Starter dough and the start of something

I have done it, I have started a yeast culture and I have grand plans to keep it with me for the rest of my life. I thought it was an apt time to start it,  it is the beginning of my last year of university and this could be the year of decisions, hard work and ends.  So my starter dough will be the constant in all the chaos, and a reminder of my baking aspirations in the dark times, or to be less dramatic, it is waiting so I can make sourdough whenever I want to.

I have taken a step into the unknown, I do not know how it should smell or look,  how long the starter should ferment for or when to feed it. I used the recipe from the River Cottage Handbook, it provides step by step instructions and photos and uses detailed descriptions to help you make important decisions for the best start for your starter.

To start, whisk equal measures of flour and water  for a long time by hand or ten minutes with an electric whisk, until the batter is light and thick. Left in warm place, the mixture should start to produce bubbles as the sugars in the flour break down to glucose, so yeast can feed and produce more yeast and carbon dioxide. So essentially, I am making my own raising agent.  Over the next few days, ‘refreshments’ are added, extra flour and water, to keep the culture alive.  Once the culture is a week old it can be added to more flour and water to make a sour dough loaf. This is the plan anyway.

Day Three, after one refreshing, the culture is dark and bubbling, it also smells bitter and terrible. The culture was very watery and had separated before I whisked it. Are these good signs? I will soon find out.

Day Four the starter is looking much the same, I have fed it for the last time, and will now leave it at room temperature. I will pay attention to its needs but more so a couple of days before I want to use it, to make sure it is at its most active for baking with.

Sourdough loaves that use a home-grown yeast cultures have a rich sour flavor, the longer they are kept alive, the richer the flavor, although I will not be waiting very much longer before I make my first sourdough loaf. The River Cottage people explain sourdough starters far better than I do: