To make the initial starter, place the flour and water into a glass bowl and stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the bowl with clingwrap. Place in a warm area in the kitchen and allow to stand for 24 hours.
To feed the starter, mix 30g of the initial starter mixture with 30g flour and 30g water, at the same time of day, for the next 5 days. Be sure to mix until smooth. Cover and place in a warm area for 24 hours. Repeat this process for 5 days.
The starter should be bubbly, even frothy. It should also smell quite sour and pungent. It’s now ready to use.
Cook's tip:While bread flour and wholewheat flour makes delicious sourdough, you can also use cake flour for this, or rye flour. If you're using rye flour, use double the amount of water. Gluten-free flour will unfortunately not produce a classic sourdough loaf, though you may get an edible bread. If dark spots of mould form on top of your starter, discard it and start again.
Think making your own sourdough starter is too difficult? Think again. Okay, it takes a while, but the result is totally worth it. Plus, your friends will be seriously impressed.
Wild yeast is present in all our; you simply have to “activate” it to make your own starter so that you don’t have to use commercially produced yeast when baking. All you need is flour and water. After a day or two, bubbles will start to form in the starter, indicating that the yeast is becoming active and multiplying. Feed it with more our and water for about five days (depending on the conditions in your kitchen) until it becomes frothy and ready to use.
Discover more bread recipes here.
FAQs
Your starter might have gone too long between feedings and it needs to be revived more. Leave it for another 4-8 hours, discard all but 25g of starter and feed with 70g Warm Water and 100g flour, leave out overnight and in the morning, discard and feed again.
Is it OK to taste sourdough starter? ›
Do not taste raw sourdough starter before baking. Instead, a bubbly appearance, tangy smell, batter-like consistency, expansion, and records of preparation steps should be used to determine when your starter is ready. The fermentation process will acidify the starter, which helps prevent pathogen growth.
How do you make sourdough starter taste better? ›
Feed Your Starter Less (Stir In The Hooch)
Feeding your starter less will starve the yeast and bacteria and encourage it to produce hooch. If you want to make your sourdough more sour, then you need to stir the hooch into your starter when you feed it, rather than pouring it off.
What if my sourdough starter is not strong enough? ›
The following will help increase fermentation activity in your starter: Keep your starter warm, 74-76°F (23-24°C) or warmer. Use more whole grains in each feeding. Feed your starter when it's ripe (not too early, and not too late)
Is it better to underfeed or overfeed sourdough starter? ›
It's important to note that overfeeding can also have negative effects on a sourdough starter if done excessively or too frequently. If the starter is overfed, it can become too acidic or develop an unpleasant odor which is the result of excess food rotting in the jar.
Can you feed your sourdough starter too little? ›
You need the carry over to keep the starter going, but too much of it means discard. 🌾You also want the little extra to carryover, to keep the starter going. 20-30g should be sufficient, even as little as 5/10g if you feed your starter every day or every second day. I leave this to you to decide on.
How do I know if I ruined my sourdough starter? ›
However, offensive or foul odours such as rancid, putrid, or mouldy smells are signs that something has gone wrong with the starter. If you encounter any of these unpleasant odours, it is advisable to discard the starter and begin the process of creating a new one.
Do you have to discard sourdough starter every time you feed it? ›
With each sourdough starter feeding, you'll be discarding some to avoid it from becoming overly acidic. Most will compost or trash this discard, but you can save it and use it in other recipes!
How old is the oldest sourdough starter? ›
In 2020, Seamus Blackley, the creator of Xbox and a seasoned baker himself, baked sourdough bread from dormant yeast samples that are 4,500 years old, according to the Atlas Obscura website.
Should you stir your sourdough starter? ›
No you do not have to stir sourdough starter before you use it. You measure the sourdough starter by weight, not volume, so stirring it or not makes absolutely no difference. What does "fed" sourdough starter mean? Fed sourdough starter refers to a starter that has been fed flour and water (preferably by weight).
By simply catching your starter near its peak and refeeding at that time, you can significantly strengthen a weak starter. If you discard and feed at peak, you are carrying over the largest concentration of yeast cells possible in your carryover starter for the next feeding.
How do you refresh a sluggish sourdough starter? ›
Once again, feed it 50 grams of water and 50 grams of flour; stir everything together until well combined. Cover up your starter and mark the top with a rubber band. The starter should rise even faster this time, potentially doubling in size in 4-8 hours. You've officially reset your starter!
How soon after feeding sourdough starter can I use it? ›
Cover with either a tea towel or a glass lid. I like using a glass lid, because a towel tends to get really messy. Allow to sit of for 4-12 hours before using in a recipe, once it has about doubled in volume. If not using for baking, feed about 12-24 hours after last feeding or place in the fridge.
Does less starter make sourdough more sour? ›
A larger amount of bacteria will develop resulting in more sour flavored bread. Smaller Amount of Levain: Use a smaller amount of levain or starter in your recipe. This will decrease the overall ph and give a more sour flavor to your bake.
What is the best flour for sourdough starter? ›
The best flour blend for creating a new sourdough starter is 50% whole-meal flour (whole wheat or whole rye) and 50% bread flour or all-purpose flour. I recommend a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and bread flour. Why do you need to use these two types of flour?
What happens if you don't have enough sourdough starter? ›
What if I do not have enough sourdough starter for my recipe? If you need more starter than you currently have, just keep building it up by not removing any starter prior to feeding and feed the starter an equal 1:1:1 ratio until you have the amount you need. It builds quite quickly.
How do you revive a struggling sourdough starter? ›
Take 50g of starter from the jar and feed it another 100g of flour and 100g of water. Leave the starter for around 12 hours. After this second feeding it should double. If it does then it's ready to use.
How do you feed a starving sourdough starter? ›
Feed with flour and water
Feed the 113g saved starter with equal parts (by weight) unbleached all-purpose flour (56g) and water (56g). Usually, you'd feed with cool or room temperature water. But since your starter has been in the fridge, warm (not hot) tap water will help get things going.
How do you fix a weak sourdough starter? ›
Changing the feeding interval, or frequency, is the single most important tool in strengthening a starter. By simply catching your starter near its peak and refeeding at that time, you can significantly strengthen a weak starter.
