Experiment: Prepping the levain for my sourdough loaf

So... I've been feeding and dividing my sourdough starter for the last week.  Most instructions for cultivating your own starter will tell you to discard 1/2 the starter each day before feeding it.  The science behind that makes sense.  But I'm ... frugal.  Thrifty.  (Ask my husband and he'll probably tell you I'm cheap...but that it has saved us over the last few years.)

So I've been saving it.  And storing it in the fridge.... trying to find the right way to use it up.  There are many recipes, I just haven't had the time and energy to try anything.  Hopefully this week I'll at least try some pancakes or pretzels or even some crackers.

For now, on to the pre-show.  Tomorrow will be the main event!

Depending on how you're managing your starter, there are a couple of things to do before you can actually make the sourdough.  Since this was the first week of life for my starter, it hasn't been living in the refrigerator.  I wanted it to be alive all week, maturing and getting wonderfully tangy.

If you have a mature starter and generally let it live in the fridge to control the growth, you'll need to bring it out and let it warm up a few days ahead of your baking day.  You're only going to need a tablespoon of starter for this recipe, so feel free to just bring out a small amount to feed for the next few days.

The day before you want to bake, you will need to turn your starter into a levain.  This will hang out on the counter overnight and we will turn it into our dough in the morning!

I'm following the steps at The Kitchn, mostly.


Ingredients:

1 tablespoon active sourdough starter
75 grams (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour or bread flour (I'm using AP)
75 grams (1/3 cup) water (not tap water)



Instructions:

Tonight's instructions are insanely simple:

1. Combine the ingredients in a large bowl. You need room for it to grow. I used a small bowl to weigh them because the larger ones are annoying on the scale...
   
2. Mix-y mix-y until thoroughly combined.  A whisk is great to incorporate it all and add some air to the mix.
   
3. Cover and leave on the counter.  I use both plastic wrap and a tea towel. I misjudged the amount of levain and ended up moving to a smaller bowl than my big red one... 
   

Ta-daaa! Levain made and ready to rest.  Give it about 12 hours.  Get a good night's sleep.  Wake up ready to have some fun with Sourdough!