How to make a sourdough starter

Artisan bread making has sadly become a lost art among the average baker. It used to be a staple in every home kitchen and not that unusual. Around the world, bread is still a staple.

In America we’ve started to demonize bread. We’ve called bread unhealthy, responsible for weight gain, and a carb-laden source that should be avoided for a trim belly. This is all true, but not when it’s in the form of a fermented food. Sourdough is actually a living organism–something most commercial breads now lack. When you hear of people giving up all bread aside from sourdough, there’s a reason! Sourdough is more akin to kombucha, sauerkraut, kefir, and other gut-healthy raw and fermented products. It’s actually alive! And it won’t spike your blood sugar like other breads that haven’t been fermented.

We’re actually starting to see research on even real, but white flour, sourdough bread contributing to weight loss (you can read about this doctor discuss this study here). The key is the wild yeast not grown and concentrated into packets, but in the kitchen.

What is sourdough starter?

Sourdough starter is just flour and water. That’s it. 

The process is magical to be sure! But the ingredients you add aren’t. What’s magical is the process that takes place when you mix these two ingredients together. Some say that you can “catch” wild yeast in the air; some say it’s already in the flour. From my experience and failures, I think it’s both.

So, how do you start sourdough starter? I’ve found the important thing is to treat it like a plant. Feed it, water it, give it enough room to grow. And decide how often you want to bake since this can determine if you keep it at room temperature or in your fridge.

My starter recipe has taken a while to perfect…I’ve had several unsuccessful attempts. This last time it took 2 weeks to finally get it where I needed it. I started in a small mason jar, and built up to a crock size. 

I wanted it to be glass so I could monitor it and track when it doubles. I keep Susie the Starter in here on our kitchen counter and bake a loaf of sourdough weekly.

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Sourdough Starter

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup flour

Instructions

1. Stir ingredients together and put in a covered jar (quart mason jar to start). I use a metal table knife to stir.

2. Feed 2x a day till bubbly and ready for use--it should double in size. I use tape to mark where it was when I stirred so I can see it rise. One feeding a day will do in an ideal environment, however, it make take longer to bubble. Feed 2x daily until you see it double in size; also the day before baking with it for best rise results.

   With each feed, you have a choice:

   To keep your starter the same size, you will DISCARD 1/2 cup of your starter with every feeding.

   If you want to GROW your starter: See article notes on the purpose of discard. You do not need to discard, but you do need to keep equal proportions of your starter/flour/water blend, especially during the first week.

3. Store in fridge if not using. I like to take a small portion (about 1/4 cup) and freeze for future use in case you need to start over.

Follow "tricks" instructions if your starter does not bubble within a week.

Recipe Notes

For the water: You can use tap water--I use filtered to keep it as pure as possible.

For the flour: I personally alternate my feedings with Einkorn wheat flour and white flour

 

Maintaining the starter

If you’d like to maintain a small starter, you’ll need to discard a ½ cup of starter with every feeding. Personally, I don’t do the discard step (see below for why I don’t discard regularly and so you can decide if you should or not!). I just add a ½ cup warm water and a ½ cup of flour.

I did this until I knew “doubling” would mean overflowing the jar. Then I switched to my gallon size crock.

Personally I did not see doubling until I had given it that crock-sized micro-environment and varying my flours. I alternate flour types (einkorn, rye, white) to encourage extra active microbes. Something about that larger size and room to breathe gave it life!

If you keep your starter in the fridge: feed once weekly

If you keep it at room temp (between 70-80 degrees): feed daily

How do I know when my starter is ready?

It’ll double in size when you feed it for up to 12 hours for the rise (and fall back down after that) and you’ll see lots of bubbles. It will actually look alive.

Why do you discard sourdough starter?

Discarding is something I sometimes do and sometimes don’t. It has much more to do with maintaining your preferred starter size than the need to discard regularly. Maintaining equal amounts of flour and water and starter is the most important part. 

If that means you want to fill an entire crock, you can! If you want to maintain a baby bowl and do a small amount of discarding and feeding, you can! The key is to figure out the size that works for you, both with how often and how much you want to feed it, as well as how much space you have.

