Okay, people. Let’s do this thing. Sourdough starter or bust!
As I wrote in my last post, sourdough bread gets its tang and lift from a starter of flour and water that provides a host for wild yeast and beneficial bacteria.
I’ve always been given my starters by other people (thanks, friends). But because some of you don’t have one, and because I was curious on how to make my own, I decided to start from the beginning. Flour and water, my own captured wild yeast.
Turns out there is a lot to learn about starters, and a lot of myths to dispel. What seems to be a simple process of mixing water and flour can turn complicated. People start talking about hydration levels and bacteria formation. I can see why sourdough seems intimidating. So let’s start at the beginning, with the explaining and the dispelling of myths.
First off: it turns out that we aren’t so much capturing wild yeast in the air. Maybe a little, but most of the yeast is already present in the flour. Because of this, it is recommended that you begin your starter with rye or whole-wheat flour. These flours include more of the outer bits of the grain, which are more likely to have yeasts on them.
You could try to use unbleached white flour, though it will have less chance of wild yeast. Don’t use bleached flour. The bleaching process removes most of the yeast.
So, for flour: rye or whole-wheat to start with; unbleached if you must; don’t use bleached. And you only need the rye or whole wheat flour for the first two feedings, so you can get just a bit from the bulk bins in you don’t already have any. Less than a cup of rye or whole-wheat will do the job.
Several books I read recommend stone-ground and organic flours, but I just used what I had in the cupboard.
Moving on from flour, let’s look at water.
I’ve always used tap water to feed my starters, and haven’t had any problem with it. One of the books I’ve read said if you don’t mind the taste of your tap water, it should be fine for your bread. However, depending on where you live, there may be things in the water that are not great for tender little starters. Most people recommend using spring or filtered water to start (bottled, from the store, you don’t need to go out and track down a spring). Don’t use distilled water.
The third part of the equation is environment. Any baker will tell you temperature is important. When it’s warm, bread rises faster. When it’s cold, bread rises more slowly.
To nurture a sourdough starter you need a warm spot. Some people have protected little corners behind the fridge or by a heater. You might want to hunt around and see if you have something like this. A thermometer is a good thing for temp checks. Depending on what book you read, they will give you different numbers, but somewhere between 70 and 80° F (21° to 26° C) seems to be a safe range.
Because my house is cold, I decided to keep my starter in the oven with the light turned on. This is pulling out the big guns, but it assured a consistent temperature. When I checked with the quick-read thermometer I use for meat, it was about 78° F (25.5°C).
From what I understand, you can successfully grow a starter in lower temperatures, but it will take longer. I’m not entirely sure I wanted to be that patient.
Okay, flour, water, temperature. All set?
Actually, things are slightly more complicated than that. Or they can be.
When I started reading about sourdough starters, I found some versions recommended using pineapple juice rather than water. I scoffed at this—I am sure my Eastern European ancestors were not using pineapple juice to start their sourdough back in the day.
But then I read a little more, including links posted by some readers here (thank you, Robyn). And it turns out there are some good reasons to consider pineapple juice.
When you make a starter of flour and water, you will see a big rise around the second day—it will start to bubble and you’ll feel excited and accomplished. After that things slow down and the starter sometimes gets stinky. This is where some people assume they have failed. The starter smells like garbage and isn’t expanding the way it did in the first few days. A lot of people give up.
Thanks to the work of a baking microbiologist, we now know the early rise is not beneficial yeasts in action. The bubbles and the smell come from bacterial activity, a precursor to the yeast formation. If you wait it out the smell goes away and the yeasts kick in and all is good in the world (we hope). But imagine how many would-be sourdough bakers give up partway, thinking they’ve failed.
So I am no longer scoffing at the use of pineapple juice, which acidifies the mixture enough to prevent the growth of bacteria. You might want to give it a try. You won’t get the early exciting action, but you can also skip the foul smell and the slow period that makes people think they’ve failed.
I had already started using water when I discovered this, but if I were doing it over I might try pineapple juice instead (unsweetened, room temperature). Of course, if you’re prepared for the smell and the still period you can ride it out and not lose faith. With a little knowledge, either way is fine.
You can see some side-by-side results here.
Okay, let’s get started. The starter method I like the best is outlined in a post on The Fresh Loaf, a community website for bread bakers. It’s based on the method in Peter Reinhart’s respected and well-loved book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, but uses smaller measurements and thus less wasted flour.
Day One: 1/3 cup rye or whole-wheat flour; 1/4 cup bottled water or pineapple juice.
