Maintaining a starter is almost always the challenge that stops potential home bakers from tackling sourdough. There are so many posts on the internet encouraging homemakers and home cooks alike to develop a level of maintenance and care for their starter that rivals what some people do for their children or their dogs.
But friends, it really isn’t that complicated.
A sourdough starter is a living culture of yeast and bacteria- it wants to be alive! It’s true that like all living things, it needs to be fed and cared for…but I don’t believe that it’s nearly as complicated as the interwebs would have us believe. The real trick is taking the time up front to allow your starter to mature and become accustomed to your environment. This means the difference maker is you, and your own stick-to-it-iveness.
Making your own starter
To make your own sourdough starter, I recommend beginning with 20g of flour and 20g of water. Mix this combination together and store it in a jar with a loose fitting lid- I prefer a Weck jar with a glass lid resting on top, but you can use a mason jar with just the metal lid resting on top. In the morning retain 20g of this slurry, discarding the rest into your trash (not your drain!). Now feed 40g flour and 40g water to your 20g of starter, mix into a slurry, and allow it to rest in its jar with a loose fitting lid.
In the morning, retain 30g of the original starter and discard the rest. Feed 50g of flour and 50g of water and mix thoroughly, add back to your jar and cover with its lid. Repeat this process every day for two weeks, or until you begin to see your starter thicken into a rich, bubbly pancake batter texture. I find that taking 2-3 weeks to develop this starter is well worth it- because the microbes in this mixture are not only active, they’re also trained to your specific home environment and routine.
I live at 6500 feet elevation in the high desert of Utah. My starter took a great deal of time to get comfortable in this harsh environment, but now that it’s adapted, it needs no special treatment or procedures to stay active and happy. If you can maintain a strong and consistent routine in the beginning, you will grow all the right microbes to keep your starter going in a way that best serves YOU.
Here’s the schedule:
Day one: 20g flour, 20g water, mixed together and added to your jar
Day two: keep 20g of yesterday’s mixture, discard the rest. Add 40g flour and 40g water to what you retained of your starter. Keep in your jar, lightly covered with lid.
Day three: keep 30g of your starter and discard the rest. Add 50g flour and 50g water to your starter. Mix well and store in your jar, lightly covered with lid.
Day four-fifteen (or longer): keep 30g of your starter and discard the rest. Add 50g flour and 50g water to your retained starter. Mix well and store in your jar, lightly covered with the lid. Continue this routine daily until your starter thickens into a bubbly rising starter, doubling in size in the first 12 hours after feeding. It may take up to 3-4 weeks! Don’t stop!
There are many blogs that will tell you to feed twice a day or use special flours- I’d tell you to use the flour you plan to use the most for baking- because those are the microbes you want to harvest to fuel your starter. And I never feed twice a day because that’s a little high-maintenance for me. Nope, I prefer to feed at night before I put kids to bed, so I can follow up with my baking after they’re in bed and still get to bed myself.
My Feeding Schedule
I prepare my dough and feed my starter at the same time- meaning whenever I feed my starter, I go ahead and bake for my family. My feeding schedule allows me to retain enough starter for a complete feeding, while also preparing recipes using 200g of starter. For me this looks like one 100g starter sandwich loaf and one 100g artisan loaf (or batch of cinnamon rolls, or pizza dough, or…the list continues).
Here’s what that looks like:
Feeding the starter: 70g starter, 115g flour, 115g water
I combine my starter, flour, and water in a bowl and then wash my jar for a fresh start every time. Then I add my newly fed starter back to my clean jar and mark its starting level with a rubber band. Now I can clearly see its rise and fall.
After I’ve measured out my starter, I also measure out 100g into one mixing bowl and 100g of starter into another bowl. I use these as the base for whatever bread I need for family meals in the next two days. This is usually sandwich bread and some sort of breakfast item like bagels or babka, or dinner rolls or pizza dough.
By following this schedule, I can keep my starter on the counter and plan on feeding it every other day when I prepare my loaves. If I didn’t want to bake two separate recipes (or if I needed some other amount of starter) I can pour whatever starter I’m not using into a jar for the fridge as discard. I don’t have discard much, but when I do it goes to the fridge into my discard jar. Eventually I have enough to make my browned butter discard cookies, which are SO delicious and so simple to make ahead and freeze.
