Gilbert

                              Gilbert Starter

This is something that I happened upon, totally inadvertently.  One of my reflexology clients was talking about making bread from a refrigerated starter.  She said she made it for years, then something happened . . . I offered to Google Search and see what I could come up with.  I found a ton of different bread starters and sour dough recipes.  It seemed that most of the starters I came across still either required yeast to use in recipes or needed to be “fed” with something I didn’t have around the house.  After a few tries and many errors, I decided to come up with one I liked on my own.
If you live close by or are planning to visit our area, I’d be glad to just give you a start, but here’s the recipe to start and feed a Gilbert of your own.  Gilbert Starter must be kept in glass, covered, and not exposed to metal, so I cover with cling wrap.

In half gallon jar or bowl mix 2 C Warm Water, 2 C Flour, and 1 pkg. Yeast.  Leave covered loosely, on the counter overnight.  The next day you should be able to see bubbles and yeast activity.  If not, throw out and try again.  If so, add 1 C *Potato Water, 1 C Flour and ½ C Sugar, and stir.  Let set out for a few hours until yeast activity is visible.  Refrigerate.  Stir daily and on 5th day, take out of refrigerator and let stand to room temperature.  Add 1 C *Potato Water, 1 C Flour and ½ C Sugar, and stir.  Allow activation time and return to refrigerator.  Gilbert will be ready to use in baking in 5 days.

Weekly Gilbert Food:
                      1 C *Potato Water         3 Tbsp. Flour
                       ¾  C Sugar
* Potato Water consists of the water in the pan that you would normally drain, after potatoes are boiled + about 1/3 of a small boiled potato mashed or minced.
Gilbert Starter should be used and fed weekly, and starts can be given to friends.  Always make sure to keep 2 C. of Gilbert Starter to feed.
Remove Gilbert Starter from refrigerator.  Measure out the amount of Gilbert Starter needed for recipe.  Let Gilbert Starter stand to room temperature.  Feed Gilbert Starter and stir.   Allow for activation time, return to refrigerator til next week.
Gilbert Starter does not work like a fast acting yeast, so all recipes containing Gilbert will require about 8 hours for first rising.

I use Gilbert Starter in all of my bread and roll recipes now.  I replace the water and yeast measurement with Gilbert.  Since I bake all of our breads and pastries, using Gilbert Starter in the place of yeast packets, offers a substantial savings.  And it seems Gilbert Starter increases the number and size of loaves in my standard recipes.  With the price of flour, that’s nice too.  The loaves freeze well.
For example in the Challeh recipe, I use 1 1/3 C of Gilbert Starter