How to Care For and Grow an Amazing Sourdough Starter
Sourdough starter ready to use.
Sourdough Starter
Sourdough starter is simply a traditional starter made with only flour and water.
Ingredients and Equipment
Flour: Use a unbleached bread flour or whole-wheat/rye flour.
Water: It’s best to use filtered, non-chlorinated water, as chlorine can inhibit yeast activity. You can use bottled water.
Container: A clear glass or plastic jar or non-reactive container, covered loosely with a lid.
Scale: A digital kitchen scale is crucial for accurate measurements by weight.
Instructions for Creating Your Starter
The process takes about a week to establish a strong, active starter.
Day 1: In your jar, combine 40g (about 1.5 oz) of flour and 40g of lukewarm water. Stir well until completely combined, cover loosely, and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
Day 2: Stir the mixture a few times throughout the day to aerate it. Cover and let it sit for another 24 hours at room temperature. You might see some small bubbles.
Day 3: Discard half of the starter mixture. To the remainder, add 40g of flour and 40g of water. Stir well, cover, and let rest for 24 hours. You should start to see more bubbles forming.
Days 4-6: Repeat the Day 3 process, discarding half the starter and feeding it with 40g each of flour and water. At this stage, it is recommended to feed the starter twice a day (morning and evening) to build strength.
Day 7: Your starter should now be bubbly, elastic, and double in size within 5-10 hours of feeding. Typically after leaving the starter out overnight, it is ready to use for baking.
My Ongoing Maintenance (Feeding)…It’s a little unconventional, but it works great for me. I’m always looking for a simpler way to bake amazing bread.
To keep your starter healthy, store it in the refrigerator if you don't bake regularly, and feed it at least once a week. If kept at room temperature, feed it daily. The ratio of starter, flour, and water is generally 1:1:1 by weight in the early days.
To feed: I do not discard any of the starter. When I am ready to bake, I pull it out from the fridge the day before. I feed the cold starter with equal weights of fresh flour (all purpose flour or bread flour) and water (e.g., 50g starter, 50g flour, 50g water). It should look like thick “pancake batter” I leave it in a warm place over night and bake the next day.
Typically after making 2 loaves, there is about 1/2 cup of starter left.
I add more flour and water again. It should look like thick “pancake batter” I place it back in the fridge.
If I don’t bake for a week or so I will pull the starter out and feed it using the 1-1-1 ratio. Then place it back in the fridge.
