Sourdough Starter
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Potato Flour
- 3 tbsp White Sugar
- 1 Packet Active Dry Yeast
- 1 Cup Warm Water
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a glass mason jar.
Mix with a wooden spoon.
Poke a hole in the paper towel for a wooden spoon (as in the picture).
Cover with a paper towel, so the gases can get released.
Secure the paper towel with a rubber band.
Let this starter sit on your counter for 4 days, stirring whenever you think about it.
You can store this in the back refrigerator like this, and pull it of the fridge a few days before you want to make bread.
So, I started this starter about 5 days ago. I have a recipe for Sour Dough bread that a previous patient of mine gave me. She also brought me a cup of the starter, ready for me to start. I no longer have the starter, I think the airport security would have had a conniption fit if I would have tried to bring that on an international flight!
Well, I needed to get this starter back up and going. My first attempt I thought to myself, hmmm maybe I can just make starter out of using what I used to use to “start” the starter. I admit, with shame, I didn’t even think about yeast. Needless to say, the “starter” didn’t do anything but get icky on my counter.
And that lead to me and my yeast research the other day, and lead me to just add a packet of yeast to my starter recipe for the starter. Are you following my train of thought? 🙂
Today is now the 5th day, and I am going to Starter my “mother starter” by adding the activation ingredients.
To activate the starter
My starter, started bubbling a little yesterday on the 4th day. And now today, on the 5th day, I will feed the starter with 3 tbsp potato flour, 3 tbsp sugar and 1 cup warm water. And leave this activated starter on the counter for either 24 hours up to 3 days. You will know when It is ready because it will be bubbly.
Here in Italy, I have been unsuccessful at finding “instant mashed potatoes”. I searched all over the internet for information, as in “are potato flakes the same thing as potato flour”? No idea, but, I read the description on a package of fecola here, and decided that I might as well give it a whirl.
So in short, yes you can substitute potato flour for instant potato flakes.