Sourdough Bread Starter

Sourdough bread may seem like a difficult thing to tackle, but it's actually so easy my 3 year old, Bonnie is helping me. Most commercial breads are made with commercial yeast that is very predictable. Sourdough bread is different because it actually uses wild yeast that is all around us all the time. The wild yeast gives the bread a tangy flavor. The first step is to catch the wild yeast in a starter which is a simple mixture of flour and water. After our starter has grown enough to make bread, I'll post that recipe here as well!

Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients:

  • All Purpose Flour

  • water (filtered if possible)

Equipment:

  • Glass or plastic container (do not use metal!)

  • measuring cups

  • a clean dish towel or some plastic wrap

  • spoon, fork, spatula, anything to stir with

Day 1

Step 1: Wash your hands with soap and water


Step 2: Mise en Place

Mise en Place is a classic French cooking term that means "everything in it's place" in this case, that means make sure you have all your ingredients and equipment

Step 3: add 1 cup of water to your container

If possible, use filtered water. I used the water from my refrigerator.

Step 4: Add 3/4 cup of flour plus 2 tablespoons of All Purpose Flour

Just plop it right on top of your water. Nothing fancy about this step.

Step 5: Stir to combine

It's ok if it's not perfectly smooth. Try to scrape as much off the sides and into the mixture as possible. Your mixture should look like pancake batter at this point.

Step 5: Cover loosely with a clean towel or plastic wrap

Our wild yeast is a living creature. It needs food (flour in this case), water, and oxygen to grow. If you seal it airtight, it won't be able to grow.

Step 6: Place it in a 70-72 degree place in your home for 24 hours

The top of your refrigerator is probably a great place to keep your starter because of the little bit of heat it gives off when running, but chances are, unless you put it right under a cold air vent it should do just fine.

Days 2-5 (photos will be added daily)

Day 2: feed your sourdough starter and wait 24 hours

We'll feed our starter today with:

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup water

Start by discarding 1/2 of your starter. Then just stir in the water and flour just as you did yesterday, your mixture will be a little thicker than Day 1. You may see a bubble or two, that's great as yeast multiplies it lets off carbon dioxide which causes bubbles! If not, just be patient. Cover your starter back up and leave it alone for 24 hours

Day 3: feed your sourdough starter and wait 24 hours

We'll feed our starter today with:

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup water

Again, we'll start by discarding half of our starter. You should be getting the hang of keeping your starter fed by now! Today you should definitely be seeing some bubbles. It might seem like your starter is fluffier because of all the air, and it should be startin to smell a little funky. That's normal!

Day 4: feed your sourdough starter and wait 24 hours

We'll feed our starter today with:

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup water

You're getting so close! By now you should see big and little bubbles. Once again, we'll discard half of the starter then feed it. When you stir, the mixture should feel looser than before due to all the air, and it should have doubled in size. Cover and return to a warm spot.


Day 5: Your starter is ready to use!

It should be extremely bubbly and frothy and smell pretty sour by now. When Bonnie's sourdough starter is ready, I'll add some simple sourdough bread recipes.

Sourdough Starter Maintenance

Maintaining your sourdough starter

As I mentioned, yeast needs food, oxygen, and water to live, so if you'd like to keep your starter alive so it's ready to use any time you'd like to make fresh bread, here's how to keep it happy.

If you plan to use the starter frequently

Keep it at room temperature and continue feeding it daily. If we kept up at the rate we've been doing, it would be pretty tough to use all the starter, so you can discard about half of the starter before feeding it daily.

Feed your starter with:

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup water

If you don't plan to use your starter frequently

Most people would only want to use their starter about once a week or less. If that's the case, this time it's ok to cover your starter tightly with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. This keeps it alive but slows down the growth a LOT. You still need to feed your starter about once a week to keep the yeast alive. When you are ready to feed it or use it again, pull it out and let it come to room temperature. Discard about half of your starter and feed it

Feed your starter with:

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup water

When it's looking more like it's happy, bubbly self, it's ready to use or refrigerate again.