the top. Allow to come to room temperature, and then remove 1 cup of your starter and use in your favourite bread recipe and then replace the amount you removed with 1 cup warm water and 1 cup flour to keep it going. Let it start to bubble again before putting it back in  the fridge. Once it is active you can keep it alive for years as long as you keep feeding it. Do not let the sour dough starter come into contact with metal as it is very acidic. I like to store it in a glass jar in the fridge- this way I can see it and it reminds me to use it and keep it going. I like this recipe because it will continue to hold on to the apple essence even as it ages. 

I will make some bread in another post with the sour dough starter.