Keeping a Sourdough Starter
You are not just mixing flour and water; you are cultivating an environment for specific microbes to thrive. Success relies entirely on consistency and paying attention to the way the culture smells and moves.
Patience is your primary ingredient
It will look like nothing is happening for the first few days, then it will bubble aggressively, then it will quiet down. Trust the cycle.
- Digital kitchen scale
- Glass jar with loose-fitting lid
- Silicone spatula
What goes in.
- 50gUnbleached all-purpose or rye flour
- 50gFiltered water
Discarding to feed
If you do not remove the majority of the old culture before adding fresh flour and water, your jar will overflow and the acidity will become too concentrated to support healthy yeast growth.
The method.
Mix the initial culture
Combine 50g flour and 50g water in your jar. Stir until no dry streaks remain. Cover loosely and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
The daily feed
Each day, remove and discard all but 50g of the starter. Add 50g fresh flour and 50g water to the remaining 50g of culture. Mix thoroughly.
Watch for the rise
By day five or six, the starter should double in volume within 4 to 6 hours after feeding. You will see small bubbles throughout the mixture and smell a distinct, mild sourness.
Assess maturity
If the starter smells like overripe fruit or nail polish, it is hungry and needs more frequent feedings. If it smells clean and yeast-like, it is ready for baking.
Other turns to take.
Rye Start
Using 100% rye flour for feedings accelerates the process as rye contains more nutrients for the yeast than white flour.
Cold Storage
If you don't bake daily, store the jar in the back of the refrigerator. Feed it once a week to keep the colony alive.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Always weigh your flour and water; volume measurements are too inconsistent for a stable starter.
Use a rubber band around the jar to mark the level immediately after feeding so you can track how much it grows.
If a thin, dark liquid forms on top, the starter is hungry. Pour it off, feed the starter, and move it to a warmer spot.
The ones that keep coming up.
What kind of water should I use?
Filtered or bottled water is best. Chlorine in some tap water can inhibit the growth of the wild yeast.
Can I use whole wheat flour?
Yes, whole wheat and rye are excellent for starting because they contain more wild yeast on their outer bran than white flour.
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