Personally, I don’t discard often because I fill a crock and make 2 loaves: One for my family and one for a neighbor or friend. I do this weekly. And when I don’t have a friend to gift it to, I tend to freeze an extra loaf. I’ve also take a portion of the starter on some weeks and put it in the freezer.

When deciding how big you want your starter, remember: The larger your starter, the more flour you’ll need daily for maintenance. If you aren’t seeing your starter bubble and rise, chances are, you don’t have enough feeding flour and water to help it come alive. Your starter/water/flour proportions should be kept equal. For example, 1/2 cup of starter/water/flour, or a cup of starter/water/flour, or 2 cups…get the idea?

Sourdough starter is not that delicate.

I use metal knives, put it in the fridge when we’re away, freeze my discard in case I need to start over, use it straight from the fridge, add too much flour because I don’t feel like measuring and eyeball it, and even forget to feed it for a day or 2. Just like a plant, it’s pretty resilient once it gets going. 

The most crucial time for your starter is the 24 hours before you bake so you know your starter will produce a high rise loaf. I always start with feeding my starter in the morning, and starting my bread that night so it has a freshly digested feed to work with. 

Tricks when your starter needs a little help…or if you’re in a hurry to start!

Sourdough starter has been around for millenia. There’s a lot of conflicting research out there on the best ways to start a starter. Personally, just like with a plant, I don’t recommend adding all these tricks until you see how your starter performs in its’ natural environment. To me, this is like adding a blast of sunshine when you don’t know if your plant likes the shade or the sun. 

Since this is a community of organism you’re taking care of, perhaps see what it likes first? Plus, I think basic is best if you want that traditional flavor unless you want a specific flavor adding one of these things would create. For example, if you want your sourdough to taste like a classic San Fran sourdough, start with a starter started in San Francisco. Or even start two starters so you can see how active it gets for each method in your environment.

1. Add a dry yeast packet or someone else’s starter to your starter as a kickstart
2. Add pineapple juice
3. Buy a starter to start with or mix a couple together for your own weird little community
4. Use grapes
5. Feed it potatoes potato water, or even sugar
6. Try a different flour–rye can help speed up your colony!
7. Adjust its’ climate if you have a cold house (using the oven light, warm water, etc.)
8. Change up your starter size jar. 
9. 9. Add cooked and cooled milk and yogurt

Everyone does it differently! If I missed a trick that you use or find a trick that works, let me know…And let me know what flours you use (rye flour, gluten-free flours, etc.)

Problem Solving

Starter smells like vinegar
You aren’t feeding it enough. This means it has digested everything you’ve given it. When my starter is healthy I think it smells like overly ripened bananas.

Hooch on top of starter
Your starter is hungry, so feed your starter! If you frequently have hooch on your starter, you probably should stick it in the fridge till the day before you’re ready to bake with it so you slow how often you need to feed it. You only need to feed a starter once a week when it’s in the fridge.

House is too cold
Generally houses are kept at 68 degrees and higher. This is fine since an ideal starter temp is around 70 degrees F. I maintain a couple degree boost by keeping my starter in a glass jar and putting the jar in a warm spot. You can also keep a towel around it if you’d like an extra boost or use very warm water when you do your feedings.

House is too hot
If your house is 80 degrees and up, it may be time to keep your starter in the fridge till you’re ready for it. Otherwise, a high temp will make your starter super active and you’ll have to feed much more often to prevent issues, such as mold.

When you’re ready to bake

Feeding the starter before baking is extremely important! When I’m ready to bake, I usually do 2 feedings for 24 hours before starting a bread recipe. This way it’s an extra active levain (sometimes I’m fancy and say starter in French ;)). 

When it’s time to start over: 

If there is a weird color, like pink or brown, it’s not worth the health risk! Start over! If there is mold? Yeah, I’ve seen people scrape it off, and I have too if it’s an isolated incident, but mostly, I think it’s time to start over.

Easiest way to not be bothered by having to start over is to always keep a little of your healthy starter in the freezer to get it going faster the next time.

Something I do regularly is clean my container anytime there is precipitation in the jar. This prevents mold from forming.

Next up: The base sourdough recipe that I make weekly. My sourdough is very traditional to what you’d find in a bakery, with slightly smaller holes to make the perfect sandwich bread!