When you’re new to sourdough baking, it can feel like learning a whole new language. Don’t worry—I’ve got you covered! If you are nervous about taking on the challenge of a sourdough starter, don’t be. Trust me, if I can learn to bake with sourdough, anyone can. Here are the very basics you need to know to begin your sourdough adventure.
Common Terms to Know
Sourdough Starter: A mix of flour, water, wild yeast, bacteria, and organic acids that naturally leavens bread and other grain-based goodies. You can make one from scratch, buy one, or get one from a friend to begin your journey.
Sourdough Discard: The portion of starter you remove before feeding it. You can toss it or use it in delicious sourdough discard recipes—waste not, want not!
Feeding: The process of nourishing your sourdough starter by adding specific amounts of flour and water.
Hooch: The liquid that forms on top of a starter that hasn’t been fed in a while. It’s your starter’s way of saying, “Feed me!” Just mix it in or pour it off and feed with fresh flour and water.
Where Do I Get My Own Starter?
You can get a sourdough starter from a friend, you can buy a starter online, or you can even make your own. I received mine from another mom, and have shared it with many other people (including strangers searching for one on social media). Part of the joy of sourdough is sharing it with others!
How to Care for Your Starter
Your starter needs just two things to thrive: flour and water. I use unbleached all-purpose flour to feed my starter. There are many different opinions on what the correct type of flour is to use, which you can read about in this great guide, but I have found unbleached works just fine for daily use.
So, you have your starter, flour, and water… now what? To properly maintain your starter, you will need a kitchen scale. Even when I’m not planning to bake immediately, I will feed my starter every day – I call this “maintenance mode”. During this time I keep about 25 grams of starter ongoing. To feed, I put 25 grams of starter in a clean jar (and add the rest to my discard jar), add 25 grams of flour, and 25 grams of water. Mix it together and you are done for the day! By keeping this schedule, at the end of the week I will have enough discard to make my favorite discard pancakes for the weekend.
When I am planning to bake, I simply increase the amount of starter that I keep and reduce the amount that I discard. Increase your flour and water accordingly.
If it doesn’t appeal to you, don’t let feeding your starter every day stress you out. I’m going to let you in on a little secret:
If you don’t want to take care of your starter every day, put it in the fridge.
If you won’t use it for several days (or longer), if you are going on vacation, if life is too overwhelming at the moment – pop it in the fridge. That will slow down fermentation, essentially putting it on pause. When you are ready to use your starter, take it out of the fridge and feed it. Voila! Ready to go!
So, in summary, how you maintain your starter depends on where you store it:
On the Counter: If your starter lives on the counter, feed it equal parts flour and water every 12–24 hours. If you’re baking often, stick to feeding every 12 hours. Otherwise, every 24 hours should do the trick.
In the Fridge: Not planning to bake for a while? Store your starter in the fridge and feed it about once a week to keep it happy.
Sourdough care doesn’t have to be complicated. You’ve got this! Once you’ve got the hang of feeding your starter, it is time to bake your first loaf of sourdough bread!
My Go-To Sourdough Resources
The Perfect Loaf: If you are looking for the Holy Grail around sourdough, this is it. I bought the cookbook and it will take you through the bread-baking process step by step, and provide valuable insight into baking with different hydration levels and grains. This is where I go to troubleshoot because of the thorough explanations.
Farmhouse on Boone: This is the first place I went to learn about sourdough. I use many of Lisa’s recipes, including the sourdough loaf I most commonly bake. There are many awesome discard recipes as well!
Clever Carrot: This is the other place I commonly go for recipes and advice. I have gifted her cookbook to several friends and family (and aspiring sourdough parents)!
I am always looking for new recipes and ways to perfect my technique, so please feel free to share your favorites with me!
