Make Your Own Sourdough Starter
If you’re feeling a bit adventurous, you may want to try creating your own sourdough starter from scratch. Baking bread from scratch is satisfying in its own right, but when you’ve also had a hand in the creation of one of the most fundamental components, the leavening agent itself, you’ll feel an even greater satisfaction and connectedness to the process.
Are there kids in your house? This little science project is ideally suited to sharing with any children you can convince to join in. Culture their budding scientific minds while creating your own bread culture.
This video outlines one simple method that worked for me the first time I tried it. In the video, I give credit for this technique to Peter Reinhart. It has since come to my attention that Debra Wink, a chemist and accomplished baker, is the mastermind and author of this Pineapple Juice Technique. A lot of research and testing went into developing and refining the technique. The choice of pineapple juice over other juices is from much trial and error. Debra was kind enough to email her essay on the Pineapple Juice Technique. Click here for a printable copy of it.
As I mention in the video, the wild yeast spores and lactic-acid bacteria that give your starter its leaving properties are all around you. You are simply creating the conditions ideally suited for them to thrive and multiply. I used whole wheat flour in this recipe because fresh whole wheat flour may harbor greater numbers of yeast spores than ordinary all-purpose flour and so increase your likelihood for success. It worked for me, so you might try the same. If, at any time, you wish to transition your whole wheat sourdough starter to a regular white flour starter, it’s super easy to do so.
I’ve listed the ingredients and approximate steps here to save you the note taking.
- Step 1. Mix 3 ½ tbs. whole wheat flour with ¼ cup unsweetened pineapple juice. Cover and set aside for 48 hours at room temperature. Stir vigorously 2-3x/day. (“Unsweetened” in this case simply means no extra sugar added).
- Step 2. Add to the above 2 tbs. whole wheat flour and 2 tbs. pineapple juice. Cover and set aside for a day or two. Stir vigorously 2-3x/day. You should see some activity of fermentation within 48 hours. If you don’t, you may want to toss this and start over (or go buy some!)
- Step 3. Add to the above 5 ¼ tbs. whole wheat flour and 3 tbs. purified water. Cover and set aside for 24 hours.
- Step 4. Add ½ cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 to 1/3 cup purified water. You should have a very healthy sourdough starter by now.
Notes: I do wonder if the fact that I bake all the time with a sourdough starter (and so theoretically have wild yeast floating around our house by the gazillions and covering everything we own) would increase the likelihood that I would have success creating my own sourdough culture from scratch. So I anxiously await feedback from anyone who attempts this process at home. (You’ll see a nifty little form below for comments and feedback. If you’re shy; you can use the Contact link at the top of the page. While I may report your (mis)adventures, I’ll keep your identity anonymous 
.
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Thank you so much for your response, it’s very encouraging. I’ll be sure to let you know how it’s doing over the next two days when I start getting into more regular feedings.
I just recently started a sourdough starter using the pineapple juice method and I think it’s going well but had a question. This is the fourth day of the process and am ready to feed it again this evening. When I went to give it a good stir this morning before work it appeared to be getting nice and bubbly on the top and even on the sides and bottom when I look through the container. This makes me happy but the one thing that I’m not sure about is there seems to be a layer of liquid between the very top and the bottom 2/3 of the starter. Is this normal and okay? When I stir it it mixes in really well but I thought this would be a good time to get an opinion. I’ve included a pic I took before I stirred it this morning. I should have taken a pic of it from the side so you could see the layer of liquid I’m talking about but didn’t think of it at the time. Thanks a lot for your help, I’ve really been enjoying the site.
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Hi Stefan,
The layer of liquid is ok for now. As you continue to feed your starter and especially as it thickens up some more, the liquid layer is more likely to go away. It can still happen but is not something normally found in a fresh, healthy well fed starter. By the way, it’s called hooch which is just alcohol. It can appear in a layer within your starter or more commonly floating at the top. When it appears at the top, most people pour it off before feeding.
Thanks, Sal! Looks awesome. =)
Dorothy,
I mix water, butter and barley malt syrup in a cup and give it a 1 min zap in the microwave. Just so temp does not rise above 100 degrees. Does not matter if butter does not melt completely; just mix with your Danish Dough Whisk (which is made in Poland LOL) and it will be fine. I am now experimenting with flavored waters. Trying the first one today. I will let you know results. Using Fuji Apple and Pear flavor.
Hi Sal,
When do you add the 3 tbsp of melted butter to the dough in your “improved” recipe?
