How to Make Sourdough Starter [Simple and TASTY Recipes] - My Fermented Foods (2024)

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Learning to make a Sourdough Starter can open the doors for several simple and tasty recipes for you. You can prepare a Sourdough Starter and store it for future use. You can use it anytime to bake bread or satisfy your taste buds with some yummy baking recipes that are also good for your health.

What is Wild Yeast?

Before we learn how to prepare a Sourdough Starter, let us first have a clear understanding of what wild yeast is. Wild yeast is the key ingredient you will need while preparing a Sourdough Starter.

You must already be aware of yeast that is commonly used in baking recipes. Wild yeast is nothing but a natural version of the commercially available yeast. It is a naturally existing form of yeast that blows around in the air, in the bag of flour, and even on the surface of grapes.

Several centuries ago, when the packaged yeast was yet to be invented, bakers had to use a sourdough starter to ensure they had a steady supply of yeast at all times. They relied on the wild yeast present in the air to ferment the dough.

The process involved keeping a pot of live yeast culture in a flour or water medium and “feeding” it every day. The feeding was necessary to allow the yeast to stay active and alive.

Later, the use of wild yeast was replaced by the commercial, packaged yeast as it was easier for manufacturers to mass produce the later. The use of packaged yeast also made it easier for bakers to prepare baked items.

On the contrary, using wild yeast was a finicky and fussy process as it needed a medium, a sourdough starter, to be used in baking. The medium also had to be maintained and monitored constantly.

Also, wild yeast likes an acidic environment, and cooler temperatures, and works too slowly to proof bread. Hence, bakers found it convenient to switch to using packaged yeast that needed no medium, worked faster or required no specific conditions.

However, in spite of all the conveniences offered by the packaged yeast, it is the wild yeast that is still considered amazing stuff!

The texture and flavor you can get from bread and baked goods prepared with wild yeast cannot be matched by the bread prepared with commercial yeast. The flavors are interesting and more complex, while the texture is enjoyable to chew as well as sturdier.

This is why; we are making special efforts to learn how to make a Sourdough Starter so that you can enjoy the great flavors derived from wild yeast.

What is a Sourdough Starter?

A Sourdough Starter refers to the cultivation of wild yeast in a form that can be used for baking. As wild yeast is naturally present in all flours, the best way to prepare a Sourdough Starter is to combine the flour and water and let it sit for a few days.

Preparation of Sourdough starter does not need any fancy ingredient to “capture” the wild yeast because this key ingredient is already present in the flour.

Read further to find a detailed description of the quantity of the ingredients, and the exact process of preparation and feeding the Sourdough Starter.

Equipment and Ingredients for Making Your Own Sourdough Starter

Baking sourdough bread and baked goods can become an easy process once you have prepared a Sourdough Starter. A Sourdough Starter does not require any special equipment and ingredients apart from water and flour. Additionally, there are several options you can try to suit your personal preferences.

However, your Sourdough Starter may not come out to be perfect in the first try. While the process is a very simple one, it does require you to exercise judgement about when to feed it and when exactly it is ready to use.

While expert cooks are able to master the art of preparing Sourdough Starter in the first attempt itself, you may need two or more attempts to get it perfect. Read further to find the list of ingredients and equipment you will need to make your own Sourdough Starter.

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Read further to learn the right way to store the Sourdough starter in order to prevent spoilage.

How to Store a Sourdough Starter?

Once you prepare your Sourdough Starter, you may not use the entire contents immediately. If you use a small portion of the starter, you will have to keep the rest of the contents alive by continuing with the feeding process.

However, if you do not intend to bake sourdough bread every week, feeding the starter regularly will only cause you to waste more flour unnecessarily. Hence, the excess Sourdough Starter needs to be stored so that you can use it as and when needed.

The ideal way to store the Sourdough Starter is to put it in a state of hibernation so that the multiplication of wild yeast is slowed down. This can be achieved by either freezing or refrigerating the contents.

The wild yeast can survive in the cold temperatures and later, be revived when needed to bake bread again.

How to Refrigerate Sourdough Starter?

1. Place the excess sourdough starter in a jar and close it with an air-tight lid.
2. If the starter has a liquid consistency, add a mixture of 2 parts of flour and 1 part of warm water to it.
3. Seal the jar and keep it in the refrigerator, preferably in its coldest areas.
4. Feed the starter once or twice a month.
5. When you need the starter to bake, remove it from the refrigerator. Allow it adequate time to warm up to room temperature before using. Once removed from the refrigerator, it may take about 2 to 3 days for your Sourdough Starter to become bubbly and suitable for baking.

How to Freeze Sourdough Starter?

If you plan to store Sourdough Starter for a longer duration, you can store it in the freezer. Storing it in the freezer also offers the advantage of doing away with the process of feeding it regularly.

