Welcome! If you’re here, it’s probably because you’re considering sourdough bread baking. Sourdough bread is fermented bread made with naturally occurring yeast and bacteria in flour. All you need to bake sourdough bread are 3 ingredients – flour, water and salt. That’s it! No milk, oil, sweeteners, preservatives etc. Plus the natural yeast in sourdough has probiotics and is great for gut health, which is why many who suffer gluten intolerance can enjoy sourdough bread.*
A prerequisite for sourdough baking is an active and healthy sourdough starter. If you know someone who bakes with sourdough, request them for a couple tablespoons of starter. That’s all you need to begin the process. You can also buy a starter online, but it’s very easy to create one yourself at home. All you need to create your starter are flour, water and some patience – because it will take about a week (and 5 minutes of your time everyday during that week) until your starter is ready to go into your bread. Once you have a starter, you can keep it going for years and years. There are accounts of starters being handed down for 3 generations, and I can see why now that I’ve had some experience with it.
In this post, I’ve tried to outline the steps to create and maintain an active sourdough starter with pictures. Please read through the entire post carefully before you begin. It’s well worth the time you invest in reading so you are well-equipped in your foray into the sourdough world. You can always comment with any questions you have, and I will do my best to answer.
Steps to create a sourdough starter:
Day 1: Add 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup filtered water to a clear wide-mouthed jar and mix well with a spoon. A pint-sized mason jar or something similar will work well. Use whole wheat flour to begin the starter since it contains more nutrients and sourdough-friendly microorganisms than all-purpose flour. I recommend using filtered water because tap water contains chlorine and you do not want chemicals hampering the early development of your starter. Place a rubber band outside the jar at the level of your flour-water mixture. Leave the starter in a warm place covered loosely. I simply placed the inside lid of the mason jar on top without closing or sealing. The ideal temperature for the starter is between 65 and 85 degrees and if that is the case for you, you can simply tuck it away in a corner of your kitchen counter. If you live in a colder place, you may want to place it inside your oven with the light on. Leave the starter untouched for 24 hours.
Day 2: Do this at the same time that you began the starter activity on Day 1. For example, if you fed the starter on Day 1 at 8 am, then do this activity at 8 am on Day 2. I recommend sticking to that time everyday for the 7 days, but a couple hours here and there is no biggie. The starter may have a few bubbles at this point or not (which is totally okay). Mix the starter, then take out half the quantity (you can eyeball the quantity) and “discard” it. You will find plenty of recipes online for sourdough discard. My overnight sourdough waffles recipe is a great use for the “discard”. After removing the mixture, add in 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water to the jar and mix well. Use warm water (around 85 degrees) if you live in a cold place. Return the mixture to the place you had stored it on Day 1.
Day 3: You should see some bubbles in your starter by now and it will also have a sour aroma. Repeat what you did on Day 2 i.e. mix the starter, then discard half, add 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water, mix well and return to the place you had stored it.
Day 4: You should see even more bubbles in your starter and the sour aroma will be stronger. The level of the starter (before you mix) should be higher than the level on Day 1 (which you will know by where you had placed the rubber band). Repeat what you did on the previous day by taking out half the mixture and then feeding it with more flour and water.
Day 5: You should see even more bubbles and a stronger smell than Day 4. Repeat the same process of removing half the mixture and feeding it. By now, your starter should be rising to at least 1½ times the level of the rubber band. If you live in a cold place and don’t see this happening, then at this point, I would do the process of removing and feeding the starter every 12 hours (until Day 7).
Day 6: Repeat the same process as Day 5, including the 12 hour feeding rotation if your starter does not have enough bubbles and is not rising well above the rubber band line.
Day 7: By this day, your starter should be bubbly and rising to double the height of the rubber band within 6 to 8 hours. If that is the case, then your starter is ready for use in your bread recipe. If it does not, continue the feedings every 12 hours and give it a couple more days. It may take time, but trust me, it will strengthen with additional feedings and mature to the level needed.
Maintaining your sourdough starter
- I continue to maintain my starter in the mason jar with the rubber band outside. Occasionally, if the jar gets too messy I will transfer the starter to a clean mason jar and continue with feedings as usual.
- Once you take out the amount of starter called for in your bread recipe, you can feed the starter again or simply stick it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake bread again. If I’m simply feeding the starter to keep it active, I only add 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of water. However, if I’m feeding it to be used in a bread recipe, then I discard all but 1 tablespoon of starter and then feed it the exact amount called for in the recipe. For example, if my recipe calls for 100 grams of starter, then I feed it 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water, mix and let it rise. When it’s ready, I take out the 100 grams of starter called for in my recipe and then stick the scrapings back in the fridge until I am ready to bake again.
- Never use up all of your starter, otherwise you will need to go through the process of creating a starter from scratch again. That said, if you use almost all of your starter in a recipe but still have a teaspoon or so left, all you need to do is immediately feed it with a couple tablespoons of flour and a couple tablespoons water and set aside. It will still do its magic and rise.
- If life gets busy and you don’t have time for sourdough, you can get away with feeding the starter once every 2-3 weeks. Keep the starter in the fridge until you are ready to feed it again. When you’re ready to bake again, feed the starter every day for 3-4 days before so it regains its strength and is primed for your bread loaf.
Additional Information
- The hydration level of the starter does not matter when feeding it to keep it alive, but it will matter when you use it in a bread recipe. This part is a little technical, but please bear with me. The hydration level refers to the ratio of flour and water in the starter. I used a 1:1 ratio (equal amounts of flour and water) when creating the starter, but once the starter is alive, I can feed it at an uneven ratio (water must be lesser than flour) to keep it going until I’m ready to use it for bread. When you feed it for bread, you must use the exact ratios called for in the recipe. If you use my bread recipe, it requires 100 grams of starter and I feed it with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. If you use my starter but bake your bread using another recipe, please check the hydration level of the starter called for in that recipe before feeding.
- The optimal time to add the starter into your bread recipe is when it rises to its peak (almost double or a little less). Once it gets to its peak, it will start to fall. If it has only fallen by a tad, you can still use it in your bread. Sourdough is pretty forgiving, but you do want to try and follow schedules when it comes to baking the perfect bread. Over time, you will get the hang of your starter’s pattern – how much time it takes to peak and fall, how it behaves with frequent or infrequent feedings etc.
- The time of year, the temperature in your kitchen, the temperature of water in your starter, the amount of flour and water used etc. are all factors in how quickly your starter peaks or falls and the window can be anywhere between 4 to 24 hours. In summer, I notice the starter peaking in about 4 hours, and so I schedule the bread making process accordingly. Don’t fret over this though. Even if you make a few mistakes here and there, you will get the hang of it.
- A lot of sourdough purists will swear by the float test. Simply put, you drop a little starter in a glass of water right when it has peaked and if it rises, it’s ready to be used in your bread. If it sinks, it’s not ready and needs more feeding. I have NEVER used the float test and my bread loaves come out great. So I recommend you ignore any advice you get about the float test and instead pay attention to your starter. As long as it reliably rises a few hours after feeding, it is alive and ready to be used.
- If you haven’t noticed by now, from the time of starter creation to maintaining it, there has been a lot of starter “discard”. If you’re like me and hate wasting food, don’t fret. Make some waffles using this recipe! Over time, you will understand exactly how much starter is needed for bread and will end up without any extra discard.
If you’ve made it to this section of my lengthy post, then you’re ready to get started with sourdough. Hopefully, you found all the information here relevant and helpful. Keep the comments coming and I will do my best to address each one of the,
Happy Sourdough Baking!
