Easy Sourdough Starter and Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make enough sourdough starter? ›

There is no single best ratio, but I've found a ratio of 1:5:5 fed twice daily at 12-hour intervals to produce a sourdough starter that's strong and healthy. This ratio corresponds to 20% ripe starter carryover, 100% water, and 100% flour (a mix of whole grain rye and white flour) at each feeding.

Feed a sourdough starter 4-12 hours before starting the dough, ensuring it is active and bubbly. Add warm water, active starter, salt, and flour to a large mixing bowl. A kitchen scale will give the most accurate results. Mix together with wooden spoon or even just your hands.

The best flour blend for creating a new sourdough starter is 50% whole-meal flour (whole wheat or whole rye) and 50% bread flour or all-purpose flour. I recommend a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and bread flour.

So, a sourdough feeding ratio is the relative amount (referring to weight) of old sourdough compared to fresh flour and water. Typical feeding ratios are 1:2:2 or 1:3:3 (old sourdough: fresh flour: water). However, even extreme ratios like 1:50:50 would still work.

Do I have to discard my sourdough starter? It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.

Maintain your sourdough starter in an ideally warm environment (75-80ºF). Feed daily or refrigerate in between feedings when doubled in size. Feed your sourdough starter, rise for a couple of hours, and put it in the refrigerator between bakes. Feed it once at room temperature before using it.

You should feed the starter equal or greater than its weight after discarding a portion. You should wait at least 2-4 hours or until the starter is at its peak before you use it in your baking.

Myth 2: Sourdough starter requires fancy water

The key to sourdough starter success is using water without chlorine, which can cause the starter to die. While bottled water is chlorine-free, you can also use filtered tap water for our sourdough starter recipe.

A Herman starter or Amish Friendship Bread Starter is typically made with milk, flour, sugar and commercial yeast. A sourdough starter is generally made only of flour and water. A Herman starter will be sweeter and more mellow flavored than a sourdough starter.

If you have too much starter compared to the additional flour and water you're adding, your hungry starter consumes all the nutrients and then it's not as bubbly.

When to put sourdough starter in the fridge? ›

For instance, with my 100% hydration sourdough starter, I will typically feed it with 10 to 15% less water than normal to stiffen it. Place the lid on top and seal it shut. Set a timer for 1 hour. After an hour of room-temperature fermentation, place the jar in the refrigerator for up to three weeks without feedings.

All you need to do is take 20g of the starter you already have and then feed it with 20g of flour and 20g of water (so 1:1:1). Then you'll have a 60g starter, which is considered a smaller amount. You can of course reduce these amounts even further if you wish, but this is a reasonable size to keep waste to a minimum.

Don't worry — everything will be just fine. A sourdough starter is often likened to a pet, but unlike a puppy, if you forget to feed it when you're supposed to, nothing bad will happen. Because even though starters are technically alive, they're incredibly resilient.

Yes, you can overfeed your sourdough starter. Audrey explains: “Every time you add more flour and water, you are depleting the existing population of natural bacteria and yeast.” If you keep adding more and more, eventually you'll dilute the starter so much that you'll just have flour and water.

You need the carry over to keep the starter going, but too much of it means discard. 🌾You also want the little extra to carryover, to keep the starter going. 20-30g should be sufficient, even as little as 5/10g if you feed your starter every day or every second day. I leave this to you to decide on.