Sourdough Starter

ALL YOU NEED IS FLOUR AND WATER!!! Pretty amazing.

You can start making bread with this within a week! I usually leave my starter in the fridge and feed it every 1-2 weeks. I take it out the day before I am going to use it and feed it twice that day (morning and evening).

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, add some flour and water together to a pasty consistency. (You can try ~½ cup (~60 grams) flour and ~⅓ cup water (~80 grams) to start, but adjust as needed to achieve this thick sticky consistency). Cover lightly with aluminum foil or plastic, and let sit at room temperature for 1 day. The sourdough yeast, which gives the starter bubbles and our breads rise, will come from the air in the room and nest in our flour and water, which is why you should only loosely cover the bowl. 
2. Next few days: Add a bit more flour and water (it doesn’t really matter how much, just try to maintain a constant consistency) each day. This is called “feeding”. Make sure the water is lukewarm.
3. The starter is ready to use when bubbly! You can also use the float test: if it floats on top of water, it’s ready!

Notes:

• Any flour should work.
• Can refrigerate the starter when not in use, just take out and feed the day before using.
• Sometimes there is separation and dark-colored liquid (known as “hooch”) floats to the top. This is because your starter is starving. Simply pour this out or mix it back in and feed the starter with fresh flour and water.
• To transport dry, you can spread the starter very thinly on a surface to dry it out over a few days at room temperature, break into chips, and pack to transport. Rehydrate with lukewarm water and feed with some flour and it will revive!
• If you ever see colored spots or mold, you probably have to throw away the starter and start over again.
• Smells will range from malodorous to slightly sweet, depending on how well fed and developed/ripened your starter is. If it smells very strong, you likely should add a fair bit of fresh water and flour to dilute it.

Here’s a video of my feeding starter and testing if it’s ready. For more sourdough videos, head over to my Youtube sourdough playlist!