Sourdough starter
There are loads of recipes online and in books about how to create your own sourdough starter, and I think they're all much of a muchness really. They will all work and you'll be pleased with the results. The only thing I've learnt over the years is that it always takes longer than you think. Quite a lot of the guides will promise you an active starter in about a week. I've never managed that - in fact, the last one I started probably took around three weeks to get going. I didn't think anything was going to happen, then it just sprang in to life. I've definitely had more success adding raisins, grapes or apple skin to the mix in the first few days, but it certainly isn't necessary.
Generally, what I do, is shove a couple of teaspoons of strong, white flough into a jar. Add enough water to allow you to mix it into a paste (not much water at all) then, every day or so, if you remember, throw away about half of it and add back in about the same amount of flour, a bit of water, mix to a paste etc. At some point you'll notice it's started to bubble and smell sort of yeasty/alcoholy/nail-varnishy, and then you're good to go. Repeat the discard/feed process every two or three days. Stick it in the fridge if you're away or not baking - it'll probably be okay for a couple of weeks.
One last thing to remember is don't expect your jar of starter to look like all the pristine ones you tend to see. It will become a horrible mess. It cannot be avoided.