Shannon, Here is my recipe for sourdough no-knead
NO-KNEAD SOURDOUGH
After Mark Bittman’s feature in the New York Times (November 8, 2006) on Jim Lahey’s no-knead bread, I received many inquires asking if it is possible to make no-knead sourdough. It took just one look at Lahey’s recipe to focus on the 12 hour “rest”. It seemed pretty obvious. Lactobacilli in a sourdough culture “fermenting” for 12 hours should produce a far better flavor than ¼ teaspoon of instant yeast and no lactobacilli. It is only necessary to modify the recipe for the extra flour and water added by the sourdough culture. Here’s what it looks like.
Recipe
Produces one 1½ pound loaf
1 cup (9 ounces) fully active sourdough culture
440 grams (3 cups) all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
3 tablespoons dry milk powder
1 cup + 1 tablespoon water 78oF.
1 tablespoon barley malt syrup
3 tablespoons softened butter
1½ teaspoons salt
1. In a large bowl briefly combine sourdough culture, flour, water and salt. The consistency should be very firm and shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and proof 12-18 hours at about 70° F. At 70-75 degrees the bread leavens well and has the distinct sourness and flavor of sourdough. At more than 75 degrees the dough becomes too acidic which inhibits the wild yeast and leavens poorly. At much less than 70 degrees the dough leavens well but has a mild flavor.
2. After the 12-18 hour fermentation this is very sticky dough. Use a plastic spatula to ease it away from the edges of the bowl onto a lightly floured board. Sprinkle the surface with additional flour and let the dough rest 15 minutes or so.
3. With minimal handling and additional flour (not more than ¼ cup) form a ball which is placed directly in the baking container to rise (or placed between cotton cloths as described by Lahey) and proofed until ready to bake, double in bulk (about 4 hours). The baking container can be almost any small covered pot (avoid willow baskets since the sticky dough is difficult to remove).
4. Lahey bakes the dough in an oven and container both preheated to 450° for approximately 1 hour. To obtain better oven spring place the risen dough in its container in a cool oven, set the oven at 450°, turn it on and bake for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes. You will never knead a better sourdough!
This is not the original version, but my own with my “add-ins”
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Response to comment in Ann’s May 22, 2010 at 1:30 pm about burnt bottoms… I’ve raised my oven rack when possible to reduce the heat on the bottom when my Romertopf loaf was getting too dark. I say when possible because it depends on what you are baking in. Can only raise the rack so high when I’m using La Cloche. I also tend to fiddle with the temp. I preheat my oven to 450, but once the bread is in I lower the temperature about 20 degrees. Temperature is very oven specific. I’ve noticed my oven doesn’t necessarily maintain an even temp (it may say 430, but its dropped below 430) so I tend to fiddle a little with temperature. So you sorta have to experiment with what works best with your oven. Raising the rack a notch can make a noticeable difference.
Ann,
I don’t always feel comfortable with the thump and feel method. I use an instant read thermometer looking for an internal temperature of at least 195 degree F. I remove from the Dutch Oven or clay baker immediately. Don’t forget the the bread will continue to “bake” internally during the first minutes of the cooling cycle. My mother used to turn off the oven, leave the door ajar, with the loaves inside. I am going to try something else about the too brown bottom crust. Will let you know if successful. Also, I am devoted to using a tablespoon of barley malt syrup (available in health food stores or online from Barry Farms, Wapkoneta, OH). It adds just a touch of sweetness and yeast loves barley malt syrup. Also, adds to the breads “keepability”. I add it to all the breads I bake.
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GLUTEN-FREE
Well… I’m doing something a bit different. I’m gluten intolerant and am making sourdough starter from my gluten-free flour which is a mix of several other flours. To make things more complicated, I’m actually also intolerant of yeast… So what I’m doing is trying to get a more bacteria heavy starter and added some evaporated milk for this purpose per a friend of mine who has a starter such as this herself. But, I don’t want the “bad” bacteria, so here are several questions:
I’m on day 5 and the starter is ready to bake.
1) Should I add some pineapple juice or citric acid as a protection against the “bad bacteria”? Didn’t do it in the beginning because I just came upon your website. Am also wondering if it will kill my “good” bacteria.
2) how does one know if there’s “bad” bacteria in the starter? Mine smells great!
3) If you kneed gluten-free flours, you get tough, dense bread. I’m still unclear how I should deal with my starter at the end. Other videos show adding flour, then kneeding on a floured surface. Do I just add flour to thicken it, kneeding slightly, and then bake?