To freeze the Sourdough Starter:

1. Place the excess Sourdough Starter in a freezer-safe plastic bag or jar. Close the lid of the jar or seal the plastic bag and keep it in the freezer.
2. When needed, remove your starter from the freezer and empty it in a bowl to allow it to thaw.
3. Because of the extremely cold temperature in the freezer, it may take about 6 to 7 days for your Sourdough Starter to become warm and active again.

Now that you have learned to prepare your own Sourdough Starter and store it, let us have a look at some healthy and delicious recipes you can prepare using it.

Sourdough Starter Recipes

You can use the Sourdough Starter to bake bread or several other products. Read further to find some easy-to-prepare, yummy Sourdough Starter recipes you can try.

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Baking Tips

Here are a few baking tips that will come in handy for you while preparing your Sourdough Starter:

• Be patient! You will have to commit more time for preparing the sourdough starter and bread. So, do not attempt to make a sourdough starter when you are pressed for time. Remember, it takes as long as it takes!
• If you think your sourdough bread is not as perfect or fluffy as you had expected, do not discard it. It may still be more edible than regular bread!
• Take good care of your sourdough starter by feeding it regularly. If the starter becomes too sour, it indicates a higher acidic content in the mixture. It may prevent wild yeast from multiplying and forming bubbles. In such cases, you need to dilute the acidic environment of the mixture by adding more flour to it. This would allow the yeast to thrive and start multiplying again.
• Your culture should have a fresh and fruity smell like that of blueberries, citrus fruits, or yogurt. If the smell resembles nail polish, it indicates you need to feed the starter. In case the nail polish smell persists, it might be the time to start all over again!
• Remember, wild yeast requires oxygen for survival. Stir your starter well each time you feed it to allow oxygen in the air to enter the mixture.
• Never use tap water as it may contain chlorine that can spoil your starter.
• If you notice strange colors on the culture, discard it and start again. The abnormal color may mean something that does not belong has moved in.

How to Use Discarded Sourdough Starter?

It can get a bit frustrating to discard a portion of the starter before you feed it every time. However, you need not throw it away in a trash can. It can be put to good use in the following ways:

• You can use it in recipes that require the hydration matched by your starter.
• You can use the discarded starter for flavoring recipes like crackers, waffles, or banana bread. These recipes call for an added flour without any fermentation and soaking time. Your discarded sourdough starter would add flavor to these dishes without fermenting the grain or flour in the final product.
• If your discarded starter has the Sourdough flavor and fermented flour, it can be used for the pre-digestion of grains. Add additional liquid and flour to the discarded starter and ferment it for another 12 to 24 hours.
• Add baking soda to the mixture. It will react with the starter and release gases. The gases will be trapped within the flour-water mixture and create leavening. This can offer a perfect ingredient for preparing muffins, and waffles.
• Discarded sourdough can also be used in recipes that can be baked immediately and require no additional flour. If the flour in the discarded starter is already fermented, it can be used to prepare pancakes and crepes to add a sourdough flavor to the recipes.

Sourdough Starter Troubleshooting

• Overflowing Starter

If the starter begins to overflow from the bowl after a few days, remove some of its contents to bake sourdough pancakes. Make sure at least half a cup of starter is left in the bowl and continue feeding it.

• Lack of Bubbles

If bubbles do not appear at the top of the starter, increase the feeding interval. Also, try to maintain the same feeding interval. For example, feed the mixture after every 12 hours or 8 hours and maintain the same frequency.

• Liquid at the Surface

Sometimes, liquid may collect at the top of the starter. Do not panic. It is normal. In fact, the liquid contains lactobacillus, which adds to the sourdough taste of the bread.

• Boost the Starter

You can add two tablespoons of dairy kefir, water kefir, or kombucha instead of water for any one feeding. This will add more bacteria to the mixture and boost the process of fermentation.

Sourdough Starter FAQs

Here are the answers to the frequently asked questions about the preparation of a sourdough starter:

How to find out if your starter is ready?

To find out if your Sourdough Starter is ready to make bread, drop a spoonful of the mixture in a glass of water. You know it is ready if it floats. In case it doesn’t, you can continue with the feeding process for a few more days.

How to tell if your sourdough starter is bad?

Your sourdough starter can be considered as spoilt if abnormal colors like an orange or pink tint begin to appear on its surface or along the sides.

What are the health benefits of a Sourdough starter?

Bread and other baking products prepared from Sourdough Starter are easier to digest and can help you avoid stomach upsets and indigestion. Sourdough also contains healthy gut bacteria such as lactobacillus that can improve the gut flora and reduce the risk of digestive disturbances.

Conclusion

Sourdough Starter offers a great way to add a unique flavor and texture to your bread and baking products. It also offers several health benefits. You can try preparing your own Sourdough Starter at home using the recipes and tips given above and enjoy a new yummy addition to your cuisine.

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