Sourdough Starter
So you’ve decided to tackle the Everest of bread making and make your own sourdough. Making sourdough bread can be intimidating because of all of the time put into it, as well as the abundance of different methods out there. Fear not, once you get a strong starter going and know what to look for throughout the process, it will soon become second nature.
Where does the sourdough journey begin? Sourdough starter my friends. And what is sourdough starter and why do you have to “feed” it? I’m going to break all that down for you in this post. This will be a long one, if you’re here and you want to bake some sourdough, know that the research upfront is worth it and you will end up doing it anyway.
What is Starter? Sourdough bread is made from a fermentation process using wild yeast and lactobacilli. The sour flavor comes from the starter, which is a mixture of flour and water that cultivates wild yeast in a form we can use to make bread.
What is “feeding” your Starter? Simply put, feeding your starter is the process of mixing 4 oz of starter with 4 oz of flour and 4 oz of water. Keeping a 1:1 ratio of starter, flour, and water. We repeat this process ideally 2x a day at room temp until your starter passes the “float” test.
What is “discard”? Discard is the remaining starter we have after measuring out our 4oz for feeding. You can do one of three things with this 1. Toss it (shame), 2. Put it in a jar in your fridge for future bread baking/give to friends, 3. Make discard recipes! There are so many amazing recipes you can make using your discard (pancakes, crackers, doughnuts, etc).
What is the float test? Bakers way of knowing if their starter is ready! Drop a little bit of starter in a glass of room temp water. If it floats, it’s ready. There is no magic number of days it takes to create a healthy starter. This completely depends on how often you are feeding, kitchen temperature conditions, and a whole lot of other variables. If you are starting from scratch, expect it to take at least 5-7 days. If you got some mature starter from a friend, maybe 1-3 feedings (a day or two).
What type of flour should I use to “feed”? If you are starting from scratch : I would recommend starting and feeding with whole wheat flour for the first feed or two. Whole wheat has more wild yeast activity and gives a nice “boost” to your starter. You will want to switch to all purpose flour after a few feedings unless you want a 100% whole wheat starter (which will impact flavor and color). If you got some starter from a friend or bakery, feed with regular all purpose flour. I wouldn’t recommend using bread flour to feed because you want to save the good stuff for baking your bread! Gluten free flours aren’t recommended here.
Materials needed for starter:
Kitchen scale. Trust me it will make your life so much easier. Also most bread recipes are in grams so you’ll need a scale for that part. I got this one on Amazon.
Large mason jar or big glass bowl. This is your vestal which your starter will grow in. You want something with a plenty of room for it to rise in between feedings. Keep in mind your starter will double in size.
Kitchen towel. Something to cover your starter with that will give it a little oxygen.
Tape or sharpie. I like to mark where my starter is after feeding so I can see how much it’s risen.
Flour and water. All purpose recommended. Whole wheat if your starter needs a boost.
Starting from Scratch:
Day 1:
Place mason jar or bowl on kitchen scale. Tare out scale (so that the weight of your jar isn’t included in your measurements).
Add 4 oz of whole wheat flour. Mix with 4 oz of room temp, filtered water.
Place tape or mark where starter rises to. Loosely cover, and put in oven with the light on. This is a great trick to get your starter healthy and happy from the get-go. Starters love 70ish degree temps and the oven with the light gives it the perfect temperature. Remember to put a post it or something over the oven to remind yourself not to turn it on while your starter is in there!
Let sit for 24 hours.
Day 2:
Remove starter from oven and examine. You may not see much activity in the first 24 hours, but there should be a few bubbles on top. Irregardless, feed your starter.
Repeat step 1 from Day 1 and measure out 4 oz of your starter. Discard the rest. See discard tips above.
Combine your 4 oz of starter with 4 oz of unbleached all purpose flour and 4 oz of room temp, filtered water. Keeping a 1:1 ratio between your starter, flour, and water.
Repeat step 3-4 from Day 1.