Mix the water/juice and flour in a glass bowl or container. It will look thick and glue-like. Mix completely so the flour is fully hydrated and cover loosely with a top (don’t seal) or with plastic wrap. Set it in your warm spot and let it rest twenty-four hours.
You might want to mark the level of the starter on the jar, so you can see if it expands.
Day Two: 1/4 cup unbleached or bread flour; 1/8 cup water or pineapple juice at room temperature.
Your starter shouldn’t look all that different on day two. It should still look like kindergarten paste. Not too appealing. There may be some bubbles forming that you can see through the glass container, but it won’t have grown much in size. That comes next.
Mix in the water and the flour, stir well, and replace the cover. Mark the side again. Things will begin to get interesting soon.
Day Three: ¼ cup unbleached or bread flour; 1/8 cup water.
It’s alive! It’s alive! If you’re using water in your starter, this may be the day you begin to see action. As you can see from the mark above, the starter more than doubled in size. This is exciting.
You may also being to notice a smell. It may smell awful. Like garbage. Fear not. This putrid smell should go away.
If you are using pineapple juice, you should not notice much of a smell, but you might not have as much bubbling activity either. Trade-offs.
Stir up the starter, you should begin to see some webbing happening under the surface—spider web-like strings formed by the bubbling action. This is a good sign. If the top surface has dried, just break it up and stir it back in.
Once you’ve stirred it up, throw away half of the starter (estimate based on sight) and add the new flour and water. Even if you’ve been using pineapple juice up to this point, it’s time to switch to water. Mix completely and cover again.
There are more days to come, but I’ll leave you for now. Get your flour ready and give it a try. It might sound a little intimidating, but it’s easier than you think.
Are you with me? Sourdough or bust.
Any questions—leave them in the comments. And feel free to pipe up with your own experience. I know some of you are old hands with this stuff. Let’s share the knowledge.
One thing to note: if your starter is being kept at a cooler temperature, it may take longer for these changes to happen. Don’t lose faith. Perhaps just find a warmer spot.
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I’m so impressed with your patience and attention to detail Tara….how can we fail?
I’ll hopefully be starting mine tomorrow so will report back.
Fingers crossed
I’m so excited! I’m getting started today! Hopefully my lack of patience can handle it!
I have a starter from my mom, let me know if you would like some. It is in a 1970s cheese crock, and I believe it is that old.
Great day to meet for a walk, and I have an errand in Ballard later.
Thanks so much for the offer–but after my recent experimentations I have FIVE starters in my kitchen right now. Trying to figure out which of them to let die. I can’t keep on top of them all
A friend gave me his already-active starter but I worried about keeping it alive. Really, there was no problem, at least here in the SF Bay area, where we are famous for our sour dough. All I do is keep it on the counter, stir in some flour and water every day or so, and Bob’s your uncle! Don’t overthink this, kids, it’s pretty simple.
I didn’t even know you could make your own sourdough starter; that’s how much of a plebe I am! Will get started tonight.
Thanks for this.
Ok, I said previously that I was going to cheat and get a starter from my favorite baker but you’ve inspired me. So excited. Can’t wait to try my hand at it.
Thank you for the post, I was looking for a traditional british bread recipe. In Spain right now is quite fever make your own bread, so when I come back to england and after read the news about 1 slice of bread can contain a whole gram of salt I decided to start to make my own local bread
Oh golly, you just made my wheat-free cleanse a whole lot harder to do! I’ve done sour dough breads since college, starting with a packet of “authentic pioneer starter” I bought in a souvenir shop in SF. Kept that one alive for 3 years, until I gave it to my brother for safe keeping while I was in Italy. He killed it!
One question: why not distilled water?
My first starter came from a similar package and died while I was off in Thailand. Alas.
I read the no distilled water part in one of the books, but I’m not sure which one. I’ll have to go back and figure out where it was. I’ll get you know when I find it.
Bad timing on the cleanse. Sorry about that
i’m so excited to try this with my two boys who learn at home…perfct science spread out over a few days with a rewad of healthful bread at the end….not your average school project
thanks for the clear, simple directions that even a novice bread maker like me can feel confident enough to follow!
if you blog the bread making section, as well, we’ll be making our first sourdough loaf, cheaper than i currently purchase it from our organic sprouted/sourdough bakery. yum.
Thanks for those great instructions! I am very impatient to get started and will buy the proper flour tomorrow. It’s quite cold in my apartment (69 degrees) so I hope it will work anyway…
Dan Lepard makes a great case for adding raisins [primary yeast carrier] and yogurt to the flour and water – am trying this for the first time!
