Explain this recipe to me please. I'm a newbie at bread making.?

Question

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_19696,00.html

I've just finished my first loaf of bread and I love it. I'm confused as to how and when I will be able to make my next loaf.

This part confuses me:

Preserving the Starter: Each time you remove a portion of the starter for a recipe, reserve at least 1/4 cup and replace the amount you have taken out with equal amounts of flour and water.
For example, if you remove 1 cup of starter, you must replace it with 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of warm water. Whisk these ingredients into the starter until blended but not completely smooth, cover loosely, and return to the refrigerator.

I understand it , and I removed 1 1/2 cups starter for my bread and replaced just like it said above.

My main question is by reading that recipe I can't figure out if when I get ready to make my next loaf I need to let this starter set out at room temp or just take what I need to make my bread and replace with what I take

Answer 1

When you make a sourdough, it has a distinct flavor (as you know), and this comes with the help of your starter. The bread literally ferments and creates a sour flavor to it (it should be refrigerated if you don't know when you are going to make your next batch), which is carried on from batch to batch. When you make your next dough, remove your starter from the fridge, let it come to room temperature, and remove just as much of your new dough as you are going to replace with your starter. This will become your new starter, and you can just blend your old starter into the new dough by hand, and it should come out just fine.

Answer 2

Sourdough is often made from a starter like this. It gives the yeastie beasties a place to live, reproduce, and ferment. The fermentation is what gives sourdough its distinctive taste. The serious minded baker/chemis/biologist can actually tame wild yeast into starter (there are those who claim to be able to tell the difference)

You have the right idea, when you take starter out (and the yeast with it). You have to add more food for the yeast that are left so they can eat and reproduce and be happy.

If you use your starter every day (and you can if you have more), then you can leave it out and covered. The yeast are such active little lifeforms that they will not leave enough food for bacteria and mold. (This is in theory, if it starts to smell off and turn fuzzy, throw it out). Otherwise, put your starter in the fridge.

In the cold, the yeast go into hibernation, reproducing much more slowly. This will keep your yeast alive (otherwise they would reproduce too quickly and starve themselves). I would allow the starter you scoop up to warm up to room temperature for a little while to wake the yeast back up, otherwise they might not be vivacious enough to puff up the bread.

Maintained properly, a sourdough starter can last many, many years. There is a bakery in France that claims it is still using starter that was started in the Napoleonic era.

I hope this helps. If you find that you like baking, I can't recommend 'I'm Just Here for More Food' (by Alton Brown) enough. He goes into the science of baking thoroughly and clearly.

I hope this helps