How to Make a Sourdough Starter

Making your own bread is an easy skill to learn and this sourdough starter recipe is your beginner point to a lot of amazing, nutritious goodies.

It may seem intimidating at first but its actually fairly simple. It’s also hard to screw it up, except that I did on my first try. I had it with my plants under grow lights and it must have been the wrong bacteria because it went moldy and didn’t bubble beyond the first day.

My second attempt at a sourdough starter grew beautifully. I had put in on the counter in a darker corner with my fruits.

This starter has now been passed on to many other friends and family so that they now have their own productive sourdough starters too. While you don’t need someone to give you a established sourdough starter to have your own, it does make a fantastic gift from the homestead. Stick that idea in your back pocket for later.

As beautiful and productive as my second starter is and was, I am on my 3rd attempt now. That’s a story for a little later in this post but you’ll definitely want to read that part so you’ll know what to do if/when it happens to you.

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What is a Sourdough Starter

Sourdough is a pre-fermented bread. The water and flour sit together and gather beneficial bacteria (lactobaccillus or ‘lactic acid’) and wild yeast from the air. This is the “sourdough starter”.

Wild yeast is found on fruits and vegetables, in the air outside, and even within your flour, along with the lactic acid bacteria.

The wild yeast is more resistant to higher acidity levels which is why it is able to work with the lactic acid. The two work together to break down the sugars in the flour and create a natural leavening process through fermentation.

Think of your sourdough starter as the “mother” of your dough. The discard is like a daughter, who can become a mother as well, or make baked goods immediately.

Sourdough is More Nutritious

Alright, so I’m going to nerd out on you here with some pretty cool fun facts about sourdough!

First off, the fermentation process of your sourdough starter breaks down the phytate in the flour grains, which allows the body to digest the resulting bread easier. Phytates actually inhibit mineral absorption (not a good thing) so breaking this down enables your body to get the valuable vitamins and minerals from the bread (a good thing).

The lactic acid also has the ability to release antioxidants during the fermentation process. Antioxidants help get rid of free radicals from your body – basically the things that start breaking your body down and make you look and feel 80 when you’re 20. Free radicals are the start of disease.

Sourdough is the traditional form of bread making, whereas conventional bakers or brewers yeast has been around for a much shorter time. This conventional yeast is made from GMOs which you do not want in your food.

Sourdough has the same lactic acid bacteria as other fermented foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt, and pickles. Because of the fermentation process that happens in the sourdough starter, using whole grains is ideal as you’ll get more vitamins and minerals overall.

Basically, there’s a reason sourdough has been around for thousands of years and why people covet their sourdough starters. There are many that have been active and passed down through generations. Pretty cool!

Common Sourdough Starter Questions

Is sourdough sour?

No, as long as it is matured (been fed 10+ times) your resulting dough will not be sour. The breaking down of sugars and phytate does give it a unique flavour (kinda nutty/cheesy), but it’s not overpowering.

Do I have to use white flour?

Not at all! Sourdough works with many different types of flours including low gluten ones like Einkorn. Because of the fermentation process, it’s actually better to use whole grains to get as many nutrients as you can, while still enjoying delicious breads.

You can change the flour you feed your starter at any time!

Do I have to feed it all the time?

You either feed it every day if you’re going to be using it daily, or you can put it in hibernation in the fridge and feed it once a week. You can even dehydrate it if you’re going away for a long period or want to take a break from sourdough.

What do I do with the sourdough starter discard?

Never discard the discard!

Make food! There are many great recipes you can make with the discard. Recipes like pancakes, tortillas, and crackers. You can even feed it to your compost. Or pass it along to a friend with instructions on how to feed it into their own sourdough starter.

Never discard your discard! Use it for delicious recipes or pass it along to a friend as their own starter!

You can bake pretty much anything with it, and you can make new starts with it. All you have to do is add it to a new jar and feed it. It’s perfect if you want to use different flour starters, or for gift giving. You can even feed your discard to your compost, or dehydrate it and keep it to start up again some time in the future.

