Wild Yeast Starter

Today I baked my first wild yeast sourdough bread.  It was as tasty and beautiful as any artisan bread I've purchased for $9, but it came from my own kitchen from nothing more than flour, water and salt.  I was initially very overwhelmed by all of the different, often conflicting, starter techniques I was reading about in blogs and professional bread books, but it turns out that they're all right as long as you choose one and stick with it.  I also confirmed that wild yeast (read: mad dough) is the most adaptable, forgiving living thing within these four walls.

In honor of this fine city of San Francisco and the incredible brunch I enjoyed last Saturday, I chose to follow the Tartine method for country bread.  I highly recommend the Tartine Bread book to anyone who has considered baking their own bread.  I followed this recipe loosely from start to finish, with some major detours based on my schedule and slight carelessness, and it still transformed into my favorite bread ever. 

The answer is in the wild yeast starter, and the secret is leaving it alone.

In a large container mix 50% whole wheat and 50% white flour.  This is what you will feed your starter.

Mix 3 tablespoons of 50/50 flour mixture and 3 tablespoons of room temperature water in a clear dish or measuring cup so that the container is less than half full. 

Cover with a towel (not a secure lid or the wild yeast won't be able to get in) and let rest at room temperature for 3 days.

Small bubbles should have started to form.  If not, leave it for another.  Dump out half of the mixture and replace with 2 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons water.  Mix well.

Cover with a towel and let rest at room temperature for 2 days. 

Activity should have increased slightly.  Dump out half of the mixture and replace with 2 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons water.  Mix well.

Begin a daily routine of covering with a towel and letting rest at room temperature for 1 day, then dump out half of the mixture and replace with 2 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons water.

Continue the routine around the same time daily for about one week until the starter develops a pattern of eating lots of flour, inflating with gas, deflating, eating the next day, inflating, deflating, and so on.
Once you catch and train your wild yeast starter you can begin making incredible breads with complex flavors, chewy crumb and extended shelf life!