Most of the starter recipes you're likely to find either _cheat_, by using commercial yeast to kick start the process, or are- quite honestly- too fragile in their early stages. In the former case, you create a colony of whatever strain of commercial yeast that you used. Which sort of negates the point of _making_ your own starter; using home grown yeast. In the latter case, you all too frequently end up with a smelly paste that is _definately_ not starter. I know this to be fact, as I've tried, made and discarded many substandard batches of starter in my career. _This_ recipe, on the other hand, works perfectly, rapidly and dependably. It creates a batch of wild yeast- soon enough enfluenced by whatever yeast are floating around in your area- and creates a powerful starter. Powerful enough that no additional yeast is needed to leaven any recipe. (My advice to substitute this starter for packaged yeast in any bread recipe- leave out a cup of flour, add a cup of the starter. Add more flour, if needed, to get proper texture.) Readers might be interested to know that this starter also well replicates the artisinal starters used in high end commercial recipes. Meaning that- quite often- I have seen professional bakers scrape together all manner of thin skinned fruit, let it sit for a few days and use the fermented juice as a starter basis. I really like this starter. In fact, I've just pulled a batch of it from stasis in the fridge- make certain to pour o

I used wine grapes from a local vineyard. This makes a very fast "sourdough" starter, with a less sour flavor than my regular sourdough. It has worked in all my favorite sourdough recipes that I have tried it in. If you live in a dry climate, as I do, start it in a large jar, instead of a bowl, to reduce the surface area for evaporation of juice.

I used store-bought red grapes with good luck. The flavor is truly San Francisco sourdough.

This recipe produced a vital and active sourdough starter without any added commercial yeast. I use it at least once a week to keep it fresh and ready to go. It will raise a beautful loaf all by itself. (Be sure to give it extra time.) I always replenish it with whole wheat flour and water and let it sit out of the refrigerator until it is good and bubbly. Then I refrigerate it until I'm ready to use it again. It makes absolutely heavenly waffles and biscuits. The waffles alone are worth making this starter. The instructions say to discard the dough during the initial fermentation process. I didn't, but used it in breads and quick breads with good results. The fermentation process was faster than I expected. Maybe the temperature was warm here. Also I started with grapes a bit on the old side. I think they had alreay started to ferment.

I am on day seven and getting worried that it wont turn out! It seems such a weird way to make sourdough starter! But, I have my fingers crossed and a tasty sourdough biscuit recipe all ready to be used on day nine! UPDATE: Well, my fears were unfounded. It is now about three weeks later and I have used the starter to make pitas, rolls and bread. I wasn't sure about the amounts to feed the starter, so I just guesstimated and added equal amounts of flour and water each time. The consistency is viscous and the smell is very sour. I use a cup of starter, mixed with milk and flour and put it in the oven overnight and the next morning I mix up pitas, rolls, whatever and it works every time.

I was glad to find this recipe, as I had only read references to this starter. It resulted in a nice tangy starter and was interesting to make

This worked great. I did it in late fall, and the temperatures in my kitchen were pretty cold, so I let it sit an extra day. It is bubbly and active now, about a month after I started it. Two cups of starter will raise two loaves of 100% whole wheat bread right over the tops of the pans! It has taken this long to develop the sour flavor--it was only mildly sour at first. A long, slow, cool-temp rise will make your bread more sour. Also, the bread becomes more sour as time goes by--on the second or third day it's pretty sour!

I don't know what I did wrong, but my grape juice mush started growing mold by the third day at room temperaturen and I had to throw it out. If you know how to avoid this, the reviews sound great, but watch out.

Update again: I never got to make a bread with this. We went on vacation, and then hubby had surgery so when I got back to it, it was still sitting on the counter and it smelled like a VERY strong beer! I wasn't sure if I should use it, so I ended up throwing it out. I will try again at some point, it seemed to really bubble, very yeast-y! Upate: Bubbling nicely! (see posted pic) after 3 days. Original review: Mashed the grapes for fermentation 6-16-08, will update and take pics/ progress. I am experimenting with bread making that does not use the traditional yeast, I am also trying to make Salt Rising Bread (recipe also on this site). I am interested to see which one turns out the best...(:

Talk about quick! I am only at step 2 and have already watched the flour mixture rise rapidly in the first couple of hours. I did forget the grape mush til day 4 however. Can already smell the pleasant sour smell.