So, you want to make bread the old-fashioned way, do ya? Well, you’ll have to start at the start, a sourdough starter that is; and it’s one of the simplest things to do.
But, be careful what you ask for.
The Simple:
No matter what anyone tells you, a sourdough starter needs only three things, flour, water, and air. That’s it.
Now you’ll find some who tell you to add some sugar, or syrup, or some other ingredient to trick it up, but trust me, you don’t need it.
The Complex:
A sourdough starter is basically your new pet that will take loving, feeding, and a stable home.
When you start the project, what actually happens is amazing, nurturing something unique to its environment. You can take two starters, made with the same flour and water, put them in different households, and over time the bread they produce will have a slightly different taste based on the ambient bacteria in it’s environment, and the feeding schedule. Cool, huh?
A starter is a mixture of flour and water that has been exposed to air. The air has all kinds of microbes in it, some of it is actually deadly. Where does that come from? Well, what’s your life like? Do you farm, coming in the house after being in the barn or the field? If so, the bacteria in your house is going to be different than someone who, say, lives in a downtown high-rise.
The two microbes that, when exposed to your flour-and-water mixture, will begin feeding on the sugars in the flour are lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and wild yeast. There are lots of strains and when they get going, they fight off all the other microbes and, in a way “purify” the fermentation. These two microbes are flavorless and odorless, but the fight they put up to drive out the other microbes is what give your bread that traditional sour taste. When you do it at home, the mix of strains of LAB and wild yeasts are what make that taste unique to you.
This is unlike commercial yeast, which is highly controlled to produce predictable results.
Variables:
Flour. You can experiment with the flour you use, but you want a flour with a high protein content, preferably 13%. I use a mix of King Arthur white bread flour, and hard red wheat berries I grind in a mill. I have seen starters with every kind of flour, so it’s really up to you.
Water. It’s best to use distilled water that’s at room temperature. You could heat the water a little, but not higher than 90ºF, especially if you are feeding an already existing starter.
Flour/Water Ratio. Hydration matters. If your starter is at 100% hydration, meaning 1:1 ratio of flour to water, your bread will generally have a mildly sour taste. If you want It more sour, think of increasing the hydration to say, 100% flour to 115% water.
Time. Depending on the amount of wild yeast and LAB present in your environment, (there will be more once you start baking regularly) you may not be able to feed your starter on the same schedule I recommend.
Good luck! Feel free to ask questions in the comments down below and if you make a starter from this recipe, let me know and send a picture!
I got started on my sourdough journey after watching an episode of “Cooked” by Michael Pollan. You can find it on Netflix.
So health insurance is my day job...
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The Recipe:
Note: I find it easier to premix 300 grams of each of the wheat and bread flour together in a container to make 600 grams of starter mix.
Ingredients:
100 grams of starter mix
100 grams distilled, room temperature water
Mix all ingredients in a container about three times as big as the volume of ingredients, preferably with straight sides and loose lid. Once mixed, (you could even do it with your hands if you really want to get some microbes in there), scrape any dough off the sides and clean the inside of your container with a damp paper towel. You want to be able to see the mark the starter leaves when it rises and then begins to recede. Put a rubber band around the container at the ingredient’s current level and place let it sit for around two days.
Watch your starter. If it doubles after the first day, go ahead and do your first feeding. If it doesn’t wait another day. It may never double your first batch. In any case, after two to three days, do your first feeding.
Care and Feeding:
First Feeding: Remove all but 50 grams of your spent starter and add 100 grams each of flour and water to the mix. I put the water in with the remaining starter first and mix. Then add the flour. Repeat scraping the container and cleaning the inside walls with a damp paper towel. Watch the starter over the next day or two. When it doubles, feed it again. If it stalls, do this first feeding process again after two days.
Successive Feedings: Once your starter is doubling in size, you can settle into regular feedings. This time, remove all but 25 grams of starter and add 50 grams each of water and starter mix. Always scrape and clean and reset the rubber band.
The frequency of these feedings depends on when you want to bake. A good starter should double in size every 6 hours or so, meaning you can feed it as much as three times a day, but it can take a couple of weeks or more of regular feedings to get to this point. If you’re going to be gone for a while, or not planning to bake for a week or more, you can put the starter in the refrigerator which will slow the fermentation until you’re ready to start baking again. A few days before you want to bake, pull the starter out again and feed it. I have had starters in the fridge for a month or more that didn’t go bad.
Note: Be sure to pay attention to the amount of starter you will use in your next bake. You don’t want to need 200 grams when you only have 150 grams of starter. Adjust accordingly.
Troubleshooting:
Most of these issues, I’ve had myself!
It smells!
The more you tend your starter, the more familiar you are going to be with the way a starter should smell. At first, it will smell like warm wet bread, but will soon ripen and smell a little sour. The longer it ferments, the more sour/acidic it will smell. That’s not a bad thing! If, however, it begins to smell like nail polish remover, you should discard it and start over.
It won’t rise.
You’re going to need some patience here. There are a lot of variables that go into a successful starter and you will just have to be aware.
Temperature: If you live in a cold climate and your house is normally around 65ºF, or you have the air conditioner set to a low temperature, it will slow the fermentation. This can also happen if you have your starter near an air conditioning vent. The same is true if your starter is in a place that’s too warm. You want to keep it in a range between 68ºF and 85ºF. Some people put their starter in an unheated gas oven and the pilot light keeps it an ideal temperature. Just don’t forget to take it out if you bake!
Old Flour: Flour can go stale and lose its potency if its old or not sealed in a proper container.
Other impurities: In some cases, your starter may have been contaminated by enough bad bacteria that the wild yeast and LAB can’t win the fight. If this happens, get fresh flour and start the process over again.
It has liquid on the top.
This is normal. It’s called hooch and it’s actually alcohol produced from the fermentation process. If it gets dark, that’s also not uncommon. It could mean that your hydration is high or you need to feed it more often. What you don’t want to see is mold.
It has mold.
Your starter shouldn’t have any mold growth, but occasionally this happens. Depending on the spores that defeated the LAB and wild yeast, your mold color may vary from black and dense, to pink, orange, or a brilliant display of beautiful white tendrils, reaching toward the top of the jar. Yeah, you gotta throw that out and start over. You’ll find people who have gone to great lengths to save moldy starters, which might be worth it if you just screwed up the starter that has been in your family for generations, but I doubt that’s you if you’re reading a blog about how to get one started. Some kinds of mold can make you really sick, so my advice? It’s not worth it.
Equipment:
I am NOT an Amazon affiliate, so I won’t get any credit or commission for any purchases, I just thought I’d share what I use.
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