Making your own sourdough starter is a fun and rewarding process that can yield delicious bread with a unique flavor and texture. Here’s a step-by-step guide on creating a sourdough starter from scratch. Before you start, Please read my post on How To Use Different Types Of Flours. It will give you an understanding of what flour to use for specific baking types and a foundation on how to create the texture and crumb you want to develop in your bread. The flavor and texture of your bread are determined by three things: your starter, how you make your leaven, and the length of time the bread is proofed. If you have questions, feel free to contact me. I’m always here to help!
What Is sourdough starter?
A sourdough starter begins with making a culture of wild yeast. The culture is made when flour, water, and microorganisms from bacteria in flour, air, and the baker’s hands are combined. Starter is used as a leaven and adds a complex flavor to new bread.
Mix the starter with your hands.
Use your hands to mix the starter. The natural yeast from your hands will increase the fermentation of your starter. Make sure that your hands are clean and free of lotions or fragrances. Your bread will pick up these fragrances in its flavor.
What you will need
- A kitchen scale is your best friend! Bakers make bread recipes measured in grams and use ratios of water to flour. It is the most accurate measure to use when baking. It is a multi-pupose kitchen tool. I use it to measure dough when making recipes like pizza, dinner rolls. Get one that has a tare and unit conversions.
- 5 lbs of flour. Half white bread flour and half whole wheat flour. It sounds like a lot of flour, but you will need this to feed your starter.- Use filtered water to avoid chlorine and other chemicals that can inhibit the growth of natural yeasts and bacteria.
- Medium mixing bowl
- Clear square container with a cover
- I use a 24 oz mason jar for my container. It’s an excellent way to see the starter rise and fall between the feedings.
- Dough Spatula: A dough spatula helps you scrape dough off the side of your bowl, form dough balls, and measure portions.
Feeding your starter
Once the starter is ready, you can do one of two things; make sourdough bread or store it in the refrigerator for up to a week without feeding it. Feed the starter with equal parts flour and water once a week to keep it alive.
How to make leaven with your starter
The night before you make your dough, put a tablespoon of starter and mix it with 200 grams of water and 200 grams of 50/50 flour mixture. Cover and let sit overnight. This will be your leaven.
The next morning, your leaven will have risen about 20%. The best way to test if your leaven is ready is if it floats in water. If it sinks, it’s not ready. Put it in a warm place for a few hours to expedite fermentation. Leaven should smell sweet and floral. If it smells vinegary, you can do one of two things. Dump half the leaven and add 100 grams of warm water and 100 grams of the 50/50 flour mixture. Let it sit in a warm place for a couple of hours. Or, you can move forward and make the bread. This depends on how you want your bread to taste; the stronger your leaven smells, the more sour your bread will taste.
Things to consider when developing your leaven
- The longer the leaven rises, the more complex your bread will taste.
- The stronger your leaven smells, the more sour your bread will taste.
- You can use different types of flour (e.g., whole wheat, rye, or spelt) to create different flavor profiles in your sourdough bread.
- Making bread from a starter has a learning curve. It is not an exact science. Take your time and practice, practice, practice!
How To Make Sourdough Starter
Equipment
- 1 kitchen scale measurements will be in grams
- 1 large clear mixing bowl
- 1 dough scraper
- 1 large clear container with cover i use a large mason jar
Ingredients
Mix together 2 1/2 lbs of white bread flour and 2/1/2 lbs of whole wheat flour. all-purpose flour can be substituted for the bread flour.
- 1½ lbs bread flour
- 1½ lbs whole wheat flour
- small organic apple shredded
- ½ cup lukewarm filtered water
Instructions
- Fill a small clear bowl halfway with lukewarm water. Take a handful of flour at a time and mix with your hands until you get a wet dough. It should have the consistency of a very thick batter with no lumps. Mix it thoughrouly. Use the dough spatula to scrape the dough off your hands.
- Cover the bowl and let it sit in a cool shaded spot for 2/3 days. I transfer the starter to a large glass mason jar or glass bowl and cover. The yeast activity is easier to see in a vertical cylinder.
- After 2 or 3 days, you should see bubbles forming around the edges. If it seems inactive, let it sit for another day. By this time, you should start to see some bubbles forming on the surface of the mixture. This means that the natural yeasts and bacteria in the flour and air have begun to ferment. You might see a dark crust forming, or it may look darker. This is typical. If there's a crust, just pull it back. Your starter should smell a bit like cider, almost vinegar-like. Now, it's time to feed your starter.
- Feeding your starter: discard half the starter and add 250 grams of the 50/50 flour mixture and 170 ml of water. Mix well with your hands to combine until smooth. It should have the consistency of a very sloppy wet dough. After feeding, the starter should smell sweet and milky.
- Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature. You will see plenty of activity in your starter. It will get very bubbly.
- Repeat the process of discarding half of the starter and feeding it with fresh flour and water every 24 hours for the next few days. When your starter rises and falls consistently, it smells sweet and floral. When you shake it, it should jiggle like gelatin. Now, you are ready to make your leven
Notes
– Use filtered water to avoid chlorine and other chemicals that can inhibit the growth of natural yeasts and bacteria.
– the longer the leaven takes to rise, the more complex your bread will taste.
– You can use different types of flour (e.g. whole wheat, rye, or spelt) to create different flavor profiles in your sourdough starter and bread.
– Making bread from a starter has a learning curve. It is not an exact science. Take your time and keep practicing. The more you bake, the better the outcome.
