Day 1

1. In a mixing bowl, mix together 1 cup whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup unsweetened pineapple juice.
2. Stir until all the flour has been incorporated and is evenly moistened. Cover with a paper towel or piece of cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band. You don't ever want to seal your starter tightly because it thrives on circulating air and this also allows for the release of carbon dioxide.
3. Let the mixture sit at warm room temperature (68-70 degrees) for 24 hours.

Day 2

1. Today you may notice just a few small air bubbles. It won't look much different than Day 1.
2. Scrape the starter out of your nonreactive container and into a mixing bowl. Wash and dry the container.
3. To the starter in the mixing bowl, add 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice.
4. Stir well until all the flour has been incorporated.
5. Again, cover loosely with a paper towel or cheesecloth secured with a rubber band. Let the mixture sit at warm room temperature for 24 hours.

Day 3
This morning you should start to see some more bubbles. It still won't be very active but you will probably be able to tell there's something going on in there. "What are we going to do today, Brain? The same thing we do every day…" Anyone? No? Ok, this is the day when we'll start discarding some of our starter so it doesn't take over the world.

1. Scrape the starter out of your nonreactive container and into a mixing bowl. Wash and dry the container.
2. Discard half of the starter that is in the mixing bowl. To the remaining starter, add 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup room temperature or lukewarm non-chlorinated water, preferable spring water.
3. Stir thoroughly until all the flour has been incorporated.
4. Cover loosely with paper towel or cheesecloth secured with a rubber band. Let the mixture sit at warm room temperature for 24 hours.

Day 4
Today things may start looking a little more bubbly but it isn't unusual for the starter to still seem a little sluggish at this point but it should definitely start perking up in the next 24 hours.

1. Repeat Day 3 instructions.

Day 5
IT'S ALIVE!! Today, there should be no doubt. There will be lots of little bubbles. If you're using a clear container you should be able to see little bubbles throughout the starter. Your starter should be doubling in size after each feeding so this baby needs to eat more. Today, we'll start feeding it twice a day, every twelve hours so choose your feeding times wisely.

1. AM: As always, clean and dry your nonreactive container. Discard half the mixture then feed your starter 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup room temperature or lukewarm water. Cover and set at warm room temperature for 12 hours.
2. PM: Repeat the above instructions.

Day 6
Things should be very active now. Your starter should be developing larger bubbles and doubling in size still after every feeding.

1. Repeat Day 5 feeding instructions and feed your starter every 12 hours.

Days 7-9
Your starter should be ready to bake with. How will you know? If your starter has been doubling in size from Day 5 on, the mixture is very bubbly and smells pleasantly sour then you're ready to go! If you continue to keep your starter at room temperature and feed it daily for another week, this will develop the flavor even more.

At this point or a week from now, you can slow down the growth and just start maintaining your starter, using it whenever you'd like to bake.

1. Place the starter in a glass container or crock with a glass top that isn't air tight and store it in the refrigerator. Remember, we want our starter to be able to breath a bit even when it's sleeping in the refrigerator.

From now on, you'll just need to take care of your starter.

1. When you're ready to use it in a recipe, pull the starter out of the fridge and feed it with 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup of water at room temperature and allow it to sit on the counter for 8-12 hours until it gets bubbly and active.
2. At that point you'll scoop out however much "fed starter" the recipe calls for.
3. Feed the remaining starter again with the same amounts.
4. Let it rest on the counter for 4 hours then pop it back into the fridge until you're ready to use it again.

But what if you don't bake with it for a few days or a week or a month? No biggie. Much like a pet, you'll just need to take care of it.

1. Once a week, if you haven't used your starter to bake with pull it out of the refrigerator and discard half.
2. Feed the remaining starter with 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup of spring water then pop it right back into the fridge. No need to wait for it to even get bubbly.

On last thing you need to know about when it comes to maintaining your starter. Gotta know about the hooch. Yep, the hooch. I didn't make this name up. One of these days you'll pull your starter out of the refrigerator and look inside where you'll notice a clear liquid pooling on top.

This is the hooch which is actually alcohol being given off by your starter and it's no big deal so don't think you have to ditch it and start over. After sitting around in your fridge for a bit, your starter just needs some attention. Pour the hooch off the top, give your starter a stir, some grub and it will be good to go.