Managing Your Sourdough Starter
Before you watch this video on sourdough starter maintenance, please know that it really isn’t a big deal to keep your sourdough culture alive and healthy. A good starter is naturally very hearty and robust. If I were as strong as my starter is, I’d be competing in Iron Man competitions. At a minimum, all you have to do is throw some flour and water in once in a while to keep it alive during periods when you’re baking infrequently. To keep it near optimum health, feed it once a week or so and keep it refrigerated.
If you’re baking regularly, say weekly or bi-weekly, it’s easy enough just to feed it after using the amount called for in your recipe before returning it to your refrigerator. If you really want to be sure your starter is in optimum shape, feed it once or twice the day before baking or the two days prior to baking day. In addition, here are a few points that are worth noting…
- When you feed your starter, feed it with approximately equal weights of flour and water. That equates to about 2/3 to 3/4 cup of water for every cup of flour.
- As a general rule of thumb, the amount you feed your sourdough starter depends on how much of it you have to start with. When practical, you want to approximately double the amount of starter you have each time you feed it. However, if you already have a couple cups of starter on hand and typically only use a cup of starter in your recipe, it doesn’t make sense to have to double the existing two cups of starter. In this case just dispose of a cup or more of the starter and then double what remains.
- If it’s been a long time since you’ve fed your starter and you don’t plan on baking for a while, don’t feel like you have to go through a big rigamarole to keep it happy, just stir in a 1/2 cup of flour and about the same amount of water and forget about it. That will at least buy you a few more weeks before you have to worry about it again.
- If you really don’t think you’re going to use your starter at all for a very long time, (some people don’t bake during the summer months, for example), you could dry some starter and freeze it. It will store this way indefinitely. Then revive it in the fall. See the videos on drying starter and reviving dried starter.
- If you need a whole wheat or rye starter, it’s easy to convert your white flour starter by just a few successive feedings with the flour you want. You may have to adjust the water as some flours are thirstier than others.
I’m really belaboring this subject. Once you’ve played around with sourdough starters for a while and baked some with it, you’ll know all you need to know and develop a sense for what works best. If your bread is not rising as much as you think it should (you’re not getting the desired oven spring) then try what I said about feeding your starter a couple of times in the 12-24 hours before starting your recipe.
As with anything on this web site, if you have any questions or comments about anything please ask in the space below.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 284 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Eric…just made the no knead bread in my new La Cloche…i love the way it turned out…i think it may be a little bit more crispy and crunchy than when i baked the other loaves in the cast iron dutch oven–the Lodge that you show on the video…i baked it at 500 degrees for 25 mins. closed and then took the cover off and baked it for 20 mins. more…i may have to back off to 450 degrees next time as my oven is small and i have to lower the shelf down quite near the heating element so the bottom of my loaf got a little burned even though i turned a cookie sheet pan over and put it on the bottom shelf just above the element…the scorching was not too bad but will try it at a little lower temp on my next one…am going to make another one tomorrow night…i have another hr. before i can cut into it and just dying to see what it’s like inside…i could hear it crackle when it came out of the oven…what an incredible sound! …what i can tell at this stage is that after an hour and a half of taking my loaves out of the cast iron dutch oven the crust was starting to soften but so far on this loaf the crust is staying crispy/crunchy…WOW!!! just cut it and it is so much more crunchy and the crumb more tender than what i got from the dutch oven…is far superior …the dutch oven creates a chewier crust which isn’t bad and i kind of like sometimes but this is Soooo crunchy and a little chewy all at the same time…am really hooked on the La Cloche! …hope this helps you…all the best…Nancy
Sounds great, Nancy, thanks for the feedback. I think in a funny way, every baking day is like Christmas – you never know what you’re going to get. Every loaf is different and that’s what’s fun.
Hi Eric,
Have been enjoying reading all the comments and hints, but now I am even more confused (doesn’t take much, these days…) When I first made sourdough starter I was careful not to use anything metal, having read that it was verboten. Now I see that you merrily use a metal spoon and metal whisk? I also read that I shouldn’t keep my starter in glass but to use ceramic or plastic. No explanation was given for the ban on glass. I presently alternate between a glass jar with a loose fitting lid and a crock with a plastic bag loosely over the top. I had a lovely crock with a cobalt blue interior and when I washed it after some weeks of use I found that the color had faded at the starter tide mark! I changed to a plain crock just in case I was adding something sinister to the starter. Not sure if it was on your site where someone asked what to do with leftover starter? The first book I read said it is great for slug control, something I look forward to trying this summer. This morning I started a sourdough no-knead batch – fed my starter and used purified water and it went crazy!
