How To Start A Sourdough Starter

Considering I named my blog The Kneaded Homestead The Mother Baker and I am obsessed with sourdough you would think this would have been the first post I wrote. But it wasn’t.

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I’m not really sure why. I think I am just worried about this post seeming too complicated and scaring you good people away. Let me assure you; sourdough really is not that complicated at all. I’ll do my best to break it down as simple as possible for you.

Sourdough is the wild yeast and bacteria that can be found in the air, that when mixed with flour and water has amazing properties to create and raise bread (and all sorts of other things)!

There are a ton of different ways to go about it; different flour to water ratios, different types of flour, different amounts of feedings, different storage methods and so on.

What I say to all of those options is, simple and easiest is best.

Now my simple may not be your simple but I would start somewhere such as with the method I will teach you, and then adjust to your liking and to YOUR simple and easy. In the end, as long as your starter is making bread that you are happy with, that is all that matters.

So lets get down to business.

To start with you will need flour, water and a container (I just use a weck jar like these) that can accommodate the doubling of the starter. Some say you need to start with a rye flour, I say use any whole grain or white, unbleached flour you’d like.

I personally use organic whole grain wheat flour for my starter (like this one).

The water can be any water that is not chlorinated/fluoridated. The chlorinated/fluoridated water has been stripped of all of it’s good bacteria and will not be able work with the other bacteria and yeast to make a proper starter.

Now you will take your flour and water and add equal amounts of each to the container.

So for instance if you add a half cup of flour, you will add a half cup of water as well or if you are weighing (which I recommend!) you would do like 50 grams of each.

Stir it well with a wooden or plastic spoon and cover with a non-porous cover. If you use a weck jar, the lid without the clamps works great. Alternatively, if you use a mason jar, the lid loosley screwed on works well. The idea here is to let just a little bit of air in. Starters don’t actually require air to be active but I like to give them just a little fresh air to breath.

Leave it at room temp for 12 hours.

After 12 hours, dump half of your starter out and add equal parts flour and water again. You will repeat this every 12 hours for the next 6-8 days. Around day 4 you may feel like nothing is happening and that you killed the thing. Trust me, you most likely did not kill it.

This is normal and just proceed with confidence and faith that you WILL have a starter in a few more days.

After about a week (or so) you will know your starter is active and alive when it smells sweet and yeasty, doubles every time you feed it and has bubbles all throughout. Don’t panic if it takes an extra day or so. Especially if it is winter. Sourdough speed all depends on the warmth of its environment. Too cold and it takes forever, too warm and it will go super fast and require more frequent feedings. Also if you are using a whole grain flour for your starter it will move much faster than a white flour starter.

I have found my starter to be most predictable at 68 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temp it takes 8 hours for my starter to double after a feeding and 8 hours for my doughs to be perfectly fermented.

After your starter is alive and active, you may need to increase feedings to every 6-8 hours instead of 12 hours. But if you aren’t perfectly on time don’t stress it. An extra hour or 3 isn’t going to kill it.

Now that wasn’t so hard was it???

So now what do you do with it?

Well you can bake all the amazing sourdough you want of course (this is my basic recipe that I bake weekly). But as far as storage goes, I prefer to store mine in the fridge. I feed him (yes, you will eventually give yours a gender too, maybe even a name) 8 hours before I want to bake which is usually once or twice a week but in the event that I don’t bake I usually forget about him and he survives. Really, these starters are hard to kill.

I have left my starter without a feeding for like three weeks in the fridge.

We were moving and being in between homes I just didn’t think about my starter. When I finally did remember him I thought for sure he would be dead. I fed him anyway though to see what would happen and he was still alive and well!

Troubleshooting:

What if I forget a feeding in the process of creating a starter?

Don’t panic. Just proceed with a feeding as soon as you remember! Unless you forget for several days, then you may just want to start over. But one or maybe even two feedings missed should be fine.

What if it smells like alcohol or acetone?

This means your starter is hungry. It was either too warm and he ate all of the bacteria and yeast up too fast or you went too long between feedings or you didn’t feed it enough. Don’t worry though, just feed him again and he should be good as new!

What if there is a grey liquid on top?

This is also normal. You can either stir it in (which is what I do) or pour it off. No biggie.

What if my starter is not rising after 8 days?

If your starter doesn’t double after 8-10 days and there are no bubbles or smell, I would say you should probably start over. Something, even just bubbles and smell, should be happening after 10 days. If not, something went wrong. If you have bubbles and smell, you may still have a shot. If it is cold it could just be that he needs a little more time or warmth.

The best thing about a sourdough starter is that once you have it, as long as you keep it alive, you have the power to make bread whenever.

No more buying yeast. Just flour, water and salt is all that it takes to make great bread. What more could a person ask for?

Tell me, have you wanted to start your own starter? Have you tried? Did you succeed? What is your favorite thing to bake? I’d love to hear from you!