I did some experimenting and made incredible waffles this morning so I thought I'd share my recipe. I used my sourdough and they came out crisp and light as a feather and very tasty.
Step 1 - make up a batch of sourdough.
Pick up a large glass pickle jar (1 gallon). You’ll want this because every time you feed the dough it will rise quite a bit as the yeast grows. When I started mine, I used a large mouth quart jar but had trouble with it rising and overflowing the top of the jar. I’ve read that whole wheat flour works better because it contains more active natural yeast but I use bleached white flour and it has worked well.
Day 1
Blend 1 cup of flour with about 3/4 cup of room temperature water. Mix well, cover lightly, and let set overnight. The mixture should be about the consistency of toothpaste or a thick pudding. The natural yeast in the flour will begin to feed on the mixture.
Day 2
Add 1/2 – 3/4 cup flour and enough room temperature water to maintain the desired consistency. Mix well, cover lightly, and let set overnight to continue growing the yeast.
Day 3
Repeat day 2. By this time you may begin to notice the mixture starting to show small bubbles about an hour or two after feeding as the yeast is getting more active and growing.
Day 4
Repeat day 2. The bubbling will be more aggressive and it may start to take on a sour odor.
Day 5
Repeat day 2.
Day 6
Your sour dough should now be ready to use. If you don’t plan to use it right away, you can cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to use. It will separate and the water may look a little grungy but don’t worry, it is fine. The older it gets and the more you use and re-feed the dough the better it gets. Over time it will take on a distinct odor of beer.
The day before you want to use the sourdough, remove it from the refrigerator and stir the mixture as it may have separated. The next day after using it, replace whatever amount you use with more flour and water, mix well, and let it set overnight before returning it to the refrigerator for storage.
It keeps almost indefinitely. I’ve been using my sourdough for over a year but a friend of mine has been using his for almost 20 years.