Sourdough Starter
A sourdough starter is a live culture that ferments and improves in flavour and texture over time and provides the base for a myriad of dough projects from bread to pizza and desserts.
It’s important to note the temperature of your kitchen when storing your starter, lower temperatures require a bit more time to ferment before feeding so trust your instincts if you feel like you could give your starter a little more time to develop. Your starter may need lesser time between feedings in warmer climates.
Process
Day 1 :
50g bread flour
50g water
- You can mix brown, white, rye or your favorite bread flour to make 50g to use in the starter.
- Place the flour and water into a clean glass jar and stir together until fully hydrated and combined.
- Cover with the muslin cloth loosely and leave at room temperature overnight.
Day 2 :
50g wholemeal flour
50g water
- To the sourdough starter add 50g wholemeal flour and 50g water. Stir together until fully combined.
- Cover and leave at room temperature overnight.
Day 3 :
100g wholemeal flour
100g water
- Discard 100g of the starter.
- To the remaining starter, mix in 100g flour & 100g water and mix until the flour is completely hydrated.
- Cover and leave overnight.
Day 4 :
100g wholemeal flour
100g water
- Discard 150g of the starter.
- To the remaining starter, add 100g flour & mix in the 100g water.
- Cover and leave overnight. The starter should start to smell pleasantly sour with small bubbles appearing on the surface.
Day 5 :
150g wholemeal flour
150g water
- Discard 200g of the starter.
- To the remaining starter, add the 150g flour to the starter and mix in the 150g water.
- Cover and leave overnight. The starter should appear active and full of bubbles.
Day 6 :
200g wholemeal flour
200g water
- The starter should be quite active now and be full of little bubbles and smell slightly sour.
- Throw away 250g of sourdough starter.
- To the remaining starter, add the 200g flour to the starter and mix in the 200g water.
- Cover and leave overnight.
Day 7 :
- The starter should now be very active, full of bubbles and is ready to use.
- Remember when making sourdough bread, retain some sourdough starter which will be fed/refreshed, ensuring you have some sourdough starter for the next dough.
- To refresh and feed your starter, add the same weight of each : starter + water + flour.
Ingredients
- Water
- Organic Bread Flour
Equipment
- Glass jar
- Muslin/Cheese cloth/Lid
- Spatula
- Scale