Very exciting to have a group project – thank you for pulling us together!
Here are a couple of videos demonstrating target consistency of the biga (starter). I birthed mine using a Seckel pear and water a few years ago. Still going strong!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iktADbb49Rg&list=UUhE9N3DYqIqDSrs5lWtAP5w&index=7&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7LNwnJfrhw&list=UUhE9N3DYqIqDSrs5lWtAP5w&index=6&feature=plcp
Can’t wait to view the videos–love the idea of using a pear as part of the starter.
Hey, have you read anything about gluten free sourdough starters? I’m imagining it would be the same process, just woth different flours. I’d have to make my own since no one I know has a gluten free version (they all keep saying that eventually there will hardly be any gluten in it as you add your own flour, unfortunately, even a spec of gluten is a bad idea for my intestines).
I’m afraid I don’t know a thing about gluten-free starters, but the good news I do know is that one of the big famous baking authors is publishing a book soon about gluten-free baking. He’s working on the edits now, it should be a really amazing resource. I’ll let you know when it comes out!
OK – so I just need pineapple juice and I’m set to go. And I can’t wait to see the look on my husband’s face when I tell him I need to keep the house warm to keep my sourdough starter going, (don’t tell him it works at cooler temperatures…) Thanks for all your research. How many jars of starter do you have going now?
Ha, yes. An excuse to keep the house warm!
I have four at the moment, but two are getting no love and I’m going to give them up soon. They were trials of other starter methods, but I like this version the best. Hope you have fun with it.
Can’t wait to get on board with this years project!
i was *just* telling a friend that i wanted to try this.
thank you for posting!
i am so on board.
AWESOME, though i do have a starter i have always hankered after making my own to pass down. I might choose rainwater as i have that, and i see what you mean about the flour being the origin of the wild yeast.. all good stuff.. my house is in the midwest, cold cold but there is that little ecosystem close to the woodstove (our only heating).. i will try this.. I love it.. thank you.. c
One of the books I read said that rainwater is a good option as well. Best of luck with it. I wish I had a nice little woodstove. We had one in the kitchen where I grew up. It was kept burning all winter long.
I’m in! I just found your blog recently and have been enjoying my time catching up. But my own sourdough starter!! Yea! Starting tonight when I get home from work. Something new to look forward to. Thank you.
Fed my starter this morning and this afternoon it’s growing – YES!! So anticipating the finished product,!
I’m going to experiment by pulling my desktop’s CPU out from the wall and placing the bowl of starter nearby to see if the warmer temperature there will be helpful. Will let you know if it works.
Good idea! I’d love to hear how that works. Thanks for mentioning it.
I cheated and bought my starter from King Arthur. But I am eager to get it going and see how it turns out. Should be arriving today – so hopefully I’ll be ready to make my bread soon. (Pancakes even sooner with the “throwaway” part of the starter!)
I don’t consider that cheating at all (sort of like adopting a child rather than birthing one, it’s still being a parent:-).
Have fun with your starter!
When my daughter was in 3rd grade, I helped her class make their own starter. They went on to make their own home made bread as part of a large feast they prepared for parents. It sort of took in its own personality as it bubbled and grew and they named it “yeasty.” At the end of their block, they each took home some of the starter. I kept “Yeasty” around for a few years until I stopped making bread so often and lost track of feeding it, but I heard one fellow classmate had it until last year–a seven year run isn’t bad!
Well, here is the gluten free question: are there any gluten free flours that will make a starter? My experience says sorghum gives the closest texture to glutinous flours. Has any one tried? Succeeded? Fingers crossed!
Hi, Ruth–you are the second person asking about GF, and I am sorry to say I don’t know. I think you can probably get a GF flour to ferment, my concern is raising the dough without the gluten strands to provide body to the loaf. I wish I knew more and could help.
The good news, however, is that one of the big famous baker authors is publishing a gluten-free baking book. It’s in production now, and I’ll definitely mention it on the site when it comes out. He’s a master and I’m excited about this book.
This is too fun! I’m afraid I am going to be a little behind, but that’s OK. That’s the beauty of blog posts– they don’t go away! Great information, delivered in a fun, easy to understand way. This is going to be fun! Thank you.
Thanks, Melissa–any timeline is great. Hope you have fun with it!
Tea, I was just wondering..once the starter is doing well and fully alive, how often does it have to be fed? I mean, are vacations going to be out of the question from now on or can it survive a few days on its own?
Thanks!
ps. mine doesn’t seem to be doing too well at the moment, nothing much has changed. I just put in the oven with just the light on and hope that the higher temperature will help.
