Sourdough bread is made entirely by using a sourdough starter aka wild yeast. A starter is a mix of flour and water that has been fermented and contains a natural colony of wild yeast that makes your dough rise. With a good, active sourdough starter, you won’t need any commercial yeast at all. Wild yeast works a little bit slower, so sourdough bread needs to be made over the course of a day, or even two days. It’s important you organize your time correctly. This slow development helps to tease out more complex, nuanced flavors in your sourdough bread — far beyond those of store bought ones.
You can take a look at my sourdough journey on my Instagram Stories in Highlights.
Note: With your sourdough starter you are able to make sourdough bread, babka, waffles, pizza, bagels, …
Recipe Homemade Sourdough Bread HERE
You need
- 60 g all-purpose flour (or spelt flour or a mix of all-purpose and whole grain flour)
- 60 g lukewarm water
How to
The process takes about a week.
Day 1
Weigh the flour and water. In a glass jar, stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and cover with a tea towel secured with a rubber band.
Place the jar at room temperature for 24 hours, until you begin to see the mixture bubbling up. It is important that you stir the sourdough starter every day in the morning and in the evening.
Day 2
Feed the starter. Add 60 g flour and 60 g lukewarm water, stir well to combine, and let sit out for 24 hours. Place a rubber band on the outside of the jar, at the top of the mixture, to track how or/if the mixture has grown. Stir in the evening and in the morning.
Day 3
At this point, you should see a few small bubbles here and there and it smells a bit sour, mildly sweet and yeasty. Which is great! The bubbles mean that wild yeast have started making themselves at home in your starter. They will increase the acidity of the mixture, which helps fend off any bad bacterias.
If you don’t see anything, it is possible that the process takes a little longer, it depends on the temperature in your kitchen. A colder environment may take longer. You can just continue with the stirring process for about 2 more days.
Day 4
The surface of your starter should look dotted with bubbles and your starter should be visibly larger in volume. Use a wooden spoon to discard half of the mixture, and throw it away. OR even better, you can fry ‘the batter’ in olive oil like a pancake or naan, with a pinch of salt and pepper. You will be surprised!!
Feed the starter with another 60 g flour and 60 g water. Stir in the morning and in the evening.
Continue this process for 2 more days. Discard half, then feed with 60 g of flour and lukewarm water. Your starter is like a baby, don’t forget to feed, stir every day and treat him with love. You can give your starter a name, I called mine Lemmy.
Day 5
Discard half of the mixture and feed your starter. If you don’t notice significant growth each time, feed the starter twice a day.
Day 6
If all is well, the wild yeast is quite active now. The starter should be completely webbed with bubbles and also be smelling quite sour.
You can now feed your starter just one more time and if everything is looking and smelling good, you can consider your starter is ripe and ready to use!
Day 7
You can now make the dough for bread. Don’t discard the starter but use the amount you need for your dough and then feed it with new flour and lukewarm water.
If you’re using the starter within the next few days, continue discarding half and feeding it daily. Your starter will remain active.
If you want to bake less often, you can also store the starter in the fridge. Remember to take it out and feed it at least once a week.
If you want to use your starter again, take it out of the fridge. First leave it until it reaches room temperature for at least 3 hours, then feed your starter. The starter is ready to use when it’s bubbly and airy.
FAQs
Creating a healthy and vibrant sourdough starter can take anywhere from 7 to 14 days depending on several factors. The temperature of your kitchen is the most important factor to consider. Starters thrive in a warm environment, ideally around 75°F (24°C).
How much sourdough starter is enough? ›
As a general guideline, a common rule of thumb is to use around 20-30% of the total flour weight in the recipe as the amount of starter. For example, if your recipe calls for 500 grams of flour, you would use 100-150 grams of active starter.
What is the ratio for starting sourdough starter? ›
The most common feeding ratio is 1:1:1 (sourdough starter: flour: water). This is also known as a 100% hydration starter. For example, let's say you have 40 g of sourdough starter in a jar. To feed it, you'll add 40 g of flour + 40 g of water.
