How To Make Sourdough Starter

Shortly after being confined to our homes due to the Covid 19 virus, I ran out of yeast and I couldn’t find any at the store. It seemed that everyone decided to take up baking bread so both yeast and flour were hard to come by for a while.

That’s when I remembered the sourdough starter that my sister in-law gave me. It was shoved all the way to the back of the fridge and had a thick layer of dark liquid on top. I was dubious if it was still any good. I poured off the dark liquid, and gave it a feeding. Not much happened the first day. I poured out 1/2 the starter fed it flour and water and waited another day to see what would happen.

The next day I could see the tiniest stirring of life in the jar, so I gave it another feeding and waited. I repeated this process for the next few days and voila, I woke up to what looked like a lava flow on my kitchen counter.

I had revived my starter and used it to bake my very first loaf of sour dough bread.

How to Bake Sourdough Bread

If you do not have a sourdough starter and want make one from scratch, it’s actually quite simple to do. There are no fancy ingredients that you will need to go out and purchase. All you need is flour, water, a glass jar, several days to grow your starter and some patience. Making a starter is a simple process it just takes quite a bit of time to get it going; typically 8 to 9 days.

TIP: No need to purchase a fancy flour, you can use all purpose flour and filtered water to make your starter.

Sourdough starter is basically fermented flour. There are naturally occurring yeasts in the air that will get into your starter.

FUN FACT: Did you know that the yeast that naturally occurs in the city of San Francisco air is what makes their sourdough bread so special? The yeast in the air is unique to the city and it’s what makes San Francisco sourdough bread the best sourdough bread you will ever eat.

You don’t have to live in San Francisco to make sourdough bread. Anyone can make their own starter and use it to bake delicious bread. Are you ready to give it a try?

Day 1: Combine 50 grams of flour with 50 grams of water in a clean mason jar. Stir the mixture vigorously to make sure all the flour is incorporated into the water and there are no visible lumps of flour. Cover the jar with a breathable lid and set it out on your kitchen counter in a warm spot where you can keep an eye on it.

TIP: Never use a metal utensil to stir your starter, use a wooden spoon or plastic spatula to stir your starter.

Day 2: In the morning feed your starter with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. Stir the mixture vigorously to make sure all the flour is incorporated into the water and there are no visible lumps of flour. Cover the jar with a breathable lid and set it out on your kitchen counter. Before you go to bed, pour out all but about 1/2 cup of the starter in the jar and feed it with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. Stir the mixture vigorously to make sure all the flour is incorporated into the water and there are no visible lumps of flour. Cover the jar with a breathable lid and set it out on your kitchen counter overnight.

Day 3: Continue feeding starter as in day 2; once in the morning and once in the evening before bed. Pour off and discard excess starter. By the third day you should begin to notice a bit of life. There should be a few bubbles showing up and the starter should have a sour smell. If making a starter from scratch you may not see any activity until day 6 or 7. Don’t give up, keep feeding it and you will eventually see activity.

Days 4, 5, & 6: Continue feeding starter twice a day. Discard all but about ½ cup of the starter just before you feed it. You should now see and smell signs of sourdough. More bubbles should be forming, and it should be growing in volume in between feedings.

Instead of tossing out discarded starter, use it to make these tasty Cheddar Jalapeño Sour Dough Pancakes instead.

Cheddar Jalapeño Sour Dough Pancakes

Day 7: Your starter should now be very active. It will hit its peak about 4-5 hours after a feeding. Continue feeding as on days 4-6.

Your starter should now be ready to use for baking. Instead of discarding starter, use it for baking a loaf of bread. Congratulations, you have successfully made a sourdough starter without any yeast!

If you keep your starter out on the counter, continue to feed your starter once a day with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water going forward. If you don’t plan to bake everyday, store your starter in the refrigerator. That way you will only need to feed your starter once a week. Remove it from the fridge 24 hours before mixing up your dough so you can feed it, let it come to room temperature, and wake up and get all bubbly.

I used to measure out the flour and water, 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water, but the loaves I was baking weren’t as airy as I hoped. I’ve had much better results with the loaves I bake now that I weigh out the ingredients.

If you forget to feed your starter it will develop a dark liquid on top, this is called hootch. When the starter is starved and hasn’t been fed in a while it will develop a layer of hootch on the surface. This is normal, just pour some of it off and stir it back into the starter and give it a feed with flour and water and you will be back on track with your starter.

If you notice a mold growing in your starter you will want to toss your starter and start over. Mold indicates that the starter has been contaminated.

The starter should have a sour smell to it, mine sometimes even smells like nail polish remover. This is normal and shouldn’t cause you any worries.

If your starter seems lethargic and there just doesn’t seem to be much activity, feed it and place the jar in your oven with just the light on. The light will produce just enough heat to jump start your starter. I’ve done this in the cold winter months and it worked like a charm for me. Just be sure not to turn on the oven, the heat will kill your starter.

Starter is more active when the weather is warm. During the winter months there may not be as much activity going on with your starter. Give the oven light method a try to get things going and bubbling again.

If you decide to make your own starter and bake sourdough bread, don’t forget to comment and leave a review!

This post has been updated with photos, recipe notes, and new content January 2024.

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