Mother dough – also known as mother yeast or starter – is a simple dough of flour and water acidified by the proliferation of yeasts and lactobacilli able to provide natural fermentation. It’s more digestible, guarantees better leavening, and can be stored for longer because it can count on the fermentation process triggered by different species of bacteria.
Mother dough recipe
Mother dough can be prepared at home with just two ingredients and a lot of patience. To prepare the starter you need 7 oz of type 0 flour and ½ cup of lukewarm water. Put the flour in a bowl and add the water a little at a time until you get a very soft dough. The mixture thus obtained should be placed in a glass jar, lightly floured. Cut the surface of the dough with a cross cut and cover the container with a damp cloth and plastic wrap. The dough should be left to rest for 48 hours at about 65°-77°F, preferably near a basket of ripe fruit. After 48 hours the dough begins to swell, forming large cavities. Take about 7 oz and add another 7 oz of flour and 1/3 cup of water and let it rest for another 2 days. Continue this refreshment procedure for at least another 2 weeks.
Mother dough: variants
In some recipes you will find Manitoba flour instead of type 0 and yogurt instead of water, in equal percentages: 9 oz of Manitoba flour and 9 oz of low-fat yogurt. For refreshments, however, only water should be used. It’s also possible to add an activating agent to the base mixture, such as a small piece of apple or a teaspoon of honey.
Refreshments: what they are and how they are made
Refreshing the mother dough means supplying new simple and complex sugars that are used to nourish the yeasts, thus favoring the leavening process. For the refreshment process, just add the same weight of flour and half the weight of water to the mixture or to a part of it. Once everything has been kneaded, the dough is left to rest for 4 hours in a tall, narrow jar with a lid. When the volume is doubled, the yeast is ready for use. Every time you refresh your yeast, you must clean the jar of the previous residues with only hot water, never with soap. If you use only one part of the dough for the refreshment, throw the rest away.
How to preserve
Once active, the mother dough is stored in a glass jar closed with a lid or plastic wrap. It can remain at room temperature if you decide to use it every day, and in this case it should be refreshed daily. It can also remain in the refrigerator if you decide to refresh it 1 or 2 times a week without using it every day. In any case it must be refreshed at least once a week otherwise it dies. The day before using the mother dough you need to refresh it and on the same day again and wait for it to activate before using it. The leavening of the dough with natural yeast is very long and can last from 12 to 24 hours.