Recipe: Sourdough Starter
My Sourdough Starter Story
About 2 years ago I decided I wanted to start baking sourdough. Everyone made it seem simple and I learned how healthy it was compared to store-bought breads.
I found myself a starter recipe, found a mentor on social media, and began….and failed. Nothing that I did could get my starter to take off. I tried to bake with it anyways and ended up with dense, inedible bricks. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting delicious bread when I was doing all the things right- I was using a recipe that had been proven, I measured everything, made sure I was consistent with feeding, etc. Yet nothing worked. I got discouraged and walked away from it.
Fast forward to present day and I decided to try again, but this time I was a little more relaxed. I decided I wasn’t going to stress over doing it perfectly and just wanted to see what happened. What a difference that mentality change made! My starter took off perfectly. When I felt ready to bake, I made the perfect boule with my first try. I was so excited! And I’ve been successful in creating not only delicious breads, but have went on to create sourdough pasta and biscuits with my starter.
Why make sourdough?
The beautiful thing about sourdough is not only it’s simplicity, but the health benefits. When you create a sourdough starter, bacteria is created that ferments the bread. This fermentation process breaks down gluten and sugar in the dough, allowing for the bread to be more easily digested.
Sourdough is also made with minimal ingredients, so there is no added preservatives or chemicals.
What changes I made to create a successful starter
I discovered many starter recipes that call for all-purpose flour + wheat flour. I knew I wanted to use organic, unbleached, and I didn’t want to have to purchase 2 different flours just for bread. After researching and seeing what my walmart had available- I settled with the organic, unbleached bread flour made by Arrowhead Mills.
I stopped measuring water. This was a tip I got out of a sourdough FB group I’m a part of- it was a game changer!
I stopped worrying about being perfect. If I was a little late or early in feeding, oh well. I fed when it fit my schedule. I also stopped measuring perfectly. If I had a little more flour than starter during feeding, I kept it.
Sourdough Starter Recipe
What you need:
Organic, unbleached bread flour
Water
Wide mouth jars
Cheesecloth/coffee filters
Directions
Day 1: Mix 25g of flour and add enough water to create a semi-thick pancake batter. Cover with a cheesecloth or coffee filter, leave on the counter.
Day 2: Check for any bubbles, mix, recover.
Day 3: If you see bubbles, pour all but 25g of starter into a separate jar (this will be your discard jar). Mix 25g of starter with 25g of flour. Add enough water to create a pancake batter thickness.
Day 4-10: Repeat steps from Day 3 twice daily (feed once in the morning, and once in the evening).
Day 10+: Once your starter begins doubling within 3-6 hours of feeding consecutively for 3 days, your starter is ready to bake! You can either begin baking bread right away, or stick starter in the fridge until ready to bake with.
Starter tips:
If your starter is watery- You may be using too much water. Add enough flour to create that ideal pancake batter thickness.
Anytime I feed my starter, I use a clean jar. This will help prevent mold.
When you store your starter in the fridge, you don’t have to keep feeding, just feed once before baking.
Tap water is ok. Using 1 type of flour is ok.
Join a facebook group if you’d like help troubleshooting or getting ideas! Just remember that what works for 1 person may not work for your starter.
Don’t overthink it. So many people (I used to be one!) stress over getting the measurements perfect, using multiple flours, using special filtered water, etc. I found that when you relax and enjoy the journey, it goes so much better.