SOURDOUGH STARTER

Welcome to my sourdough journey!  I am still learning sourdough (it is a lot to take in!) as I learn I add notes and info to my blog.  I love experimenting with recipes and reading blogs and Facebook groups from other bakers.  Join me and please show me photos of your creations!

*most starter recipes have you feed in ratios of 1:1:1 which is the same exact amount of starter, flour, water for a feeding.  I tend to like mine a little thicker like a paste and notice it seems to perform better this way.  Once you get deeper into your sourdough journey you will discover what works best for you.  However, remember the flour is the food and you must always use equal or more than the starter in your jar so that it doesn't run out of food to eat.

Here is a list of the supplies I use and recommend in addition to some household alternatives for starting out: Sourdough Supplies

For the starter:
Day 1:  In a glass jar combine 1/2 cup bread flour with 1/4 cup water (tap or spring).  Stir well.  Cover jar with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 24 hours on the counter in a warm spot.  



Day 2:  After 24 hours you should see a small amount of bubbles.  Remove (discard) and throw away half of starter.   Add (feed) 1/4 cup flour with 1/8 cup water to the remaining 1/4 cup starter and stir well to combine.  Cover and allow to rest in warm spot for 12 hours.

Day 3-5:  Twice a day, 12 hours apart, discard and feed starter as explained above on day 2.  Cover and let rest in warm spot.


































Day 6 and beyond:  Starter should be rising after feeding and possibly doubling in volume by now.  When it is doubled in volume it is at its peak and best to use for baking at this time.  When it has risen and fallen back down to it's original volume before you fed, it is hungry and ready for another feeding.  If you are noticing this pattern by now you can start baking with your starter when it's at it's peak and you can start saving, sharing or baking with your discard at feeding times.
*use a rubber band on your container to monitor the rise and fall of your starter



Continue to leave your starter out in a warm spot with 2 a day feedings until it is ripe, doubling in volume after feedings.   (If you received sourdough starter from me, it is ripe and you are at this step of maintaining in the fridge with weekly feedings - her name is Audrey and she was created on April 22, 2020)

 Once ripe you can now store your starter in the fridge and feed once a week. Weekly take starter out of fridge and discard half.  Feed 1/4 cup flour and 1/8 cup water or 1/8 cup (2T flour) and 1 tablespoon water.  Allow to sit in a warm spot for a few hours before returning back to the fridge.  You should always feed equal or more flour than starter in your jar.

*When you plan to bake, pull starter out of fridge a couple days before and feed daily to *wake it up* you may need bulk up the starter with larger feeds to ensure there is enough starter for the bake and at least 1/4 cup leftover to keep.  If you accidentally use all of your starter in a bake then you will not have any left for future bakes and will have to start over.  To prevent this from ever becoming an issue try drying some of your starter(link below under other resources)!

 *ripe starter is used in bread recipes.  This is usually a few hours after feeding once the starter has doubled or tripled in volume.  When the starter has fallen and it's hungry and time to feed again, this is when you remove the discard - the discard is less active and used in different types of recipes. 

*It is highly recommended that you use a scale and weigh your ingredients, in fact you will see that the majority of recipes you find will only be measured in grams.  I know that I should do this but I HATE it so I don't and my recipes reflect that.  Sorry.

*Storing your baked bread:  Fresh baked bread is best eaten the same day.  I keep my bread wrapped in the parchment paper I baked it in and place that is a brown paper bag and leave in the dutch oven with lid on the counter.  That keeps it from getting hard but the crust will soften.  Or I sliced up the bread on day 2 and freeze.  Simply take out and toast when you want a slice of bread.  If I am no longer interested in saving the bread as slices I cube it and freeze it for bread crumbs.  

My sourdough baking diary, this is to document changes and bakes I've gone through with this particular starter.  I started this in April 2020 just when covid hit and it's still going strong!

 Recipes for ripe sourdough:

Recipes for baked bread:

other resources for info and recipes:
Sourdough Bread Baking Facebook Group
Bake Deco for affordable supplies (I also like amazon)

This bread calculator is an excellent way to work with your own recipes and figure out hydration percentages!
Sourdough Dictionary:
Autolyse the rest period after mixing flour and water before adding other ingredients
Baguette is a shape, long thin loaf like a tube.
Banneton/Proofing Basket the basket you proof your sourdough in.
Batard is a shape, an oval loaf.
Baton is a shape, similar to baguette but shorter.
Bench Scraper is a steel, dull, wide knife that is used to divide, portion, scoop and transfer dough
Boule is a shape, round loaf of sourdough with a dome top.
Bulk Fermentation when mixing ends and a series of stretch and folds begin.The dough is building flavor and strength during this time.  Should be done at room temp for about 3-5 hours.  When done dough should appear strong, elastic, smooth and bubbly.  This term is also known as bulk rise.
Cold Retard slowing down the rising process, allowing you to bake at a more convenient time while developing more flavor.
Crumb description of the texture inside of the bread.
Ear when you score the dough with a lame allowing the crust to open dramatically during baking.
Hooch dark liquid formed on top of your starter when it is hungry.  It is naturally occurring alcohol and can either be stirred in or poured out.
Hydration is measured in a percentage and is a calculation of how much water to flour is in your dough.  Increased hydration will give you a more open crumb and thinner, crisper crust.
Lame slashing tool for scoring bread
Lamination is the process in-between bulk fermentation and proofing.  Gently stretch the dough out into a rectangle as thin as possible without tearing. Shape by folding into thirds twice and place in a container for proofing.  This step is great for adding inclusions but is not mandatory.
Levain the mixture of flour, water and sourdough starter left to ferment for a period of time.
Proofing the time your dough is rising after shaping at room temp.  Could take 4 to 24 hours.  The longer you proof, the more sour your loaf will be.  To tell if your dough is done proofing gently poke it with your finger, if the indent comes back very quickly and disappears your dough is not done proofing.  If the indent stays prominent and does not bounce back, your dough is over proofed.
*A higher amount of starter used and warmer temperatures will speed up proofing as a smaller amount of starter used and cooler temperatures will slow it down.
Score/Scoring slashing or cutting the surface of the dough with a knife or lame before baking.
Steam adding 2 ice cubes to the dutch oven before baking along with misting the dough with a spray bottle.  Alternatively, you can also add a small pot of boiling water to the lower rack of the oven if your loaf is on a sheet above.
Stretch & Fold helps to develop strength and gluten.  Should be performed every 30 to 45 minutes during bulk fermentation.
Oven Spring the final burst of rising just after the loaf is put into the oven and before the crust hardens.  When dough hits a hot oven it can puff up to a third of its size in a matter of minutes!  

A graphic image of different ways to score your sourdough
If you can find the pint jars that have a wide mouth, I have switched to this size for holding my starter.  The top isn't tapered and makes it easier to stir and scrape down the sides.






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