Sourdough Starters for Beginners
Sourdough can seem intimidating for newbies and veterans alike. Ask me about the time I had killed my starter (via death by mold) after I had been doing sourdough for a few years. Or the time my husband accidentally baked my starter in the oven because our kitchen is so frigid my starter wouldn’t rise unless in the oven. This is why I now have a sourdough warmer btw (you do not need this but it is helpful. Unless your kitchen gets below 68 degrees like mine, save your money).
Regardless of if you are new to this whole sourdough thing, or have done this for years, this blog can be helpful with some tips I have picked up along the way. Just remember that every kitchen is different and you might find a way that works better for you. This is what works for me, without fail, to get perfect loaves and an active starter.
You’ll need
Flour (I use bread flour because this works, all-purpose flour can work just as well. Use what you have)
bowl (glass is what I use, I avoid metal bowls)
a spatula (wooden or silicone is what I use, I avoid metal)
water
scale (I measure my starter ratios, I have tried different methods and this one works best for me) if you do not wish to weigh your starter, measuring will work just keep an eye on the consistency of the starter.
Glass container for sourdough started, and another for the discard
Rubber band (or a marker to mark where the starter is to monitor the rise)
Making a starter
I have both made starters and bought dehydrated starters and have had good luck with both. They did take about the same amount of time for me personally, and if your starter is dehydrated you will be starting it out a little differently. Some people like to purchase a dehydrated one because it can take up to 3 to 4 weeks to get your starter to bubble and rise. Depending on how warm your kitchen is this time can vary. The longest mine from scratch ever took was 2 weeks although I was generally able to get an active starter in about a week during the warmer months. Starters love the warmth, so remember that you ideally want to keep the starter at 68-78 degrees F. Something around 72-75 degrees F is a sweet spot I have found.
Start by mixing equal parts of flour and water. I do about 50 grams of each when starting. I don’t start feeding twice a day until I notice it becoming bubbly, this means it’s getting close and probably hungry. If you are using a dehydrated starter follow the instructions that came with it until it begins to rise. Otherwise, once a day add equal parts of flour and water to the starter. Starting around day 2 or 3 you may want to begin to discard a portion of your starter. I usually end up doing this around day 3 or 4 personally, just when it becomes too much for my container. Once you begin to discard, you will want to also measure out an equal portion of your starter and keep all ingredients at a 1-1-1 ratio. This is the ratio that works best for me, others have found different ratios work best for them. You will want to play around with this if the 1-1-1 ratio isn’t working. Some people do 1-2-2 or 2-4-4 (with the lesser number being the portion of the starter and the greater portions being the flour and water).
You will continue to feed once a day until you begin to discard (usually when you notice a few bubbles forming), and then you will want to feed twice a day (just for the start, you do not have to keep this up unless you want to, but for growth, I recommend doing it twice a day). Monitor for any kind of rise, you will see if it has risen and then fallen on the sides (and keep track with your band or mark when it has fallen feed again. This will probably happen often when it is starting, but eventually, the starter will find a regular cycle.
Anywhere between 6 days and 4 weeks your starter should begin to look super bubbly, rise and double or triple in size, and then begin to fall back down between 12-24 hours. It will smell sour, almost sickly, and begin to separate with a brownish (sometimes black) liquid. Congratulations! This means your starter is active and ready to be baked with. From here on out you will want to feed at least once daily if you are planning to bake with it often. If you don’t want to bake often, store it in the fridge between use, and I will go over how to recover a starter that was in the fridge. You will want to maintain the discarding of the starter and measure out a 1-1-1 ratio of starter, flour, and water. Or use another ratio if you have found this works for you.
So to recap:
Begin the starter by adding a 1-1 ratio of flour and water. Keep adding a 1-1 ratio of flour and water for 1-3 days
When the starter gets to be too much and has started to give off a slight smell, begin your discards. Discard the starter saving enough to do a 1-1-1 ration with starter, flour, and water. Continue feeding this method until bubbles and a slight rise begin. Another 1-2 days but potentially up to 4 days depending on how warm your kitchen is. This will be faster in summer and slower in winter.
Begin to feed twice a day when bubbles and growth appear and continue doing this until the starter is fully active. You can switch to feeding once a day after the starter reaches its activity or keep doing it twice a day. Whichever you prefer.
You do not HAVE to feed twice a day ever, although this does help with growth, it will take a little longer if you feed once a day or if your kitchen is cooler. Using the oven with a light on can help keep it at a warm enough temp. Just don’t forget and bake your starter!
Discard!
Okay, so what is the point of discarding? Do I need to save this? Discarding helps maintain the starter, if you didn’t discard it would grow an insane amount since I do even ratios (even if you don’t do even ratios) your starter would quickly outgrow whatever container you have unless you bake multiple times a day. So I recommend this method. I also save my starter discard and add it to things. Bagels, pancakes, crackers, etc. There are so many recipes that you can use with the starter. You do not have to dump any of the discard unless you want to. Chickens also love it! So toss it out for them if you have no other use. But I do save mine and regularly find a recipe to use it in. Sourdough crackers are a fave of mine, I will have to share my recipes on what I use my discard for but that is for another post.
