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How to make a sourdough starter 🌋

Making an ultra vibrant sourdough starter is a surprisingly simple affair, as spring water and bread flour are all that’s needed to thrive.

my sourdough starters (Montana and Yosemite) rising in mason jars

How to make a sourdough starter 🌋

in just a week 💹

If you’re here you’re likely a sourdough beginner (and more likely than not, overwhelmed by the mystery that surrounds creating a sourdough culture).

The truth of the matter?

It’s in fact an incredibly simple affair: spring water meets bread flour under the right conditions (i.e. a warm environment for the yeast and bacteria cultures to thrive), and the process is repeated daily for a week– your culture will be ready to bake once its (at least) doubling in size consistently after being fed.

And the fun (and fairly interesting) part?

Your sourdough culture will be unique to you– and you only. For you see, it will be a concoction of the wild yeasts and bacteria already present in your environment, the bread flour and (vip) your own microbiome.

some in depth deets 🔎

There really aren’t many rules other than you really (like really) do want to use both unbleached bread flour and spring water (and you particularly want to avoid tap water as the chlorine will keep your culture from thriving).

In terms of flour brands King Arthur’s bread flour is a consistent and strong choice, but expanding into heritage grains (and adding in rye, purple barley etc) are also what I like to call banging ideas to increase the complexity of your sourdough starter’s flavor profile.

Opening a jar with a bubbly and active sourdough starter

Fear not, you’ll soon be baking wonderful creations 😉

A rose sugar strawberry sourdough halved showing a marbled pink crumb

my sourdough starters (Montana and Yosemite) rising in mason jars

How to make a sourdough starter

Making an ultra vibrant sourdough starter is a surprisingly simple affair, as spring water and bread flour are all that's needed to thrive.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
proofing time 7 days
Course Bread
Cuisine American, European, Functional Food
Servings 1 sourdough starter

Equipment

  • 1 weck jar my favorite (by a mile!)

Ingredients
  

  • 50 g spring water
  • 500 g (unbleached) strong bread flour *

Instructions
 

start your starter

  • Add unbleached flour of choice to a mason jar (my favorite are these weck jars though!).
  • Add spring water (you don’t want filtered, you really do want the added minerals) until the dough resembles a thick pancake batter (don’t go too thick, or your starter might struggle to get started)(and don’t go to liquid-y as you might end up creating something unintended).
    If you’re using something like King Arthur’s bread flour (which is the only unbleached flour in the “popular marketplace” I recommend for sourdough), generally a 1:1 ratio of flour to water is enough to get the consistency right. But if you’re using heritage grains or most gluten free flours you’ll need to add a little more. 
    Remember: thick pancake batter
  • Allow to rest for 24 hours in a warm(ish) place: I just keep it on top of my gas stove (your oven with the light on is a classic choice too).

discard (and feed) your starter

  • Discard half (like just eye ball half your starter and throw it out- don’t overthink it). And repeat the process of adding 50g of flour and 50g spring water (or just enough water until you get a nick thick, but mixable, consistency).
  • Keep going for at least 7 days
 but in my experience it’s more in the likes of 10-14 to build a strong culture (but you should be able to bake a nice loaf in a week).
  • p.s. feel free to do the burn test: once it is doubling in size consistently, tap your starter on the counter to “break the surface”, light a match and if it blows out it means your starter is using up all the oxygen in the surrounding area (i.e. its ready and it’s sourdough time!)(see video).

Video

YouTube video

Notes

*please note that all sourdough recipes on the site are developed around King Arthur's Organic Bread Flour (for consistency sake)(and because its my personal favorite "generic" flour to bake sourdough with)(but I generally also test all the recipes with other heirloom & heritage flours– Hayden Flour Mills makes some of my favorite blends). 
that said, please note that adding a touch of rye to your sourdough starter is a fantastic idea 😉
Keyword sourdough starter, sourdough starter recipe
Whip up this recipe?Comment below or drop me a line @paola.vanderhulst and tag #gnomgnomyum!


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xo! Paola

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