I just posted on that, Caroline, so for more info see that. I feed mine once a week, though I have let it go much longer than that (three weeks to a month). I’ve also taken care of friend’s starters when they went out of town, so that’s an option as well.
Hope the higher temps work for you!
Great, thanks!
Hi,
Late to the party, sorry. If you have to discard half of the original starter, couldn’t you save the half you would normally throw away and proceed as you would for the half you saved? If possible it would be cool to give my Mom the other half.
Thanks! Loved the pictures of the loaves people made.
Michelle
Absolutely! You can use it or give it away. I hate the idea of pouring it down the drain, so I am always trying to find a use for it. Giving to friends is a great idea.
okay I have a question! I am on day three today and I spaced it out and added the same flour and water without throwing half of it away. can I just pretend that tomorrow is day three and have a larger starter? or should I go back to the beginning…? thanks!
No worries. Don’t go back to the beginning. You can toss some of it now, and add a little more flour and water. Or just add a little more flour and water (to make sure it has adequate food for the larger size of the starter). Maybe toss more than half tomorrow.
It’s a pretty forgiving process, I find. If you’re seeing the results you want, you’re fine.
Hello there. I’m on day 3 and I have used pineapple juice. Nothing is happening. No activity apart from one or two deflated bubbles. Do you think I should continue with Day 3 instructions or just wait it out until it doubles in size?
Thank you in advance.
If you’ve had no activity, I have to admit it’s not looking promising. Is it cold where you are keeping the starter? That could be the culprit.
I might add day three flour, knowing it might be a lost cause but just to check. If your flour is good and you’re using unsweetened pineapple juice (you are, aren’t you?), then the only remaining variable would be the temperature. Try keeping it in the oven with the light turned on, or under a desk lamp if your house is cold. Or try again in the summer when things are warmer.
Sorry to hear it’s not working out easily for you. Sourdough can be a little tricky, but very worth the effort in the end.
Best of luck. I am keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Yes, it’s been rather cold in my house, so I guess that’s it! I moved it to a warmer place though, by the radiator, and I’ll check it again tomorrow. I think it’s a lost cause but you never know!
Thank you for your advice and know that I’m not discouraged. If it doesn’t work this time, I will be trying it again. With water next time.
Hi Tea! Guess what? The starter is working! It took a couple of days longer to get it going but today I did the last feeding and it’s already on its way. It has almost doubled in volume.
I would like to ask you if I can bake a loaf straight away, like later today or tomorrow. If I bake tomorrow do I have to to feed it before using it? I’m a complete novice with this stuff that’s why I’m asking all these questions. Also, I didn’t quite understand your 1-1-1 feed. You say you add equal amounts of flour-starter-water. So, OK you have your starter and you weigh it how in order to know how much flour to add. I’m confused. Do you discard part of it? When? Before or after weighing it? Could you please explain? Thank you so much!
Yes, you can start right away! Feed the starter today, and if you want to bake tomorrow, take the amount of starter you need for your recipe, then take (for example) one cup of the starter and add one cup flour and one cup water. Mix that together and it is your new starter. If there is anything left over, you can throw it out (or give to a friend, or use for something else–like pancakes, etc).
Does that make sense? Happy baking!
Hello Tara!
I am a long time reader of your blog and love it! I have been attempting the sourdough starter after reading your post on sourdough waffles and pancakes
I have a quick question. Do you think it’s OK if I used whole wheat flour instead of unbleached flour on day 2? I totally didn’t notice that the flours changed on day 2 in the directions until after I added it.
I really appreciate your time and your effort in posting this recipe! I was always confused by sourdough starter recipes until now.
I think it should be fine, Anna. You’ll know pretty soon if it isn’t. Flour selection does not seem to be part of the finicky issue
Best of luck with it!
I’m confused as to the step: “Once you’ve stirred it up, throw away half of the starter (estimate based on sight) and add the new flour and water.”.
Why exactly are we throwing away half the starter?
Because if you don’t throw it away, at this point, you will have to add double the amount of new “food” (flour/water) and the starter will begin to grow out of control. This keeps the right ratio of food to starter and keeps the size reasonable. Once the strength has developed and the starter is up and running, you still take out about half (at least I do) and this is the portion you either bake with, throw out, or give away. If you don’t, you’ll end up with an ever-expanding starter. But right now, the starter isn’t strong enough to bake with, so you throw it away. It’s painful, I know, but necessary.
Or you could use it as paste for an art project, I suppose
Does that make sense? If not, keep asking questions.