Thanks for any suggestions. This is new territory for me.
I have learned to judge my bread being done by the touch an feel and sound. Sal, I think your white bread was great and easy and totally delicious Because I am only a month into this sourdough experience, I can’t wait for the opportunity that awaits me.
Since I have always just looked and tapped my bread in the oven for doneness, do you think this is also appropriate for sourdough bread as well?
Pancakes tomorrow. I can’t wait.
No worries, Sal! I would love to try your recipes ~ where can I find them?
oops, sorry last message for Ann, but Shannon try my recipe, too.
Hi Shannon, I use and instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the bread; and, if it reads, about 195 to 200 degrees, I consider the bread to be done. You will love the sourdough biscuits.
I’m almost done with the first long proofing of my sourdough bread. I had to use all white whole wheat flour (no bread flour) and I’m kicking myself for not weighing and using the measuring cup because it was a lot drier after mixing in the starter and water than in the video (I’m assuming the reason is that there was more flour than needed). And doesn’t seem to have risen quite as well as I would have expected after 17 1/2 hours (but my house was cold last night). In the video it looked really poofy. So, I’m going to bake it anyway and hope it’s edible and next time, weigh so I don’t get too much flour. Any thoughts on this? BTW – my starter was super healthy and I let it double in size before using it.
Sal, I made your white bread no-knead sourdough this morning. It is delicious with the exception that the bottom is a bit burnt. I will cut down a bit on the baking time next time. I had to cut down on the time for the Breadtopia no-knead bread recipe as well for the same reason.
I am having a great time with this sourdough experience now. I’m about a month into it and have had great success with very little effort. I’ve made the pancakes several times and will make the golden sourdough biscuits next week.
All the recipes I’ve tried so far are great and I will be trying many more of them.
Just wanted to say how wonderful your website is, Breadtopia! I LOVE your videos – somehow the instructions sink in so much better in video form rather than written (for me anyway). And your style of instructing is so easy to follow and thorough. Thanks!
Now on to the exciting part! I made my sourdough starter this week with hard winter wheat flour. I wish it was recently milled, but I don’t have a mill (yet). Anyway – it was so easy! On day 3 I was a little concerned that it might not be working – but lo and behold that night even, nice and bubbly. Is it strange to feel proud (almost like a new mama)? =) It is such a satisfying feeling to be able to make my own starter! Now on looking at all your bread recipes to find the best 1st time-baker recipe. I know I’ll find it!
Hi Dorothy,
Glad to hear of your succes!
Hi Sal,
Tried your recipe and baked the loaf in my Le Crueset dutch oven. It came out perfectly. The outside was crusty and the crumb has very evenly distributed holes and chewy enough. I also like your method of proofing it in the baking container, makes less mess. Thank so much for sharing your recipe.
Wil, thank you for the quick response and the congrats. the bread tasted good and was a hit well it must have taste good it is gone….LOL! The bread was a great texture with good flavor so I am not throwing in the towel. I will pay better attention to time and start adjusting. Thank you!!
Melissa, it sounds like your dough may have over proofed and didn’t have enough ummmf to rise again. It is a common mistake when using Sourdough starter to wait too long, waiting for a large rise in the dough. It doesn’t always work that way. Try just one hour for proofing and adjust the time either way until you get what you are looking for. There are other factors as well such as time of year, temperature, recipe and such. So you may have to adjust sometimes. BTW, Congrats!!
Wil
HELP!! I was so excited about my starter. It seemed to be doing well. It is bubbly with an pleasantly/unpleasant (6 months pregnant so I am having a hard time deciding if I enjoy odor or not) odor. It had been two weeks. I have been feeding and caring for it on a daily basis. It was room temperature and fed 4 hours prior to use. The dough seem to rise to about 1 1/2 times but once rolled and made in to my loaf it never doubles. The bread is coming out of the oven so I do not know texture yet but why is my bread not rising?
Hi Sal,
Thanks for your quick response.
Dorothy, I leave the lid on for the entire 1 hour and 10 minutes. Also, I cut a round of parchment paper for the bottom of the Dutch oven. This facilitates removal from the Dutch oven and helps with clean-up. I also give the top a light coating of spray oil (canola or olive). This results in a beautiful brown crust covered with tiny blisters on the bread’s surface. I really like the results I get using same method in the clay baker.
Sal,
When you bake your bread in a cold dutch oven, do you bake it covered and for how long of the 1 hour and 10 minutes is the pot covered?
