Sourdough Starter

3) when it shows signs of activity (bubbles should appear on the top) it is working,
4) there are two things to do at this point: have a recipe and have a schedule
a. recipe: 1:1:1 by 2 oz.
b. schedule: feed every 12 hours
5) 1:1:1 is by weight, i.e. all weights (previous mixture, water, flour) are the same, in this case 2 oz.

6) every 12 hours means just that, whatever time you fed it AM feed it again, the same time PM
7) after you feed it, it should double in size. If it does then you have a working yeast culture.

It's a bit of mystery at first, but once you see that the dough is doubling in size every time, then you know you have a working culture of bread (sourdough) yeast. BTW, you know it will smell "sour"?

I hope this helped. Reply to this and you can ask me for help. (I am not an expert, I just know that making your own yeast culture _is_ easy.)

You might also try newsgroups with names which include "sourdough."

-LD

YEAST: Part 5 (The End)

You have to feed it at least 1:1:1 of 1 oz each (old starter, flour, water) twice a day every day from the day you start. That's about five 5 lb. bags of flour in a year - just to keep your starter alive.

You could keep it in the refrigerator which would require a feeding of only once a week.

-LD

so lets say i use 1/8 an ounce of bakers yeast in my pizza dough would i just weight 1/8 an ounce of the sourdough starter yeast

also would it taste sour and if so how do i make bakers yeasT?

Baker's Yeast vs Sourdough Yeast
PART II

4) Finally, what is sourdough? It is bread made the old fashioned way - the way everyone has made it over the centuries - from the ancient Egyptians to the Cowboys of the American West. You get the starter working and that is the only yeast you use for the bread.

5) If you mix the yeast's then you will be messing with the feeding cycle of the natural sourdough yeast.

Baker's Yeast vs Sourdough Yeast
PART I

1) No. You are confusing the natural yeast, which makes sourdough, with commercial yeast. Follow your recipe for your pizza dough. If you want to make sourdough pizza then you need only all sourdough yeast. That means you need a starter.

2) It would not taste sour. You need to use more than just 1/8 cup and the dough would have to sit for about 8 hours.

3) You can't make baker's yeast. It is a commercial product that you buy and is not sour.