Thanks for such interesting information, Ann
Hi Ann.
I’m glad you’re getting something out of this site.
It’s particularly easy to be confused in this realm as even the opinions among experts seems to vary quite a bit.
Regarding sourdough starter coming into contact with metal; if there is any substance at all to the possibility of that being a problem, it would apply only to prolonged periods of contact. So just to play it safe, I wouldn’t store my starter in a metal container, but mixing it with metal utensils is definitely not an issue. I’ve never heard about a potential glass issue… until now. I think you can forget about that one.
If you have success with using starter as slug control, please report back. I’m sure there are many people who would be interested in knowing about that. Otherwise, I’m not aware of any really creative uses for unwanted starter. Most people are understandably reluctant to dispose of the excess. That’s one reason I only keep one or two starters active. Unless you’re baking like mad, it does tend to get away from you if you’re feeding it on regular schedule.
Don’t hesitate to ask more question. Not that I can answer them, but I like to hear them at least and others can help too.
Eric
Hi Eric,
Thanks for the reply to my comments. My sourdough NKB was twice the size of my first effort using dry yeast! I am so grateful for your video – the dough was wet but I knew how to shape it since seeing you do it. Now I have another question – the crust wasn’t as crunchy as yours and the crumb seems to be almost gummy. Tastes great and is good and holey. I did bake it at 450*, not 500*, but it sounded “done” when I thumped the bottom. Could the temp. make that much difference, or was the dough too wet? I am determined to get this right – even if I end up weighing 300lbs! Thanks again, Ann
Very funny on the 300 lbs comment.
I think I do know the answer to this one. The gumminess is from under cooking. I do this periodically myself. When my dough is wetter than usual, I find it works to add an extra 5 minutes or so to the covered portion of the baking routine.
Also, when I add heavy ingredients, like cheese, I add 5 minutes.
More and more lately, once I get a recipe down, I just weigh out the ingredients and measure the water carefully, so I don’t have to even think about making adjustments. It’s not as cool as winging it, but usually no one is watching anyway!
I think 450 vs 500 degrees could and would be enough of a difference in the turnout. Especially if the dough is also quite wet.
I do the thump thing too, but it must take some experience to correctly read the thump! Poking an instant read thermometer into the core of the bread is most helpful when in doubt. For some breads, like sandwich breads, 195 is sufficient, but for rustic breads, like no-knead, I think it’s more like 200-210.
Hi Eric.
Read all the posts and saw your video on starters. How would you substitute recipes calling for instant or active dry yeast? Most recipes I have call for it and I know oyu mentioned sometimes you may use upto 2 cups of sourdough starter – how would it translate if I simply do not wish to use the commercial yeast products?
Thanks!
Chef Nazir
Let me add though… even if you are able to substitute, how much of the original flour/water do you remove ? I know, confusing but I want to get it right!
Hi Nazir,
If there is a formula that works across the board for all yeast recipes, I don’t know it. There are so many excellent sourdough bread recipes in the top bread bread baking cook books and I just follow those, including the one that calls for 2 cups of starter.
The only recipe I’ve translated from yeast to sourdough is the no-knead recipe of New York Times fame. Now that I’ve got several no-knead favorites to keep me happy, it’s pretty rare when I bake with commercial yeast.
hi Eric-My starter is very bubbly and active however it never doubles in volume.I don’t understand why as I have tried to change room temperature and feeding schedules.My bread taste delicious but I always am dissapointed in the rise and never get a 2nd rise.Thanks for any tips!
Hi Candy,
It’s difficult for me to tell. I wonder how much (if any) has to do with the strain of sourdough yeast you have. But even changing starters isn’t necessarily a long term solution. Do you know anyone in your area that is getting a good rise in their starter and bread?
Thanks for your reply.
Off the topic I posted earlier, I just made bread using poolish. Now I followed the procedure in ‘Bread’ by Hammelman…. BUT after loading it (just after scoring), my bread ‘ripped’ near the bottom of the bread – would you know why? I steamed it 3 times in the first 6-7 minutes approx…
Thanks again
Nazir
The people I know don’t even know what a starter is!!I have had this starter for a couple of months and have devoted ALOT of time to it.I started it myself from rye that i ground myself every day.It is now white bread flour.I just ordered your live starter and will give that a try.Maybe your strain of yeast will perform better.I am also going to try your no knead method with my enamel coated dutch oven( it has no plastic knobs) and was wondering if I should flour or spray the inside to prevent sticking.Thanks again.