Thanks,
Dorothy
Hello,
Recently discovered your site and was inspired to try my hand at making my own starter… I decided to go the hard way (such is my inclination in life) and start with kamut flour for one, buckwheat for the second starter. I’m on day 5 and not sure whether to continue or not…
The 2 starters are bubbly, the buckwheat more so than the kamut, but neither is foamy. On the 2nd or 3rd day, the kamut seemed to start foaming, but then it stopped and is just bubbly now. Are they active enough to bake with or should I dump them and start again? Or is there some way to encourage the existing ones a bit more?
Thanks for any help or tips you can provide!
Hi Ron,
I use a small amount of starter (1/4) cup so the dough will take longer to do its thing, which is basically ferment and rise. Prolonging the fermentation allows more time for more of the flavor in the grain to develop. This is the same principle as using only 1/4 tsp of instant yeast instead of, say, 1 tsp. More acid will develop with more time too which is more likely to give you more sour flavor.
Some may say it’s formulaic. I don’t think it is. There’s a ton of personal preference involved. Play around with it and see what you prefer. But then even if you find that perfect recipe, the results with it will often vary somewhat from one baking to the next based on who knows what.
I have had great success with no-kneads, almost to the point of never wanting to bake anything else. However, the next logical step in my baking is to introduce sourdough starters into my no kneads. I’ve been watching videos and reading and there are as many opinions and recipes for starters as there are for anything. I saw your video for a no knead, and you used 1/4 cup of starter with the water. Why is there so much variation into how much starter to use for 3 cups of flour? (meaning up to a cup). I would like a flour/water starter, no grapes, no pineapple juice. When I read a recipe that calls for 1/4 tsp instant yeast and want to use starter instead, how much do I use? Is is formulaic? I’m confused and would appreciate a quick comment for guidance.
Here is a picture of the way my starter looks now. Didnt know if it would help. Oh and btw, your bread looks WONDERFUL! I think I need to invest in a clay pot to bake. I use cookie sheets and glass bread loaf pans at the moment. Also included a picture of some white bread I made recently. Moms white bread recipie ive had for years.
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I went today to get my starter out to begin my bread making for the day and had a few questions.
1) My starter almost smells like beer. Is that bad? A healthy wheat beer mind you but as this is my first time its concerning. The starter is staying risen and has alot of bubbles throughout.
2) I do not have a clay pot to bake the sourdough in. I just use regular bread pans to make my loafs. I see this recipie calls for 450 degrees for 1 hr 10 min? I think my bread would look like a hockey puck at the end if I did that. I use a gas oven and it seems to stay very hot. When I make my white bread I do it at 350 degrees for about an hr and works out great. Does sourdough take a higher temp to cook?
Again thank you for all the helpful information!
I made some changes to the No-Knead Sourdough Bread (pictured below) added some ingredients which greatly improved flavor, but no change in mixing or proofing. I live in Florida and it is 90 here so I did the final proofing in the refrigerator overnight. Let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour, placed dough in a clay baker, put in cool oven, set temp to 450 degrees, turned it on and let it bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. You see the results. The taste was GREAT. Nicely sour, but not acidic (by product of too warm of a room temperature)
Here is a picture of my recipe for No-Knead Sourdough Bread (with a picture of the container in which it was baked)
[img]MyPictures051410142.JPG[/img]
Sal,
WOW that was a fast response! Cant thank you enough. Cant wait to try it. Ill let you know how it goes!
If, after working so diligently, to develop your own sourdough starter, you must discard some. Try this:
GOLDEN SOURDOUGH BISCUITS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup cold butter
1 cup sourdough starter
½ cup buttermilk
Additional butter, melted
1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and baking soda.
2. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Combine sourdough starter and buttermilk. Stir into crumb mixture with a fork until dough forms a ball.
4. Turn onto a well-floured surface; knead 10-12 times. Roll to ½-inch thickness.
5. Cut with a floured 2 ½-inch biscuit cutter. Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. You may also use a parchment paper or silicone mat lined baking sheet.
6. Bake in a preheated 425oF oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Remove from pan to wire rack to cool slightly to serve warm. Yield approximately 1 dozen.
For David:
NO-KNEAD SOURDOUGH
Produces one 1 ½ pound loaf
1 cup fully active sourdough culture
3 cups unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
1 cup water, room temperature (78oF)
1 ½ teaspoons of salt
1. In a large bowl briefly combine sourdough culture, flour, water and salt. The consistency should be very firm and shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and proof 12-18 hours at about 70oF. When temperature is above 80oF. Proofs at room temperature for about 6 hours then refrigerate.
