Sourdough Starter Guide

Let’s keep it super simple. Sourdough starter is a natural leavening agent, that is used in bread and pizza crust making. This allows you to throw away the commercial yeast, and bake with natural wild yeast with the goodness of sourness and complex flavors.

To make this starter, the first thing you need is PATIENCE. You will not succeed without it. Apart from patience, you need just whole wheat flour and water. See Simple … With this you need a vessel, preferably a glass container, that can handle the fermentation.

I searched the internet for a simple and beginner recipe, and found Gemma’s Bigger Bolder Baking recipe to make the starter. It’s a straight forward, no-fuss process, that will result in a beautiful, sweet smelling starter. I have another post, ‘The rise and fall of Sourdough Starter‘, which will walk you through the mistakes I made, and what to keep in mind while working on a starter.

Things you will need:

• Whole wheat flour (better if it has some bran in it, else, use the normal one)
• Water at blood temperature (if you dip your finger in it, you feel no difference)
• A glass vessel with lid (capacity approximately 1000 ml)
• A fork for mixing
• Digital scale (optional, but very helpful)

Day 1:
Measure 60g or 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, and 60 ml chlorine free water. Make sure the water is at blood temperature.

Mix the flour and water in the jar with the fork, making sure there is no dry flour or lumps left. It should turn into a paste like consistency. Cover loosely with the lid to allow creation of air pockets and escape some gases. Place a rubber band or piece of masking tape around the jar to measure the starter’s growth as it rises.

Let it rest for 24 hours in a warm place away from light. After 24 hours, start with the feeding regime, as per the plan below.

Day 2:
Look at the starter and check if you can see any bubbles on the sides or on the surface. If you do not see anything, don’t worry. The bubbles might have appeared overnight and then dissolved. You do not need to feed the starter on day 2, so just let it rest in a warm spot for another 24 hours.

Day 3:
Your starter will start to smell a little boozy by now, and will be bubbly and stretchy. Start by removing and discarding half of the paste.

Feed the same quantity of 60g flour and 60 ml water to the starter. Mix with a fork until smooth, resembling thick yogurt. Add more water if needed. Cover loosely and set aside for 24 hours in a warm spot.

Day 4, 5 and 6:
Repeat the process from day 3, and keep feeding the starter every 24 hours. You will notice that it has started to smell slightly sweet and boozy. The starter should have bubbles all over.

Day 7:

By now, your starter should have doubled in size. You should see plenty of bubbles, both large and small. The texture will be spongy and fluffy. It should smell boozy, but not stinky like gym socks. Your starter is now active and ready to use!

To check if the starter is ready to use or not, do the float test. Drop a teaspoon of bubbly starter in a jar of water; if it floats to the top you can use it to bake the sourdough bread, ciabatta and sourdough pizza.
Please keep in mind, if your starter is not ready at this point which is quite common due to temperature issues, timing, and other factors, it is totally fine to continue the feeding process for 1-2 weeks or more. The flavor and texture will just get better with time. It took me about 2 weeks to get it right, so don’t worry just keep up with the regime.

If you do not wish to use the starter right now, transfer it in a clean jar and refrigerate for later use. Once in fridge, you will only need to feed it once in a week.