Sourdough bread is made entirely by using a sourdough starter aka wild yeast. A starter is a mix of flour and water that has been fermented and contains a natural colony of wild yeast that makes your dough rise. With a good, active sourdough starter, you won’t need any commercial yeast at all. Wild yeast works a little bit slower, so sourdough bread needs to be made over the course of a day, or even two days. It’s important you organize your time correctly. This slow development helps to tease out more complex, nuanced flavors in your sourdough bread — far beyond those of store bought ones.
You can take a look at my sourdough journey on my Instagram Stories in Highlights.
Note: With your sourdough starter you are able to make sourdough bread, babka, waffles, pizza, bagels, …
Recipe Homemade Sourdough Bread HERE
You need
- 60 g all-purpose flour (or spelt flour or a mix of all-purpose and whole grain flour)
- 60 g lukewarm water
How to
The process takes about a week.
Day 1
Weigh the flour and water. In a glass jar, stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and cover with a tea towel secured with a rubber band.
Place the jar at room temperature for 24 hours, until you begin to see the mixture bubbling up. It is important that you stir the sourdough starter every day in the morning and in the evening.
Day 2
Feed the starter. Add 60 g flour and 60 g lukewarm water, stir well to combine, and let sit out for 24 hours. Place a rubber band on the outside of the jar, at the top of the mixture, to track how or/if the mixture has grown. Stir in the evening and in the morning.
Day 3
At this point, you should see a few small bubbles here and there and it smells a bit sour, mildly sweet and yeasty. Which is great! The bubbles mean that wild yeast have started making themselves at home in your starter. They will increase the acidity of the mixture, which helps fend off any bad bacterias.
If you don’t see anything, it is possible that the process takes a little longer, it depends on the temperature in your kitchen. A colder environment may take longer. You can just continue with the stirring process for about 2 more days.
Day 4
The surface of your starter should look dotted with bubbles and your starter should be visibly larger in volume. Use a wooden spoon to discard half of the mixture, and throw it away. OR even better, you can fry ‘the batter’ in olive oil like a pancake or naan, with a pinch of salt and pepper. You will be surprised!!
Feed the starter with another 60 g flour and 60 g water. Stir in the morning and in the evening.
Continue this process for 2 more days. Discard half, then feed with 60 g of flour and lukewarm water. Your starter is like a baby, don’t forget to feed, stir every day and treat him with love. You can give your starter a name, I called mine Lemmy.
Day 5
Discard half of the mixture and feed your starter. If you don’t notice significant growth each time, feed the starter twice a day.
Day 6
If all is well, the wild yeast is quite active now. The starter should be completely webbed with bubbles and also be smelling quite sour.
You can now feed your starter just one more time and if everything is looking and smelling good, you can consider your starter is ripe and ready to use!
Day 7
You can now make the dough for bread. Don’t discard the starter but use the amount you need for your dough and then feed it with new flour and lukewarm water.
If you’re using the starter within the next few days, continue discarding half and feeding it daily. Your starter will remain active.
If you want to bake less often, you can also store the starter in the fridge. Remember to take it out and feed it at least once a week.
If you want to use your starter again, take it out of the fridge. First leave it until it reaches room temperature for at least 3 hours, then feed your starter. The starter is ready to use when it’s bubbly and airy.
FAQs
Creating a healthy and vibrant sourdough starter can take anywhere from 7 to 14 days depending on several factors. The temperature of your kitchen is the most important factor to consider. Starters thrive in a warm environment, ideally around 75°F (24°C).
How do you feed sourdough starter without a scale? ›
Take ¼ cup sourdough starter from the refrigerator and add ½ cup flour, and ¼ cup water to a clean glass jar with a loose fitting lid. Give it a stir. Feed the sourdough this way every 12 hours until it is bubbly and active, then it is ready to use.
