If I can do it, so can you.
The internet is great at making sourdough seem complicated, overwhelming, challenging, and nearly impossible. While sourdough is a process, and there is a learning curve, YOU can do it!
The most helpful thing to understand about sourdough is there is no commercial yeast used in the process. Traditional sourdough is flour, water, and captured yeast and bacteria. All this means is that when you build your starter with flour and water, you allow it to stay somewhat open to air. This allows bacteria and yeast from the air to get in and that is what gives your dough the “sour” taste.
Another thing I found confusing when I started sourdough was the fermentation process. When everyone refers to the “bulk ferment” or “bench rest” or “cold ferment”, this is basically referring to the rise of the dough. Sourdough is considered a fermented bread because of the wild yeast. So instead of a traditional rise, it’s a ferment. The longer the fermentation time, typically the more “sour” the dough, and the less amount of gluten in your finished product. Cool, huh?
How do you start a starter? It’s a process that is about 14 days long. You start with a measured amount of flour and water and continue to add to it each day, discarding some days. If you’re lucky enough to fail the first time, it will take about 30 days to get a starter going from scratch (ask me how I know). Or, you can purchase dehydrated sourdough starter from an established starter and your process will be much quicker- around 6 days.
Here’s the best thing- sourdough is the gift that keeps on giving. You continue to feed it, it grows, it multiplies, you can have several starters, you can gift it to friends, you can even use the discard for a plethora of recipes.
I keep my feedings simple because who likes conversions and complicated measurements?! Once my starter is established, I feed it 1/2 cup water filtered water and 1 cup organic all-purpose flour. Easy. I like to mark my jars with a dry erase marker, so I know when my starter has doubled and is ready to bake with. You can also tell its ready by the amount of bubbles you can see in the jar.
My starter also lives in the fridge. I bake with mine about once a week, sometimes twice. I pull it out of the refrigerator, let it get to room temperature, feed it, wait for it to double, use what I need, and stick it back in the fridge. The internet will tell you to feed your starter every single day, or pull it out of the fridge every week and feed it so it doesn’t die. I’m here to tell you, it will be fine! I’ve left my starter in the refrigerator for a month (or two) at a time. If you leave your starter on the counter, at room temp, it will need fed every 24 hours. If you bury your starter in the back of the fridge and get busy with life, only to re-discover it months later, just feed it! It may take a couple of feedings to re-activate it, but it’s fine. You’ll know when it’s bad- trust me.
Here are some other tips and tricks I have found really helpful over the years.
*A wooden spurtle is worth the investment.
*Don’t use metal spoons.
*Date the top of your lid when you feed it so you know when it was last fed.
*Prepare yourself for A LOT of discard.
*You will become addicted.
*You can make sourdough everything. Literally.
*You don’t need a banneton. But if you do, I’ve found the perfect one.
*Don’t get caught up in scoring your bread beautifully. You’re going to cut it up and eat it anyways.
*Put your starter in a clean jar periodically. When it gets a little hardened around the top, it’s time.
I’ve tried just about every sourdough gadget that has been made. Some are definitely worth investing in. These items either make the process more efficient, easier to clean up, or produces a more esthetically pleasing loaf. I’m linking below my favorite sourdough items that I think are worth the investment. I have no affiliation with these links and do not earn a commission when you use them. These are just my tried-and-true favorites.
Breadtopia Banneton https://breadtopia.com/store/breadtopia-banneton-round/
Happy baking friends!
Kay
The Neff nest 