Instructions

1. Pour 1/4 cup of flour onto a clean work surface and make a mound. Make a hollow in the center of the mound of flour.

2. Poor 2 tbsp. water into the hollow in the flour mound and mix with your hands until you have a ball of dough.

3. Knead the dough with your fingers for about five minutes. Work the dough ball until it becomes elastic and springy. Kneading captures yeasts and bacteria inside the dough and makes the gluten in the dough elastic so that it will expand and hold the carbon dioxide given off by the yeast and bacteria.

4. Place the dough ball in a small glass bowl and cover with a damp towel. Place it in a warm place, such as the top of the refrigerator, for two days. The yeast and bacteria in the air will start to eat the sugar in the flour and begin to reproduce.

5. Peel off any hard crust -- the dough ball will have a moist, crusty look and a sweet yeasty smell at this point -- and mix 1/2 cup flour and 2 tbsp. water into the dough to refresh it. Cover the dough again with a damp cloth and let it sit for a couple of more days to rise.

6. Add 1 cup of flour to the dough and work it into a ball, which should have risen more in the two proceeding days and have a soft fresh look. Cover it with a damp cloth and let it rest in a warm spot for eight more hours.

7. Poke the risen dough ball with your finger. If it is ready, the dough will spring back when you poke it. You now can use the dough starter to make bread or store it in the refrigerator to make bread later.