You Can Make Sourdough Starter With a Packet of Yeast (2024)

FAQs

You Can Make Sourdough Starter With a Packet of Yeast? ›

You only need a quarter teaspoon of active dry yeast for it to work, so it's actually far less than what's typically in one packet. You can reserve the rest for another baking project. Mix the yeast with a cup of bread flour and a cup of water.

If you haven't made a sourdough starter before, this easy recipe is an excellent place to begin. All it takes is three simple ingredients—water, flour, and some active dry yeast—then add some time and patience on your part, and you'll have your sourdough starter to make delicious loaves of bread.

ADAPTING YEAST RECIPES TO SOURDOUGH

Knowing these two factors you can approximate a substitution of one cup of sourdough starter for one packet of commercial yeast. You would then lower the flour and water according to your hydration levels, being sure to measure it again by weight.

There is no single best ratio, but I've found a ratio of 1:5:5 fed twice daily at 12-hour intervals to produce a sourdough starter that's strong and healthy. This ratio corresponds to 20% ripe starter carryover, 100% water, and 100% flour (a mix of whole grain rye and white flour) at each feeding.

As with any sourdough recipe, before you start baking bread, you want to make sure that your sourdough starter is as strong as possible. My basic sourdough recipe uses just 50g of starter for 500g of flour (so just 10% of starter).

In fact, there is actually a long tradition among professional bakers of adding small amounts of commercial yeast (sold in different categories known as “active dry,” “instant,” and “fresh” or “cake” yeast) to sourdough breads to promote good oven spring—a hybrid dough.

Baker's yeast turns the sugar into alcohol (a very low volume which evaporates away as the dough is baked) and into carbonated gas. Sourdough starters turn the sugar into carbonated gas and lactic (and acetic) acid, which give this bread its sour flavor.

Sourdough starter isn't necessarily better than yeast, although many would argue that it produces a healthier, tastier loaf. It really depends on how much time you have, how much knowledge you have and what you are making.

Dry yeast, whether active dry or instant, is commonly sold in packets, usually in sets of three. Each envelope contains about 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast, which is 7 grams or 1/4 ounce by weight.

Once you have an active sourdough starter, whether you've grown it yourself (see our easy Sourdough Starter Recipe), purchased a starter, or received one as a gift, you'll need to feed it to maintain and keep it alive.

What is the best flour to feed sourdough starter? ›

All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour, which is a blend of hard and soft wheat, is a popular choice for feeding sourdough starter. It provides a good balance of protein and starch, which promotes a healthy fermentation process. Bread Flour: Bread flour has a higher protein content compared to all-purpose flour.

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!

The most common problem I see is new bakers trying to create a starter with 100% all-purpose flour (or 100% bread flour). 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.

The following sourdough starter recipe schedule will provide you with a reliable and robust sourdough starter in 6 to 9 days. Once you have the culture stable, it will last indefinitely as long as you refresh it regularly.

Whole Wheat Flour: Some bakers swear by using whole wheat flour in their starters. This flour includes the whole grain of wheat, including the bran, endosperm, and germ.

If you have too much starter compared to the additional flour and water you're adding, your hungry starter consumes all the nutrients and then it's not as bubbly.

Expired brewer's yeast can be used to naturally fertilize plants. Rich in vitamins and nutrients, fresh brewer's yeast, like dry brewer's yeast, is a valid aid to stimulate the growth of plants and flowers, especially roses and geraniums.

Put 10g of your starter into a clean jar (you can discard the rest). Feed this 10g of starter with 25g of flour and 25g of water and stir in really well, remembering you want as much oxygen in the mix as possible. Cover loosely and leave for around 6 hours. By this stage you should see some bubbling starting to happen.

That's because sourdough bread is easy to make. Instead of using baker's yeast, sourdough bread relies on a starter: a mixture of water and flour that develops a population of wild yeast. This yeast produces lactic acid, the source of sourdough bread's distinctive tangy taste.