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How hard could it be to make a sourdough starter? I was naive, and came to the party a little later than most people, who took advantage of the pandemic to embrace the sourdough experience. It wasn’t as easy as I thought; here’s what I have learned.
Ultimately, my goal was to make the perfect sourdough loaf; here’s a post on how that went.
Contents
Why Sourdough?
Rose Levy Beranbaum, the author of The Bread Bible, calls sourdough “the final frontier, the Zen of bread making.” The King Arthur Baking School says that sourdough “conjures up an almost mythical quest … and it can become a lifelong journey.”
How is Sourdough Different?
Sourdough baking does not use commercial yeast; it uses a starter made from flour and water that is aged to activate the naturally occurring yeast in the air. Starters can last indefinitely, be dormant, and be reactivated over time through the “feeding” process.
Read more about the Benefits of Sourdough at WebMD.
What is the Feeding Process?
Before baking, the starter is divided, and half is discarded or saved for another use, while the other half is used to activate for baking. To feed the starter, you add equal parts by weight of the old starter, flour, and water. The amount you use depends on how much baking you are planning.
When you first start, you are feeding your starter once or twice a day and end up with a lot of discard. So, it’s good to have recipes to use the excess.
How to Make a Sourdough Starter
My journey started with a deep dive on the internet and I found Amy at Little Spoon Farm and started with her recipe. It seemed to be working, but then it separated and I gave up and started over. In retrospect, I should have whisked it together and continued, but I didn’t trust the system.
The Second Try
I didn’t want to waste five more days, so I looked for more recipes to try and ultimately chose three.
Amy 2 which was the same recipe that I tried the first time.
Arthur which I got from the King Arthur Baking School. They sell baking flour; they should have a good starter recipe.
William which I got from the William Sonoma website. It was a very different recipe than every other recipe I found, so I just wanted to see what would happen. It called for yogurt and dry milk. Ultimately, I threw it away on day 8 because it never did as well as Amy 2 and Arthur.
Ingredients
This is the easiest part! Conveniently, you only need two ingredients to make a sourdough starter: Flour and Water!
Water
Make sure there are no chemicals in your water. For example, if your tap water is chlorinated, it will kill the yeast. I started with bottled water, but now I feed it filtered water. Either works nicely.
Flour
Most recipes call for a mixture of all-purpose and whole-wheat flour. The ratios vary, but using equal parts of all-purpose and whole-wheat flour works well. I mixed up a large batch in advance to be ready for feeding.
Gear
Fortunately, you don’t need any expensive gear.
Jars
To begin, I used large-mouth, 1-quart Ball jars with paper towel covers held in place with rubber bands; I also used a rubber band to track the level of rise. Ultimately, I bought jars that are easier to clean out than the Ball jars.
Digital Scale
Ideally, all baking should be done by weight because it is more precise; a scale is essential!
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The Starter Process
To make things more scientific, I documented the process on a spreadsheet. Click HERE for a free download.
Start the Starter
DAY 1: Whisk together equal parts of the flour blend and filtered water (120 grams each), then pour into a glass jar. Secure with paper towel and a rubber band. Use another rubber band to mark the starting level. Put in a warm spot. I put it outside because Florida weather is perfect most of the time, but if it is below 75° then you might want to store it in the oven with the light on, or near an appliance that stays warm.
DAY 2: Give it a stir. Whisk thoroughly and return to a clean jar
DAY 3: Start feeding the starter once a day. Pour 60g of starter into a clean bowl and add 60g of flour blend and 60g of filtered water. Whisk thoroughly and return to a clean jar.
Try to feed the starter at the same time everyday. In my case, nothing was happening after 7 days, to I started feeding the starter twice a day and that did the trick, or it was just time.
DAY 8: I thought it was ready, so I did a float test. Drop a tablespoon of starter into a bowl of water to see if it floats. If it does, you are ready to bake
Starter Discard
What should you do with leftover sourdough starter? When you feed your starter, half of the amount is discarded, and you will have a lot of it. You can use it to make another starter or bake with it.
Try these recipes!
I store my starter discards in a Tupperware bin.
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Sourdough Starter
The first step to homemade sourdough bread is to create a starter! If you have a friend like me, you can ask for a starter to get you going, but if not, here is how you can make your own.
Ingredients
1000 grams flour blend (equal parts whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour)
1000 grams of filtered water
Instructions
Prepare the Flour Blend
Mix equal parts whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour.
Start the Starter
DAY 1: Whisk together equal parts of the flour blend and filtered water (120 grams each), then pour into a glass jar. Secure with paper towel and a rubber band. Use another rubber band to mark the starting level. Put in a warm spot. I put it outside because Florida weather is perfect most of the time, but if it is below 75° then you might want to store it in the oven with the light on, or near an appliance that stays warm.
DAY 2: Give it a stir. Pour the mixture into a bowl, whisk thoroughly, then return to a clean jar.
Feed the Starter
DAY 3: Start feeding the starter once a day. Pour 60g of starter into a clean bowl and add 60g of flour blend and 60g of filtered water. Whisk thoroughly and return to a clean jar. Store the discard for another use.
Try to feed the starter at the same time every day. In my case, nothing was happening after 7 days, so I started feeding the starter twice a day, and that did the trick.
DAY 8: The starter was doubling every day, and seemed ready, so I did a float test. Drop a tablespoon of starter into a bowl of water to see if it floats. If it does, you are ready to bake
Notes
To store the starter and slow down the process, refrigerate it and feed it once a week.
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