2. After the 12-18 hour fermentation this is very sticky dough. Use a spatula to ease away from the edges of the bowl onto a lightly floured board. Sprinkle the dough with additional and let the dough rest for 15 minutes or so.
3. With minimal handling and additional flour (not more that ¼ cup) form a ball which is placed directly in baking container (or placed between floured cotton cloths). Proof until ready to bake. Depending on room temperature could be anywhere from 1 to 4 hours. Press the dough lightly with your finger; and, if the indentation springs back immediately, the dough is ready. If the indentation remains continue proofing.
4. I bake the dough in a Dutch oven, but almost any small covered pot will dough. Lightly oil the pot before placing the dough inside.
5. Place the container in a cool oven and set the temperature at 450oF, turn it on and bake for approximately one hour and 10 minutes. You will never knead a better sourdough.
All,
First off, great site. I love to cook and found this site when I was honing my bread making skills. I have finished the pineapple starter method with the steps listed above on the Breadtopia site and have just completed Step 4. The starter was bubbling and frothy so I assume thats good and its working. Now id like to make some sourdough bread with the starter ive made. Does anyone have a good starting Sourdough Recipe that would compliment the sourdough starter method listed above? I like white flour sourdough but any would work. I just need a stepping stone for my sourdough bread making journey. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
Great Aimee! Sounds like you are good to go, bake some bread. I keep my starter in the refrigerator at all times. I keep about a half cup of starter. I use 1/4 cup usually (sometimes 1/8th) in my recipes. I replace with equal amounts of flour and water, stir and put back in the refrigerator. In about 2 days, I can see that it has doubled, even in the refrigerator. When I am ready to use it, take out of the refrigerator. I do not let it set out on the counter or anything. I just take out 1/4 cup, feed it and put it back in the refrigerator. I’ve been doing this for over a year with the Pineapple starter and have done this for about 5 years with my starters in general. I do not have any problem with my starter(s) working successfully. What real failures I’ve had came from too much flour (to dry) or over-proofing.
Wil
Thank you all for your suggestions! I started feeding with 50/50 rye and w. wheat flour twice a day and I have dectected no hootch and it is more than doubling in volume rather quickly. Originally, I started at room temp. for a week, then moved to the fridge with weekly feedings. I now have it back at room temp. and that seems to make a tremendous difference with the smell of paint…..it smells wonderfully “yeasty” now!. I am assuming at this point I am good to go with making a loaf tomorrow.
What is the consensus on refridgerating vs. room tempurature storage? Thanks in advance.
I was totally new to bread making in December. I made the sourdough starter and got off to an imperfect start, though never had to throw anything away. My bread making mainly lacked consistency. The way I improved was to bake often and keep a log. I now no longer log my efforts as I know what works and how adjustments impact the end product. I would highly recommend keeping a log. Track adjustments you are making, how much starter you used, what the dough felt like, how the proofing went, how LONG you proofed and characteristics of the end product. There are so many variables when it comes to bread making and personal preference comes into play too. Things eventually become second nature and you just ‘know’, but you have to be willing to experiment. I always thought, eons ago, ancient people and not so ancient people worked this out. They didn’t have the advantage of websites and cookbooks that we have. The fun thing about bread making over baking things like cookies and cakes is it’s not as exacting so things rarely go really wrong, just different. That must be why there are so many kinds of bread in the world. One thing that I did find, you can always add more flour as you are mixing the dough, but when I’ve added more liquid when mixing the dough, I’m not sure but the dough seems to get wierdly pastier. Not quite sure why this is. Possibly overmixing to encorporate the extra liquid. So when adjusting liquid / flour ratios I measure the liquids pretty carefully then err on the low side with flour, knowing I can always add more flour.
Hi Mary,
I think converting a commercial yeast recipe to a sourdough starter recipe is pretty much a guessing game. Maybe just start off will some amount of starter, say 1/2 cup or 1 cup, and if you’re already very familiar with the feel of the dough when making your current recipe, then you can adjust the amount of flour when mixing up the sourdough version to match the feel. Then keep an eye on it during proofing to see when it’s ready for the next step in the recipe. About all you can do is take (hopefully) educated guesses, keep notes and adjust with subsequent attempts, if necessary, until you get results you’re happy with.