Do you have to discard sourdough starter every time you feed it? ›
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.
What are three top tips when making sourdough starter? ›
Top 10 Sourdough Starter Tips for Success
- Maintain a Schedule to Feed your Sourdough Starter. ...
- Know How to Store a Sourdough Starter. ...
- Maintain a Small Sourdough Starter.
- Use Sourdough Discard for Less Waste.
- Know How to Revive a Sourdough Starter. ...
- Measure your Ingredients by Weight.
Things that Will Kill A Sourdough Starter
High Temperatures - preheating your oven with your sourdough starter inside can lead to your starter's demise - but it would have to be completely baked for it to be completely unresponsive to some TLC.
Can you overfeed your sourdough starter? ›
Yes, you can overfeed your sourdough starter. Audrey explains: “Every time you add more flour and water, you are depleting the existing population of natural bacteria and yeast.” If you keep adding more and more, eventually you'll dilute the starter so much that you'll just have flour and water.
Should I stir my sourdough starter between feedings? ›
stir your starter in between feedings - try stirring it twice in between feedings and really give it a chance to get oxygen into the mix. This will help to activate your starter without too much effort.
Do you really have to feed sourdough starter every day? ›
Experts recommend feeding a starter twice daily. And at each feeding, you hold onto 1/2 cup of your original starter, discard the rest, and then add its same weight in water and flour. With this schedule, you'd discard almost a cup of sourdough starter every day.
How soon after feeding sourdough starter can I use it? ›
*Do not try baking with your starter right after feeding it. Allow time for it to grow and feast on the flour before using it. Starters are usually ready to bake with around 4-12 hours after a feeding depending on the amount you feed your starter. The larger the feeding, the more time it needs to ferment.
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.
Can I leave my sourdough starter out overnight after feeding it? ›
Can I leave my starter out overnight after feeding it? Yes, if you have just fed it.
Do you refrigerate sourdough starter discard? ›
Store it for future baking: You can store sourdough discard in an airtight container in the refrigerator for future baking with sourdough discard recipes. When you're ready to use it, let the discard come to room temperature before using it to bake. I will keep sourdough discard in the fridge for about one week.
Can you skip a day of feeding your sourdough starter? ›
If you missed one feeding
Don't worry — your starter is fine. Just pick back up with your typical routine and your starter will settle in easily. To be safe, give it one or two feedings before you bake with it to make sure it's at full strength.
What flour makes the most sour sourdough starter? ›
For more tang: Incorporate some rye flour and/or whole wheat flour early in the bread-making process, such as when feeding the mother culture and the preferment. Rye flour in particular will help your culture produce some acetic acid.
How do I know if my sourdough starter is strong enough? ›
Take a small spoonful of the starter and drop it into a glass of water. If it floats, it indicates that the starter is sufficiently active and ready for use.
What does successful sourdough starter look like? ›
It's okay if your starter doesn't have big bubbles. Large bubbles can be the result of the flour you're using and the hydration. What's more important overall, is to see strong signs of consistent fermentation: some bubbles, consistent rise each day, a sour aroma, a loosening in texture.
What is the timeline of making a sourdough starter? ›
In general, I've found it takes about 7 days from when you first mix flour and water to when a sourdough starter is ready to be used to bake bread.
Can sourdough starter be ready in 2 days? ›
The general rule of thumb is that it takes about 10-14 days to develop a starter strong enough to rise a loaf. Experienced sourdough aficionados may be able to bake with a new starter in as few as five days. And, for less experienced bakers who struggle with the process, it may take up to 30 days.
Why does sourdough starter take so long to make? ›
Part of what makes a starter rise and become bubbly is the yeast. Yeast will become dormant when kept in colder temperatures. If your house is particularly warm (or if you keep your starter in the fridge), it could be sluggish. Try keeping it somewhere warm.
