How to Make a Sourdough Starter - Hunger for Spice (2024)

Making a sourdough starter is an easy process that takes only a couple of ingredients and a few days of patience. Sourdough starter is a live fermented culture of water and flour, cultivated by the natural yeasts and bacteria found in the surrounding environment. Simply put, it is MAGIC!

Yeast is found all around us in fruits, flowers, our skin, and in baking flour. Fermentation occurs by yeast converting sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol.

For the love of Sourdough

I have been eating sourdough all my life. My grandparents had a starter they kept going for years, and out of that starter, they kept a huge batch of pancake batter mixed up. You know the big Tupperware bowls from back in the day, that’s the one, the Jadeite green. We ate pancakes often and I grew to love sourdough at an early age.

Tips on Making your Starter Grow

Starters can be a little finicky at first but there really aren’t too many rules to follow.

1. Do not use chlorinated water.
2. Avoid using distilled water because it does not contain any minerals and minerals help the fermentation process.
3. Use tap water as long as it is not chlorinated, otherwise use bottled spring or mineral water.
4. Use wheat flour or rye flour to start the process. You can use AP flour and it will totally work. Whole wheat flour is packed with nutrients and potential microbes that provide for a faster fermentation.

A Few things You can make with Sourdough Starters

1. Pasta
2. Dumplings
3. Pancakes
4. Waffles
5. Rolls
6. Bread Loaves
7. Pizza Bread
8. Flatbreads
9. Doughnuts
10. Cakes
11. Cookies
12. Quick Breads
13. Popovers
14. Crackers
15. Muffins
16. Bagels
17. Biscuits
18. Pretzels
19. Cornbread
20. Brownies

Making Sourdough Starter

For the first week, try to feed the starter at the same time every day. The starter will be ready in about 5 to 7 days. It is ready when it has doubled in size and there are large and small air bubbles on top.

Make and store the starter in any non-reactive container. My grandparents always used a crock, but they are expensive and assume a lot of space. I use a plastic container because I like my starter to be on the larger size and it is too much to hold in a jar. Mason jars or jars that seal are the most popular these days. Use what works best for you.

You want the starter to sit out at room temperature, 70 – 80 degrees is ideal. I prefer to make a starter in the wintertime when there are heaters running or a wood stove burning so you can place the container near the heat. However, it is not necessary to do this, but a cool room will not allow the yeasts to activate easily.

Beginning Starter

Day 1- Mix equal parts (in grams) water and whole wheat flour. (1/2 cup flour) (1/4 cup water).

Day 2- Hopefully, you have some bubbles forming, if not, that is okay. Regardless, feed with the same amount of flour and water you used the first time, only this time using all-purpose flour (1/2 cup flour) (1/4 cup water).

Day 3- Throw away half of the starter and feed with the same amount of flour, using AP flour, and water you started with. (1/2 flour) (1/4 cup water).

Day 4- Discard half of the starter and replace with the same amount of flour and water you started with, using AP flour. Repeat this step each day until your starter has doubled in size and is full of big and small, beautiful bubbles. There should not be any unpleasant smell, such as acetone. The texture should be spongy.

Now, your sourdough starter is ready!

If at any time your starter has formed a brown liquid that is setting on the top, the liquid is referred to as “hooch,” which is a good name for it because it is quite smelly. It is normal and means that the starter needs to be fed. Pour any liquid off the top and scrape about half of the starter out and throw it away, then feed the starter.

If you are an avid baker and will be using your starter on a very regular basis, then leaving your starter out at room temperature will be the optimal choice for you. You will have to continue to feed the starter daily as instructed on “Day 4.”

If you will be using your sourdough starter occasionally, then storing in the refrigerator is the best choice. You will need to feed your starter once per week.

Give your Starter a name. Mine is “Rosey,” after my mom, because it is easy going, makes me happy, and always perks up when you want to have fun with it. It may also be a clever idea to place a silent alarm on your phone to feed every week. We all get busy, and things get pushed, shoved around, and forgotten in the refrigerator.

Questions about Your Sourdough Starter

1. What if the starter turned pink?

The starter went bad if it turned pink and you should throw it away and start over.

• What if the starter didn’t get fed?

Most of the time, the starter will recover. It needs a little TLC by being fed a couple of times and left out at room temperature.

• Can I use the sourdough discard?

You can and please do! Leave it at room temperature to “activate” before using. Using the discard is not recommended that you use the discard in the stages of making the starter.

• Can other flours be used to make the starter and after the starter is ready for use?

Yes, you can use rye flour, bread flour, AP flour, whole wheat flour the entire way through the process. Some of these may be more difficult to “start,” and you may need to adjust the water ratios. Using different type of flour in will bring variations in structure and flavor.

• Why discard half of the starter before feeding it?

The starter’s chemical reaction creates an acidic atmosphere and needs to maintain a certain level of flora.

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