I agree with Sal’s comment about three feedings per day, resulting in a stronger product.
I have never refrigerated my 4 month old starter and was feeding it twice a day and noticed that it was looking tired and flat. So I started a regular feeding schedule of 3 oz water + 3 oz U/B white flour to 3 oz starter, at 6:00, 12:00 pm and 6:00Pm. I been feeding it this way for 6 days now and it has improved greatly. When I remove the loosely covered lid and plunge the spatula in to stir, it sounds like a party of wild bubbles popping. It smells healthy sour and the texture is very elastic and vibrant. It doesn’t look tired at all.
I’m going to bake a loaf by Wednesday of next week. so I’ll let you know if the flavor/texture has improved.
I am very interested in making this pineapple yeast starter. However, how much do I measure out for recipes? If my recipe calls for 2 packets of store yeast, how do I convert it?
My starter is now several months in the making and I never get hootch or a bad smell. I bake 1-3 times a week. I keep my starter in the fridge. I take it out the day before I bake and feed it. If I don’t bake for a few days, I take it out, feed it, may leave it out til it looks like the yeast are partying then tell them “that’s enough” by putting it back in the fridge. Every few weeks I transfer it to a clean container, wash out it’s ‘home’ then put it back in it’s ‘home’ jar. My starter started out as a bread flour starter. I then started feeding it rye flour. When I have extra flour from forming my loaves I will push it all together and stir it into my starter. Again, no hooch!
Lara,
Not that “hootch” is bad, it is just alcohol, the remnants of the feeding cycle. Most just stir it back in and then feed the starter. You probably are maintaining a very active starter and the little beasties eat, poop and grow fast, thus the hootch. It is a good sign to think about feeding. What Sal says will certainly do the trick.
Try feeding 8 ounces of water plus 5 1/2 ounces of unbleached bread flour 3 times a day for about three days. That should make your starter very strong and active
I get the same “hootch” that Aimee describes, but it happens faster. I’m feeding it daily at room temp (making 2-3 loaves a week), and if I miss a day, I get the nasty stuff floating on top. Definitely more of a paint like smell than beer/yeasty smell.
I guess I need to feed it more quantity each time. Aimee and Wil, thanks for posting, that may help me too
A PS to Aimee: Once you think your starter is ok, you can make a Spelt starter just by using Spelt flour for a couple of feedings. You can make any type of flour you want to make that specific kind of starter.
Wil
Hi Aimee, it sounds like your starter is actually starving, even though you have been feeding once a week. If it goes to “hootch” in that amount of time it usually means they have pretty much used up the available food. If kept on a counter, it could be getting too warm (summer time?). Try taking just a little bit of your starter, a couple tbls or less and put into a half cup of flour (spelt should be fine, but try a 50/50 w.wheat and rye) and a half cup of water. Keep on the counter and keep an eye on it. When/if it doubles in volume, feed it again by taking out a quarter cup and replacing it with equal amounts flour and water. Leave out on the counter for a couple of hours then put in the refrigerator until you use it but check in a few days. I use a clear container w/ a rubber band around it. I can easily see that even in the refrigerator, the starter will double then start to go down to the original level. If I am not baking by then, I feed it. I never see hootch. Hope this may help. Let me know.
Wil
I started with spelt flour on my starter and am not sure it is progressing normally. In the beginning it had a very nice “yeast/beer” smell, but has evolved into a “paint-like” smell and is still very pasty in texture. I have been feeding it once a week, it developes the “hootch” and I usually pour some off. I did feed it once with AP flour to see if that made a difference, but no…just the smell changed. I took a tiny taste and it was not pleasant! Is this normal and what should I be doing differently? I have studied your spelt bread method and am excited to start making some, but am hesitant if my starter is bad.
Thank you for any help!
Success on first try…Thank-you so much on the instructions on how to make your own sourdough starter. I haven’t baked bread in years and haven’t made any at all in the house I am now living in, so there wouldn’t have been anything floating around in my kitchen to help get this started. I began to think it wasn’t going to work, but after step 3 I began to see the signs of life and at the end of step 4, I was pleasantly surprised at what was starting to happen. Years ago I had tried making my own starter from potato water, but had no success and had to end up buying a starter mix.
Found this sight awhile back and love it. Have recommended it to several friends, and given away several starts of starter. Just finished mixing up a loaf of sourdough rye. Been thinking about substituting a good dark beer for the water in either the sourdough whole wheat or the sourdough rye? Has anyone tried this and did it work.
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