The wonderful aroma of a fresh loaf of bread almost always begins its life as a starter.
To get a simple starter going, you'll need to mix an equal amount of flour, by weight, with an equal amount of water, also by weight. Here's how I do it:
Grab a clean container with a tight-fitting lid:
Then, measure 200g of all purpose flour:
Put them in the container. Then, measure an equal amount, 200g, of water:
Add just a tiny bit of active-dry yeast to the water prior to mixing it with the flour:
And let it sit for five minutes, or so, until it turns the water cloudy:
Now, mix the yeasty water with the flour until the mixture has no lumps:
Cover the container and let it sit overnight at room temperature. I'll use this starter tomorrow!