Sourdough Starter instructions

Today we are doing something different, rather than an electronics video I thought I would share my method for making sourdough starter!

My method for making sourdough starter requires the use of a kitchen scale be it Analog or digital, baker’s choice. We use the scale in order to maintain the starter at a 100% hydration level, which simply means the amount of water and flour is equal.

Before beginning my starter I like to measure out a week or two worth of flour, this flour is a mixture of 50% unbleached white, 25% whole wheat, and 25% whole rye. I generally like to mix up about 800 grams worth, or 28ish ounces. I find that adding the whole wheat and rye flours strengthens the starter and provides it with additional nutrients not readily available in the white flour. Generally after this initial batch of flour runs out I will remove the rye and switch to a 50% white 50% whole wheat mixture. I find that this combination of flours works best for me; however you can use basically any combination that you desire, just stay away from bleached flours.

Once the flour is measured we want to weigh a jar/container for creating the starter in. I find that a wide mouth 750ML canning jar works perfectly. It is important to make a note of the weight of this jar, I like to mark it on the side in sharpie marker.

Next we zero out the scale with the jar on it. To the empty jar we are going to add 40 (or about 1.5 ounces) grams of the premixed flour. Then we will add 40 grams (or about 1.5 ounces) of water. I use bottled water; however you can use regular tap water, if using tap water I recommend setting a container of it out over night to allow the chlorine to dissipate. Next we need to stir the mixture together very well, making sure that there is no un-hydrated flour.

Finally we need to cover the jar, for this I simply use a half sheet of paper towel folded over and a canning jar ring to secure it. Then we simply set it aside in a warm spot for 24 hours, ideally you want the temperature of the spot to be between 21 and 26 degrees Celsius or 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

When 24 hours has elapsed we will commence with our first feeding. First we need to weigh the jar, this will tell us how much to discard. We only want 40 grams (or 1.5 ounces) of the previous starter.

For all future feedings we will be keeping 40 grams (or 1.5 ounces) of the starter and adding 40 grams of flour and 40 grams of water. This keeps our starter ratio at 1:1:1, one part old, to one part water, to one part flour. Unlike the initial mixture you will want to add the water first allowing the previous starter to dissolve easier and blend better with the new flour.

For the first few days we will feed the starter once every 24 hours, and then we will transition to once every 12 hours. Do not get discouraged if you have no activity in your starter for the first week to ten days. Also do not get discouraged if you initially have a huge burst of activity and then the starter goes flat. As long as tiny bubbles are still appearing and the starter doesn’t smell foul or rancid you will be fine. The most important thing you can do is smell your starter before every feeding, we are looking for a smell reminiscent of overly ripe fruit, but it may also have a slight inkiness to it initially.

Once it gets stronger you will notice that there are many different stages and smells it goes through ranging from fruit to vinegar to alcohol. Ideally we want to keep the starter in the fruity to vinegary range, but allowing it to pass into the alcohol phase won’t drastically affect it so long as you maintain a consistent feeding schedule.

If you are noticing that it is passing from fruity to alcohol very quickly or it is starting to form hooch (a layer of liquid on top that is smells strongly of alcohol) then you will want to either increase your feeding frequency or decrease the storage temperature.

Once your starter is fully active you can even store it in the fridge and reduce feedings to once per week. If you choose to refrigerate your starter be sure to take it out of the fridge 24 to 48 hours before you plan to make bread with it and resume the 12 hour feeding schedule. This will allow it to wake up fully and strengthen.

Be aware that it took my starter over two weeks to become strong and active and it can take even longer depending on numerous external factors. Patience will be well rewarded in the world of sourdough baking!

Starters can survive a lot of neglect as they are very resilient. As long as there isn’t mold penetrating the entirety of the starter you can likely revive it. Simple remove the affected starter with a spoon and discard, then transplant a small amount of the unaffected starter from underneath to a new clean container and resume regular feeding.

I recommend drying a portion of your starter once it has developed fully. This prevents having to start back at day one if for some reason your starter completely dies.

Increase the size of the feeding the night before you plan on drying some starter, I like to go with 100 grams of water and 100 grams of flour. The next morning add another 60 or so grams of flour to the starter. This will lower the hydration and give the starter a fairly firm dough-like consistency.  Cover a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and then spread the starter thinly upon it. The thinner you spread it the quicker it will dry. Now place the starter in a warm dry location, I like to use an oven with the light on.  After a few hours if the top is dry but the underside is still very wet I scrape it off the paper and flip it over, exposing the wet starter to the dry air.

Finally you will want to break the dried starter up into small pieces, either by hand, or using a coffee grinder. I made mine into a semi-fine powder, which will allow it to rehydrate easily in the future.

Now that you know the basics a whole delicious world of sourdough baking will be open to you!