Signs that your sourdough starter is ready to bake with (2024)

FAQs

Signs that your sourdough starter is ready to bake with? ›

Generally, when a starter is ripe, it has risen, is bubbly on top, has a sour aroma, and has a looser consistency. Typical signs your starter is ripe and ready to be used: Some rise. Bubbles on top and at the sides.

Just a note here - it is normal for a sourdough starter to be stiffer when you first feed it and then thin out a little as it ferments. It should however be mousse like and aerated when it peaks. It may become runnier if you then don't feed it and let it go back down.

If you're starting a brand new starter from scratch, it will need 7 to 10 days before it's ready for bread baking. The first four to five days will be spent getting your starter active and bulking it up.

To proof them, let them sit, covered, at room temperature for up to 3–4 hours, or let them proof for a little while at room temperature and then place in the refrigerator for 12–15 hours. Or you can speed the process by using a proof box, warm cooler, or slightly warm oven to speed things up.

Take your starter from the fridge and let it come up to room temperature. Feed it with 30g of strong white flour + 30g of water, stir it well, and allow it to become fully active and ready to use, this can take 2-6 hours depending on the room temperature.

It is important that you stir the sourdough starter every day in the morning and in the evening. Feed the starter. Add 60 g flour and 60 g lukewarm water, stir well to combine, and let sit out for 24 hours.

Do I have to discard my sourdough starter? It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.

I wouldn't go more than 24 hours without feeding a very young sourdough starter (it may survive longer than this unfed however you will leave it open to the risk of mold). Mature sourdough starter aged more than 6 months old should be able to survive unfed on the counter for around 3-4 days without any risk of mold.

Yes, absolutely. Room temperature can mean a wide range and is different for each room, but as long as the temperature is around 68 to 76°F (20 to 24°C), you'll get rise in your sourdough bread dough.

Sourdough starter goes flat when it's been left too long for that temperature and it runs out of food. The starter fills with air, was not used in time, runs out of energy, and deflates.

Why is my sourdough not doubling in size? ›

The most common issue is not kneading enough between rises. The yeast cannot float through the dough, so it has to just eat the flour near it. If it exhausts that supply, it's stuck. Kneading the dough a bit - and it doesn't take much - puts the yeast and bacteria back in touch with fresh food.

However, if you can ensure this doesn't happen, keeping your sourdough starter in the oven with just the light on can create a warm, stable environment for your starter to thrive. This trick is perhaps better with older ovens that have a light bulb.

A healthy sourdough starter will have a pleasant smell. It will have a yeasty smell with a bubbly surface. It should not have any discoloration and will rise and fall after it's been fed.

You can tell when your dough is ready when it's risen about 30% and you see little air bubbles throughout. Another test I do is to lift the container, tilt it to the side, and see if the dough releases easily from the sides of the container. If it does, then it indicates it's developed enough and is strong.

The top shows signs of more holes and bubbles, and the aroma is what I would describe as “ripe” and ready for use. If I were to pull back a little bit of the top, I would smell a slightly sour, vinegary smell with hints of sweetness still present.