Feeding Dough-ba Fett, My Sourdough Starter

I got a new pet today. Well, it seems like a pet because I have to feed it and care for it. But this pet, unlike an actual animal pet, will yield us - with any luck - some delicious bread to eat! I'm grateful for a generous friend sharing her starter and an online sourdough group to help me through this process. The first thing I needed to learn: how to feed the starter.

Ingredients

1/4 C sourdough starter
1/4 C warm water (instead of using a wet measuring cup, she suggests using the same volume measuring cup)
scant 1/4 C whole wheat flour*
scant 1/4 C all-purpose flour
Also needed: mixing bowl, waxed cloth cover

Procedure

Take your starter out of the refrigerator. If there's any liquid on the top, either drain it off or stir it in. Discard** all but 1/4 C starter and place that in a bowl.

Pour in the warm water. Add in the flours. Mix until smooth and cover.

Cover - I used a wax cloth - and let sit on the counter at room temperature for at least four hours before placing it back in the refrigerator.

If you don't plan to bake, feed it at least once a week. If you plan to bake, feed it twice before you bake - about 24 hours apart - to make sure the yeast is nice and happy.

*I've been doing a lot of reading and you don't have to mix your flours - half whole wheat and half all-purpose. I plan to experiment with different flours once I get the hang of this. But I'm sure that all all-purpose would work as well.

**'Discard', in this case, can either be used to bake or given to a friend to start his or her own sourdough pet. It doesn't mean throw it away.

Well, wish me luck. Let's hope I can keep Dough-ba Fett alive.

You can follow the complete Adventures of Dough-ba Fett here.

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