In short, save your discard, I keep mine in a jar in the fridge and use it as needed. But discard or you will have the tribble of all sourdough starters. Discard is also much easier to use than sourdough because you don’t need to feed it for the recipes (although sometimes these recipes will call for yeast) and you can use it right out of the fridge as well. Most bread-based recipes can be adjusted to add some sourdough starter.
Reactivating a fridge starter
So you’ve put the starter in the fridge but now it’s thick and pasty, and not active. What do you do? It’s much easier to revitalize a starter than it is to start one, and unless there is visible mold (here’s a hint, the brown or black liquid on the top is NOT mold, dump it off and keep going) you can use a starter that has been in the fridge. Whether it was a few days or a few months, get that little guy whipped back into shape in a couple of days.
Measure out 50 grams of the starter, then add equal parts of flour and water (50 grams each), or if you are measuring do 1/2 cup of each.
Mix well together and add to your designated rising jar
You may see some activity, you may not. Continue to feed once a day with the discard method (twice a day if you want to speed it up a little) and wait until there is a full rise. It might take a couple of days to get back on track depending on how long it was dormant.
Once your starter is nice and bubbly, loose and rising to the point of doubling or tripling in size it’s ready to begin to bake with as normal
A fridge starter is not a dead starter, and it’s not doomed. It will survive in the fridge just fine and is a great place to store it when not in use. Or when sick, when we were too sick to want to deal with anything my starter got a nice polar vacation. Also, mold will look fuzzy, so please don’t mistake the liquid that separates as mold. It is entirely normal for it to be brown or black. I see a lot of people toss a good starter because of the liquid, it is fine I promise. I mean if you do have doubts, better to toss and try again but I have drained both brown and black liquid off and it’s been okay. That’s just what makes the sourdough, sour. This is the hooch, and it’s the natural alcohol byproduct from the fermentation. Unless you want a really sour loaf, it’s fine to drain off the top layer of this. The hooch is just a sign you need to feed, and since it’s in the fridge it’s definitely hungry. If you prefer a bread with a bigger kick, you can always stir it back into the starter (although I wouldn’t do this if the hooch has reached a darker/black color personally).
Last tips
You want your starter to be between thick and thin consistency. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it’s true. It will start off thick, almost paste-like, and then thin out with the fermentation. Mine tends to be on the thicker side with my 1-1-1 ratio, other ratios might be different. Once it has reached its peak and is ready to bake with it will be more liquidy and loose. This is normal.
If you plan to bake more than once a week with the starter or want the discard, keep it active and feed it daily. If not, the fridge is fine just make sure to prepare a couple of days in advance when you want to bake with it.
Have fun, sourdough doesn’t need to be complicated. I know a lot of people will be like “You HAVE to only use wooden utensils and measure it out EXACTLY” and honestly that is crap. I measure because it is easy. But I am not exact at all. Eyeball it if you need to, just make sure it’s borderline thick and you’re good. It’s flour and water, it’s going to be a kind of paste if I’m being really honest here. Just have fun though, too many people act like sourdough is hard and complicated. It isn’t, I am so lazy with mine, I feed once a day if I remember and manage to bake a couple of yummy loaves every week.
There is no right way, do what works for you. Other people like other methods. This is the method that I prefer because my kitchen is very temperamental in temperature. A warmer kitchen might need a different method, a kitchen colder than mine might need another. It just depends on what you find that works for YOU. I hope that this post is helpful and works for you, but it’s also okay if it doesn't. Just find what works, and what is easy for you.
When it’s time to bake with the starter you will want to have it freshly fed in a time frame of 12-24 hours, the starter should have risen and then fallen slightly for the best loaf. Baking your bread is just a larger feeding, resulting in a loaf. You want a hungry, though not starved, starter for a great loaf. I will have some sourdough bread recipes to share soon! The time frame in which you want to use your starter, however, is crucial for getting that ultimate fluffy (though not too fluffy) and perfectly bubbled loaf.
I have included a little picture collage of how the sourdough starter should look when it’s becoming active or is active and how it rises/falls. These are not my photos, sadly I was set back quite a bit with my family falling ill and my starter being neglected and I do not have updated photos on what a starter should look like personally. I do have Canva though, with fair-use photos, and I found the ones that best represent what you are looking for when it comes to an active starter. Once the starter moves paste the paste-like stage (remember, this is essentially flour and water which makes a paste- remember those pinatas and volcanoes in grade school made with flour paste?) and moves into the bubbly stage your ready to begin baking. Just remember that it should at least double in size before it’s fully active and ready to bake with.
The blog cover photo represents a fresh starter or starter that needs to be fed, they will be somewhat similar in appearance although a starter that needs to be fed will be a little thinner until the feeding as the growth does thin it out quite a bit.
