Starting Sourdough
I first got excited about sourdough in August 2017. I was reading a post & thought, I can do that.
So, I jumped in the kitchen, grabbed my King Arthur Flour & added some water….a few weeks later, I was ready. Everybody likes to name their starter.
Ours is called Tejas. (Tejas is the Spanish spelling of a Caddo tribe word taysha, which means "friend" or "ally".)
Sourdough really teaches you to chill out. You can’t rush it. I mean, you can add yeast to make ‘yeasted bread’, but that’s not sourdough, so stop it.
If you want to try making your own, I highly recommend King Arthur Flour’s directions.
If you want to buy a shortcutted version, nip over HERE to our online store & purchase our starter, called Tejas. You can name your own starter whatever you please, of course.
Maintaining your starter:
My best advice is be patient. Sourdough does not care about your schedule.
Use only non-chlorinated water. Chlorine can kill the good bacteria in your starter - if you only have city water, you can set it out for 12-24 hours and the chlorine will evaporate.
Refrigerator storage: Feed once a week – for Weekly baking
Measure out 113g (1/2 cup) of the starter; discard the rest (or bake something with it).
Ensure the container has enough room for the starter to grow about 4-5 times the current size, just in case.
Feed this 113g of starter with 113g each water and flour.
Cover it and let it rest on the counter until it starts bubbling (1 to 2 hours) before returning it to the refrigerator.
This is my preferred method, unless I’m baking a lot, then I let it set out for a few days, as noted below
* I feed mine about 2-3 times a month and have had no problems reviving it – sometimes it takes 1 feeding, sometimes 2 to get it going again.
Room-temperature storage: Feed twice a day – for Daily baking
Starter that's kept at room temperature is more active than refrigerated starter, and thus needs to be fed more often.
Room-temperature starter should be fed every 12 hours (twice a day) using the standard maintenance feeding procedure:
discard all but 113g, and
“feed” that 113g starter with 113g water and 113g flour.
Discarded Starter:
Throw in Compost or in your chicken yard.
Find recipes online, like pancakes, crackers, quick breads.
Avoid the sink as much as you can, like with anything, don’t pour it down the drain!
Best online guides & books & supplies:
King Arthur Flour
I only use King Arthur Flour for feeding my sourdough and for all my sourdough recipes! Usually you can buy this flour on their site or from Amazon. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, it seems that supplies are somewhat limited or backordered. Try small stores, bulk stores. We have a small country market in York County, PA with no website or social media presence, they carry a nice stock of KAF in 50 lb bags, which is really helpful for keeping my starter happy.
Just Google “King Arthur Flour Sourdough” for tips, recipes, and lots of explanations.
Favorite Recipes:
Extra-Tangy Sourdough Bread
Classic Sourdough Waffles or Pancakes – Overnight recipe
The Clever Carrot
“Artisan Sourdough Made Simple” beautiful full color cookbook by Emilie Raffa
I love her recipes for basic sourdough especially, there are a lot of flour dusted pages and many handwritten notes added!
For a sneak peak, here is a blogger called Fair Isle that details the steps to making a perfect loaf:
I generally make a couple loaves at one time.
They freeze great, either let cool & wrap well as a whole loaf, or cut into slices.
Or eat them all in one day, whatever.
After 1-2 days, the bread starts to dry out a bit, which is still great for toast!
After about 4 days, it gets moldy, which is probably not the goal you had in mind.
Favorite Recipes:
Saturday Morning Fruit and Nut Toast – my favorite in the book
Cinnamon Sugar Sourdough Waffles
Multigrain Bread
In Jennie’s Kitchen
THE BEST PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE! (And I’ve tried A LOT) – takes a couple days….patience 😊
Things you need
Digital Scale
I have this Ozeri Digital Scale in green, which is nice to be able to convert ounces and grams easily.
Pots & pans
A good cast-iron dutch oven, we have some old ones, but Lodge and others make good ones too, like this Lodge 7-qt.
A good loaf pan is useful, I have one of these USA loaf pans.
I also have a larger Pampered Chef ceramic bread pan that I like & have had for years.
If you want to be really fancy, get an Emile Henry cloche - no experience with it, but it looks beautiful & one day, I will have one.
Parchment paper - always useful & I like this brand because it is compostable once used.
Container for starter - I use quart-sized containers, something see-through is a really nice option. I reuse my yogurt containers.
Non-chlorinated water - chlorine can kill the sweet little baby yeasts
Reviving Dehydrated Sourdough Starter
Hydrating a dehydrated sourdough starter back to life. Condensed instructions below. If pictures along with directions are your jam….skip below this section!
(Adapted & condensed from King Arthur Flour’s instructions - for site, go here.)
Measure out 28 g / 1 oz. (You absolutely, positively must have a scale, here is the one I have, yes it is green.)
Place the dried starter chips in a large (about 1-quart) container, like a yogurt container. I prefer a wide-mouth, smooth surface.
Add 56 g / 2 oz of lukewarm non-chlorinated (or distilled or spring or well) water.
The water should barely cover the chips; just make sure the majority are covered.
Stir together to produce a chunky, milky color.
Stir the chips/water occasionally; it'll take 3 hours or so, with infrequent attention, to dissolve the chips.
Once the mixture is fairly smooth/liquid, with perhaps just a couple of small undissolved chips, feed it by mixing in 28 g / 1 oz of unbleached all-purpose flour.
Cover it lightly (I set the yogurt lid over the top without closing it), and place it somewhere warm, generally the kitchen counter is fine.
Let the starter work its magic for 24 hours.
At the end of that time, you should see some bubbles starting to form.
My kitchen is at about 70°F; if your temperature is lower, this will take longer.
When it is ready, you’ll see your starter has a mixture of larger and smaller bubbles covering the surface.
After the 24 hours, feed the starter with 28 g / 1 oz of lukewarm water, and 28 g / 1 oz of flour.
Mix everything together. Cover and put back in its warm spot.
About 8 hours later (depends on your kitchen), you should see a bubbly surface
After the 8-ish hours, feed the starter again – by mixing in 28 g / 1 oz of lukewarm water & 28 g / 1 oz of flour – cover, and wait. Still not discarding any at this point.
It could be exhibiting a host of tiny bubbles, and expanded.
You may also notice, from the side of the container, that it's risen, and then fallen; this is completely natural.
The starter is now at its starting point, fully hydrated, and ready for its first real feeding.
DISCARD all but 113 g / 4 oz of the starter. (This is about 1/2 cup, which should be about the quantity you have, depending on if you fed it more than suggested above.)
Feed it again, this time with 113 g / 4 oz of lukewarm water and 113 g / 4 oz flour.
This time, it should really expand quickly, in a couple hours.
Your starter is now revived and healthy.
At last – you're ready to bake!
Depending on what you plan to cook, I like to place 113 g of starter in a container ( I have a lot of yogurt containers!), feed it with equal parts of 113 g water & flour so that it can go back in the fridge for next time.
The amount in the original container is what you have to cook with.
Some recipes call for as little as 50 g of starter (roughly 1/4 cup).
Try not to be too adventurous with your first loaf, just do one simple sourdough, follow the directions, don’t make substitutions yet.
Be patient, better to go past any time periods than try to cut them short.
Always wait for the starter to become bubbly before using – and let the baking begin!
Day 1 - Dried Starter & Water
Our zip-top bag of dehydrated starter contains 56 g / 2 oz, you only need half to start your sourdough baby, so you get 2 chances to make some sourdough magic.
Weigh out 28 g / 1 oz of dried starter chips in a large (at least 1-pint) container, like a yogurt container. I prefer a wide-mouth, smooth surface.
Add 56 g / 2 oz of lukewarm water, stir well.
The water should barely cover the chips; tamp them down, if necessary.
Day 1, Later - Mix in flour
Stir the chips/water occasionally; it'll take 3 hours or so, with infrequent attention, to dissolve the chips.
Once the mixture is fairly smooth/liquid, with perhaps just a couple of small undissolved chips, feed it with 28 g / 1 oz of unbleached all-purpose flour.
Please do not use measuring cups, get a scale - they’re like 13 bucks & then you’ll use it all the time.
Ship this one to your house in 2 days!! Ozeri Digital Scale!
Leave it be
Cover it lightly (I just set the yogurt lid over the top without closing it), and place it somewhere warm.
Let the starter work for 24 hours.
At the end of that time, you should see some bubbles starting to form. The bubbles in this picture formed in about 12 hours.
This is at about 70°F; if your temperature is lower, this will take longer.
Forget your timer; just wait until your starter has a mixture of larger and smaller bubbles covering the surface.
Day 2 - Feed the baby
WITHOUT DISCARDING ANY OF THE STARTER, feed it with 28 g / 1 oz of lukewarm water, and 28 g / 1 oz of flour.
I like to always add water first (pictured here), blend with the starter & then add the flour.
Cover, and put back in its warm spot.
After 8-ish hours (depends on your kitchen), you should see some serious bubbling and be ready to feed again.
It is generally better to be a bit late feeding rather than a bit early. Let the sourdough do its magic, it is a process, and no one likes to be interrupted while they are working.
Day 3-ish
Feed the starter again – 28 g / 1 oz of lukewarm water, 28 g / 1 oz of flour – cover, and wait, as pictured here. Again, you're not discarding any at this point.
You can put a rubber band around the container to see the level of the starter before bubbles increase its size.
While rising, the starter will look a bit foamy & jiggly, with various sized bubbles.
You may also notice, from the side of the container, that it's risen, and then fallen, with really small bubbles; this is completely natural.
Day 4 - Bubbly and ready
Put the starter on a regular feeding schedule.
DISCARD all but 113 g / 4 oz (visually, its about 1/2 cup).
Feed it again, this time with 113 g / 4 oz lukewarm water and 113 g / 4 oz flour.
You’ll always want to mix equal parts starter/water/flour.
Take note of how much is left in the container, you’ll want to ensure you always have some starter left to feed and keep for next time.
This all seems like a lot of work, but the end result is amazing.
And now I am off to wake up my starter to recreate some of this magic:
Do you have any beloved recipes to share?
Any comments, questions, tips?
Please let me know in the comments below!
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