One more thing,my kitchen is about 66 degrees-do you think I should always keep my starter in the oven with light on?I am very new to sourdough baking but have read and tried Nancy Silverman’s Le Brea Bakery book.Some things I don’t get(like how to calculate h20 temps for my cold kitchen) so I’m looking for different perspectives.Sorry to babble but your the first person I have had to ask any questions!!
Hey Candy,
Hopefully my starter will work better for you. At least you will like the dough whisk! They are the best. I think everyone in the world should have one
.
A coldish kitchen shouldn’t be a real problem with a good starter. It will still rise well but just take longer. In a situation like that, you just have to judge the rise more by sight and not rely so much on a clock.
Regarding Le Brea cookbook, as well as most of them, some (if not many) of the recipes can be pretty annoying with how precise and arduous the requirements. It’s no wonder the no-knead method has gained such a strong following.
You shouldn’t have to treat your enamel dutch oven. A friend of mine uses a plain cast iron dutch oven with no sticking. When the bread bakes, I think it pulls away a little from the sides.
You’re right going for the no-knead. Get that down and then go from there if you want.
Hi Nazir.
I’m not sure why your bread ripped near the bottom. Sometimes I get “blowouts” like that and just assume that sometimes I get too much oven spring too fast. Maybe if I had let it rise a little more before baking, it would be avoided. I’ve never been concerned with it, but for a professional chef/baker, I can certainly understand the concern.
Hi Eric,
I made another loaf of NKB yesterday, and this time I remembered to reduce the amount of water by the amount of my starter. I also left the bowl on the counter in my quite cool kitchen, thinking that maybe the long time in the oven with the light on had overproofed the previous batches. I also bought a Lodge pre-seasoned Dutch oven – with my luck I would drop a cloche! So my dough was a little easier to handle and I was able to shape it into a ball. The loaf looked great, well risen and with a good crust which I could hear cracking as it cooled. That was the good news. The bad news is that it was still “gummy” inside although nice and holey and good tasting. Also the bottom was just about burnt so I don’t think I could have cooked it any longer. Have to say my family weren’t so picky when they came to supper and they took the leftovers home with them!
So now I am wondering whether it is my starter and I want to order some of the instant yeast from you to try that. I also wonder whether using parchment paper under the dough would help with the burning? Hope it isn’t my starter as I sent some to my son in Paso Robles – in a plastic jar and 2 ziploc bags. Would hate to ruin my image if his bread doesn’t rise. Thanks for letting me ramble, Ann
Hi Ann,
Thanks for the update. I think it can take a while to get used to the baking characteristics of a new baker. I’m talking about your new Dutch oven.
Based on what you’re describing, the next thing I would try is reducing the temperature some (maybe 25 degrees or so) to hopefully avoid burning and bake longer to hopefully get past the gumminess.
Personally, I try to get a slight char on some of the crust. I really like the strong flavor of the slightly caramelized flour. But gummy can be kind of a drag if it’s too gummy. Yours must not have been too bad.
I’m pretty certain your starter is not the culprit.
Onward and upward!
Eric
Hi, Eric….I’m new to the dance here but enjoying everything. Ive been baking a bit after a 20yr layoff so everything s new and interesting. I’m a sour dough freak. I wanted to tell Candy that bubbling starter doesn’t count…it has to quadruple to raise a loaf. Keep feeding it till it does I have a new starter..Maggie Gleezer recipe that works great. My biggest problem is an oven that wont heat to 550 and wont hold the heat as the door is opened for steam. I do have a Sassafras long baker that works fine. I proof on a Silmat..stretch it out a bit rather than make a ball and dump it into the hot long baker. Also, the bottom thump test doesn’t truly work, either. It takes a thermometer deep in the bread. Have been no-kneading since the Times story.
Hi Keith. Welcome back! I would certainly classify myself as a sourdough freak as well. Actually, maybe “snob” is more like it. A snob and an addict. I like to think I hide my snobbishness pretty well, but I make no effort to control my addiction.
HI,
I really enjoy the video demonstrations. It helps to nullify those nagging doubts, as to what is supposed to be happening, and the appearance of a good starter.
I do have a question about kneading my dough. I use rye or spelt flour, so I am not getting a fluffy loaf. I also get a great slightly sour, slightly sweet flavor. I just want to make sure I am kneading at the appropriate time.
