Starting my sourdough starter

Back in December, while I was spending my time at pipeline camp

(I had a lot of extra time on my hands!)

I started browsing different kinds of breads.

I wanted to add fresh baked bread to my farmers market booth this coming season.

The one that intrigued me the most was sour dough.

I spent days reading through starter recipes and how to grow a great sour dough culture.

By chance I came across this informative site:

Sourdough Home

In this site I read about

Carl Griffith's Sour Dough Starter

The story goes, in 1847 Lt. Col. Griffiths great grandmother brought the culture west on the Oregon Trail from Missouri. She passed it down the family line.

Carl T. Griffith inherited the starter from his parents and made an institution of sharing the culture with anyone who was interested.

If you sent postage to Carl, he would send you starter.

Unfortunately Carl died in 2000 at the age of 80, but his sourdough lives on!

A group of Carls friends carry on his tradition of sharing the starter. If you send postage, the starter is free.

Sounded interesting enough for me to find out. I sent a self addressed, stamped envelope and waited for a reply.

And this is what came in the mail.

A small package of starter mix.

Along with this letter

I wanted to revive the starter the minute I opened up the envelope.

But that was when the pipeliner took his 2 months off and we were on the go constantly.

A great sour dough starts with a great starter. And that starter needs a lot of attention in the beginning. Not what I had.

Now I have the time!

So today I began the revival!

I measured 1/2 tsp. granules into a glass jar.

Then the instructions said add 1 tbsp. lukewarm water.

Let stand to soften.

I decided to go on my morning walk.

I came back and it looked like this:

The granules had softened.

The directions read to mix in 1 tbsp of flour.

Depending on the flour, you may need to add an additional tsp or 2 of water. You want the mixture to be like thin pancake batter.

When the mixture gets bubbly, put it in a larger container.

The first sign of starter activity could take from 4 hours to 12 hours.

A warmer room temperature is helpful in reviving the starter.

Its a little chilly in the house today, so this is where it went.

On top of the fridge, between the pipeliners hats.

I will keep checking on it the rest of the day.

When its "ready" I will move on to the next steps.

And if it fails I still have more left in the package to try again.

Wish me luck!

Liz