Day 3:
You should see a bit more activity by Day 3 (bubbling, some rising), which means it’s time to feed 2x a day. I space my feedings 12 hours apart. Usually a morning and an evening feeding. No, you do not need to wake up in the middle of the night to feed your starter if you forget. It’s okay. Just try to keep it on as regular of a 12 hour schedule as you can.
Again, each feeding discarding all but 4oz of starter, and combining with 4 oz of unbleached all purpose flour, and 4 oz of room temp water each feeding.
Day 4:
Repeat 2x a day feedings. You should have a fair amount of discard at this point if you’ve been saving it, so maybe make some pancakes or crackers! King Arthur Flour has a whole library of discard recipes.
Day 5:
If you’ve been diligent with your feedings, and have been keeping your starter in your oven with the light on, you should see your starter rising significantly between feedings at this point, and there should be a tangy aroma. If your starter has doubled in size between feedings (this is why it’s important to mark), you can check if your starter is bake-ready.
Perform the float test to check if your starter is ready to bake by dropping a tiny bit of it in a glass of room temp water. If it floats, it’s ready. Sinks, it’s not.
If your starter floats and you are ready to bake : I would recommend giving it another feeding and beginning the autolyse process that afternoon/evening. You want your starter as ripe and fed as possible before baking!
If your starter sinks : Don’t panic. 5 days is the minimum I have seen it take to pass the float test. It took me about 7. It can take even longer. Keep with your 2x a day feedings until your starter is doubled in size between feedings and very bubbly. Then try the float test.
Remove however much starter your recipe calls for and discard the rest. I remove 1 cup for my recipe.
Starting with a Mature Starter:
So you got some starter from a friend or from a bakery. Lucky you! This starter should be pretty mature, but chances are it’s been sitting in a fridge and unfed for a few days, so you’ll still need to give it a few feedings (every 12 hours) to get it bake ready.
Day 1 -2 (number of days and feeds can vary, but it usually takes 1-3 feeds before a mature starter is bake ready)
Place mason jar or bowl on kitchen scale. Tare out scale (so that the weight of your jar isn’t included in your measurements).
Measure out 4 oz of your starter and discard the rest (see discard tips at the beginning of this post). Combine with 4 oz of unbleached all purpose flour and 4 oz of room temp, filtered water. Keeping a 1:1 ratio between your starter, flour, and water. If you don’t have 4 oz of starter, that’s okay. Just make sure you are keeping a 1:1 weight ratio between everything.
Place tape or mark where starter rises to. Loosely cover, and put in oven with the light on. This is a great trick to get your starter healthy and happy from the get-go. Starters love 70ish degree temps and the oven with the light gives it the perfect temperature. Remember to put a post it or something over the oven to remind yourself not to turn it on while your starter is in there!
Let sit for 12 hours.
Examine your starter. If it has doubled in size and is very bubbly, perform the float test (detailed at the beginning of this post). This is likely the earliest a mature starter would be ready. It usually takes me 1-3 feeds after my starter comes out of the fridge before it is bake ready.
If your starter floats and you are ready to bake : I would recommend giving it another feeding and beginning the autolyse process that afternoon/evening. You want your starter as ripe and fed as possible before baking!
If your starter sinks : repeat the feeding process every 12 hours until it floats. Again, this usually takes me 3 feeds max, but it can vary based off how mature of a starter you have, when it was last fed before you got it, and the conditions of your kitchen.
Storing your starter:
Congrats on making your starter! The great part about all of this is that you can store your starter for years in the fridge.
If you are planning to bake with your starter again in the next few days, keep it out at room temp and proceed with your 2x/day feedings.
If you don’t plan to bake for a bit, store your starter in the fridge (covered -mason jars are great here). Just make sure you are leaving room for your starter to rise. You don’t want it to explode in the fridge! Stored in the fridge you just need to feed 1x/week. Again discarding all but 4 oz, and feeding with 4oz of flour and 4oz of water.