Sourdough Starter

Course: Breads

Cuisine: North American

Keyword: bread, sourdough

Prep Time: 5

Fermentation: 5

Total Time: 5 5

Servings: loaves of bread (infinite loaves if maintained)

Calories: 247kcal

Use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir the 1 cup (130 grams) of the bread flour, sugar, and active dry yeast together in a ceramic or glass bowl.
Pour warm water into the dry ingredients, stirring until a batter-like consistency forms.

Cover the bowl with a piece of cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel and secure it on the bowl with a rubber band or by tying kitchen twine around it.
Allow it to rise and fall on itself for 24 hours in a warm place in your kitchen or pantry.
The starter will rise and bubble, and deflate after 24 hours.

Remove a half of the starter (about 1 cup or 250 milligrams) from the bowl and transfer it to a separate glass jar. Reserve this discard for future recipes.
Replace that discard with 1/2-cup (65 grams) of bread flour and 1/2-cup (60 milliliters) of warm water, stirred together until it forms a smooth batter.
Pour the mixture of flour and water into the yeast mixture in the mixing bowl to give it something to feed on.
Cover the bowl again with the cheesecloth and allow it to ferment for another 24 hours.

Repeat the process on days 3 through 7 (if you're going the full 7 days), always leaving the starter at room temperature to maximize fermentation.
After your 5th, 6th, or 7th day, your sourdough starter is ready to go into the fridge.

Scrape it from the bowl and into a 1-quart (or larger) glass jar with a tight-fitting lid.
Store the sourdough starter in the fridge in between uses and feedings to stall the fermentation and growth of the yeast.

Plan to give your starter 8 hours before you using it.
Repeat the feeding steps above by removing half of the starter into your discard jar.
Add 1/2 cup (65 grams) of bread flour and 1/2 cup (60 milliliters) warm water mixture and feed the starter.
Within 6 to 8 hours of feeding the starter, it should rise, bubble, and smell malty and tangy.
Measure out the amount of starter called for in your recipe, reserving 1 cup (or 120 grams) for later.
Feed that cup of starter again before putting it back in the fridge.
After the (room temperature) starter doubles in size and feels elastic when you touch it, it's ready to use.

Feed your sourdough starter once every two weeks, stirring the hooch back into the starter or discarding it before feeding, as instructed above.

For a less tangy starter, you only need to ferment it for 2 days, but I go the full 7 days for ultimate flavor.
You can add the sourdough discard to other recipes to give them a mild, tangy flavor.
A sourdough starter should be fed once a week, but you can go up to a month without feeding it.
Severe neglect of your starter- heating it or not feeding it for a very long time- can cause it to develop rose-colored streaks, which means it's to throw your starter out.
Hooch appears as a grey or dark-colored dark liquid on top of the starter. The starter is still good. You can pour off the hooch or stir it back into the starter before using it.

Spread the sourdough starter out in a thin layer over parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and leave it in a dry area of the kitchen until it cracks.
Once it is bone-dry, crumble the starter into a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Add a food-safe silica packet to the jar with the dried sourdough starter to prevent moisture from developing.
To use a dry sourdough starter, rehydrate 1 to 2 ounces with equal parts warm water before feeding it with equal parts of water and flour.

The longer you freeze a sourdough starter, the less effective it will be in leavening your breads. Just something to be mindful of.

Transfer it to a freezer-safe jar or container and freeze it for up to a month.
Thaw the starter under refrigeration and proceed with feeding and allowing it to warm up.