Starter Made with Yeast

Name: Starter Made with Yeast
Yield: About 1½ cups starter, enough to use 1 cup for a recipe and retain ½ cup to perpetuate the starter
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: ¼ teaspoon active dry or instant yeast; ¼ teaspoon active dry or instant yeast; 1 cup warm tap water (about 110 degrees); 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Preparation info

About
1½ cups
starter, enough to use 1 cup for a recipe and retain ½ cup to perpetuate the starter

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

How to Bake

By Nick Malgieri

Published 1995

About

Though many starters are made from such naturally yeast-rich sources as grapes or raisins, this one uses a tiny amount of active dry yeast to begin the fermentation.

Called a biga in Italian, such a starter gives a delicate flavor to the dough it leavens.

Ingredients

1 cup warm tap water (about 110 degrees)
¼ teaspoon active dry or instant yeast

Americas
Europe
United States
Italy
Starter
Mediterranean
Bread
Vegan

Method

Place the water in a mixing bowl and whisk in the yeast. Allow the mixture to stand for about 3 minutes so the yeast granules can melt into the water. Whisk again and add the flour. Stir in the flour with a spatula to form a soft, sticky dough.
Cover the bowl and leave it at room temperature until the starter is well risen, between 4 and 8 hours.
Use