Why is sourdough starter so difficult? ›
Essentially making a sourdough starter is not an overly difficult process, but it does require a commitment of time and patience, as well as some dedicated equipment. Sometimes there are factors which mean making sourdough starter could be difficult. Perhaps you're working long hours or go out of town regularly.
Why discard sourdough starter? ›
If you don't get rid of the excess, eventually you'll have more starter than your feedings can sustain. After a few days, your daily 1/4 cup flour and water won't be enough to sustain your entire jar of starter, and your starter will be slow and sluggish, not much better than discard itself.
How hard is it to keep sourdough starter alive? ›
Maintenance is fairly simple. Like anything living, it requires food and water. The location you keep your starter in will determine how you maintain it. Leaving it out on the counter, it will need to be fed equal parts water and flour every 12-24 hours.
Can sourdough starter be ready in 2 days? ›
The general rule of thumb is that it takes about 10-14 days to develop a starter strong enough to rise a loaf. Experienced sourdough aficionados may be able to bake with a new starter in as few as five days. And, for less experienced bakers who struggle with the process, it may take up to 30 days.
What if I forgot to feed my sourdough starter on the counter? ›
Don't worry — your starter is fine. Just pick back up with your typical routine and your starter will settle in easily. To be safe, give it one or two feedings before you bake with it to make sure it's at full strength.
Should I add a little sugar to my sourdough starter? ›
The yeast and bacteria in your sourdough starter actually feed off the sugar from the starches in the flour. They essentially don't need any extra food. In fact, while adding sugar to the dough may provide "fast food" for your sourdough yeast, this quick food source is unlikely to provide any protein.
Can I use regular flour to feed my sourdough starter? ›
Once your starter is established, you can transition to feeding it 100% bread flour or all-purpose flour. An established starter (e.g., 14-30 days after creation) has a robust microbial population, and the feedings from that point forward are primarily providing the food, not additional microbes.
What is the best flour for sourdough starter? ›
All-purpose Flour
It strikes a perfect balance of softness and structure, making it an ideal choice for various recipes. Due to its wide availability and affordability, all-purpose flour is often my top recommendation for creating and maintaining a sourdough starter.
Feeding schedule: A sourdough starter needs to be fed regularly to maintain its activity. If it is not fed often enough, the yeast and bacteria will become weak and the starter will become sluggish. I recommend you feed once every 24 - 30 hours, every 24 hours is better.
What makes a sourdough starter more sour? ›
Feed your starter less often
The longer you go in between feedings, the more acetic acid your starter will develop. This acid creates a more sour flavor.
Do I have to discard starter every time I feed it? ›
It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.
Can I use starter that has fallen? ›
If your starter is well past peak (a few hours) and visibly falling, you can give it a “refresh” feeding to reactivate it.
How soon can you use sourdough starter discard? ›
Remember, you can't use the discard from your homemade sourdough starter for the first 7 days. You can use sourdough discard in all kinds of sourdough discard recipes, including these no wait sourdough recipes, overnight sourdough discard recipes and sourdough discard recipes that use up a lot of discard.
Can sourdough starter be ready in 1 day? ›
FAQ: Can sourdough starter be ready in 1 day? If you are creating a sourdough starter from scratch it will take at least 7 days (or more) before it is ready to bake with.
Can you make a sourdough starter in 3 days? ›
To create a sourdough starter from scratch, the overall process will take 7 days (or more) from start to finish. It's not instant. First, you'll create the starter with whole wheat flour to jumpstart fermentation.
How long does it take for sourdough to ferment for the first time? ›
Typically, bulk fermentation will take between 6 to 8 hours, but could be longer or shorter by manipulating starter amount and temperature. Ideally, you don't want to allow sourdough bread to cold ferment for longer than 72 hours.
Can you make sourdough starter faster? ›
If you're looking for faster results when making your sourdough starter, there are a few things you can do. First, use warm water and increase the water-to-flour ratio slightly. This will help the yeast to activate quicker and aid in rising more quickly. A 1:2:2 ratio or higher, even 1:4:4 ratio helps.