In fact, you don’t even need to discard *gasp* I KNOW! Basically every sourdough recipe tells you to discard but you really don’t need to. If you’re baking a lot in a day, baking everyday or every other day, why discard?

You need a lot of starter so go ahead, build it up, use it down, and build it back up again!

What You Can Make With a Sourdough Starter

You can make any baked good that requires yeast, with your sourdough starter. You can also make a host of other baked goods with the discard.

RELATED: Spiced Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread Twist

Now, I do have to admit that I was overwhelmed with the timing of sourdough. When to feed it, when mix your recipe, overnight proofing; it just seemed so complex. As a mom with two little ones, I wanted the benefits of sourdough, but could I fit it into our lives?

The short answer, yes. The long answer, it takes some practice to learn your unique starter. It is alive, don’t forget so it will have it’s own quirks!

I like to add timing notes on my recipes. So for example, if I know I want buns for supper, I write that it’s a 24hour recipe, and I highlight how long each section is. Then I can write the time I’m going to do each step and not forget!

Again, this takes some getting used to, especially if you’re going to be keeping your sourdough in the fridge (hybernating), and not using it ever day. Rest assured, the learning curve is worth it. Sourdough is absolutely delicious, nutritious, and versatile. And of course, an old-fashioned tradition.

How to Make a Sourdough Starter

These are instructions to make a 100% hydration sourdough starter. That’s fancy sourdough talk so no need to mind it. It’s just incase you start reading about starter hydration levels elsewhere and want to know.

Ingredients

You need quality ingredients for a quality starter. Use organic flours so there are no GMOs.

• Organic flour
• Water

Instructions

Day 1

Mix ¼ cup flour (29g) and ¼ cup water (55g). Mix until there is no dry flour. Place in a pint or quart mason jar. Put on the ring and place the metal lid top slightly ajar so that the starter can breathe. It needs air to ferment.

Store it in a warm, dark place for 2 days (48 hours). On the counter next to your fruits in the corner is great!

Day 3

Mix 2 TBSP starter with 2 TBSP water and ¼ cup of flour. Mix until all of the flour is moist.

Day 4 and beyond

After day 3, continue feeding your starter every 24 hours, or 2-3 times following the ratios in Day 3.

Place an elastic band at the top of where your starter is. This will help you monitor how much it rises.

When Is Your Sourdough Starter Ready to Use

Once your starter is bubbly and rises significantly within 6-10 hours of being fed, it is ready to use in your sourdough recipes

The more you feed your starter, the more it will mature into a beautiful, happy starter. You’ll notice it rising faster as well.

I feed mine about once a week and store it in the refrigerator. If I am getting ready to make bread, I will give it 3 feedings (8-12 hours between each feeding is necessary) so it is good and bubbly like the picture below.

Example Feeding Schedule

Say your baking every Sunday. Pull your starter out of the fridge on Saturday morning, feed it…feed it again before you go to bed Saturday night and one more time Sunday morning.  By noon Sunday, your starter should be ready to use.

Sourdough Starter Float Test

Take a spoonful of your starter and drop it into a cup of water. If it floats, your sourdough is ready!

Maintaining and Using Your Sourdough Starter

Once your starter is looking ready, take out what you need for your recipe. Then feed your starter with the equal amount.

Afterwards, you can either put your starter in the fridge, or leave it on the counter if you’re going to use it again the next day.

Fridge Sourdough Starter

Remove your starter at least 12 hours before you want to use it. Feed it by removing half (your discard) and replacing it with fresh flour and water.

Watch the rise. If needed, feed it more until it doubles in size within 4-6 hours

On the final feed before use, add in the amount of starter you’ll be taking out.

You’ll want to feed your starter at least once a week if you’re keeping it in the fridge. This is called hibernating your starter.

Counter Sourdough Starter

If you want to keep your soursough starter active, feed it every 24 hours or as many as 2-3 times a day.

Sourdough Starter Love

As you get to learn your starter, you’ll understand what it looks like when its ready, or needs to be fed.

Once you get a handle on it, or even before, share the sourdough starter love! Take some discard, gift it to a friend with instructions and enjoy expanding and empowering your community around you!

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