I have been making my successful starter to the correct proportions for my recipe. Then I make the actual recipe, knead it for 5-8 minutes, and let it rise in a bowl overnight, 18-24 hours, then transfer to loaf pans, let rise 3-5 hours and bake. Is this a correct procedure for a kneading recipe? Does anyone have a good recipe that calls for kneading? I have made bread, non-sour with no problems, but I am not sure if and when to knead for a sour dough bread.
Thanks
Judy Ritsema
Hi Judy. I’m glad this is helping you.
With all the buzz around the no-knead bread lately, that subject has certainly dominated this website. But by far the most common types of bread recipes do call for kneading and the kneading comes in at the beginning when you are mixing all your ingredients together.
What you are doing sounds good to me.
Are you baking with just rye and spelt and no all purpose white flour at all?
I will definitely be adding traditional baking recipes and videos to this site. One hopefully before the end of this month that will involve kneading. No-knead is popular largely because of the ease but lots of people, including myself, like to work more “hands on” with the dough at least some of the time.
I’m not sure I really answered your question. I know most bread books are full of kneading recipes.
Eric
Hi Eric,
I have to tell you about my best sourdough NKB yet! Last week I baked a couple of doorstops which went straight to the dumpster. That was the same day I cut 160 squares of fabric 1 7/8″ instead of 1 5/8″, and I was ready to quit baking and quilting forever. But being a stubborn old woman (according to my sons) I fed my starter and added a little rye flour as a treat and got it really revved up. I must also say how much I love the scale, thank you for selling it. My 6 year old grandaughter helped me pat out the dough which was very manageable, and after the 15 minutes I placed it on a square of parchment paper and dropped it into the banneton. It rose nicely and I lifted the paper and dough into the heated stainless steel dutch oven. What a great tip, thanks to whoever came up with it! I can see now that dropping the risen dough deflated it too much – this loaf rose beautifully. I had time constraints so could have let it sit longer before shaping but I was very happy with the results. Took it for my son’t birthday dinner and we warmed it – which of course meant we cut into a warm loaf. It was delicious, and I guess I’ll keep baking. Tomorrow I plan on making Mike Avery’s stretch and fold bread – have you tried it? Thanks again, Ann
Hi Ann.
Great story. Thanks for posting it. Travelling in s. Carolina at the moment and stealing a moment to peek at email etc. I don’t know if I’ve tried Mike’s stretch and fold exactly, but I have used the stretch and fold technique. It’s a good one.
So glad your experience salvaged your baking aspirations.
Eric
Maybe it’s not such a concern now that the weather’s warming up, but just thought I’d mention something that has worked for me when my kitchen is on the cool side. I fill the tea kettle full, get the water boiling, then put the tea kettle in the oven along with covered bowl of bread dough. By morning the water has cooled down, of course, but it seems to have taken long enough that my dough is pretty happy.
I am new at starters. I followed a recipe, and I now have, at day 5, a pleasant, almost apple smelling frothy mixture.I’m confused about when and how to use the starter. Is there a preparation before baking? (ie I’ve read about proofing-but don’t undertand). Does the starter have to double in volume before use? Or do you just go ahead, add the specified quantity of starter to your bread flour and go ahead and bake?
Hello Tatiana,
It sounds like you’re ready to go. In which case you can just add the specified quantity according to the recipe.
Now you just need to keep your starter healthy with regular feedings. Every few days is good. As a general rule and as a test of your starter’s health, if you were to feed your starter with an amount of flour and water equal to the amount of starter you are feeding, then the resultant mix should about double in volume. In other words, if you have 1/2 cup of starter on hand (after mixing it up to remove bubbles) and add 1/2 of flour plus 1/2 cup of water and mix that all together, then you should have about 1 cup of starter. Let that sit out at room temperature and it should come somewhat close to doubling in volume to about 2 cups. It will then shrink back down as it consumes its available nutrients, but at least you know your base starter is very healthy.
This would be just a test. I’m not saying it’s necessary to double the starter each time you feed it. It’s usually sufficient to just add some fresh flour and water once in a while to keep it happy. Maybe occasionally double the volume to give a particularly good feeding. With time you can just tell by the look and feel what your starter needs.
Eric
Thanks Eric-this has been very helpful! And just as a note, when I got home yesterday, the starter had doubled-(we had fed it earlier), and its the first real doubling we’ve see-so I guess thats a good test sign. So thanks for clarifying all this! Tatiana
Excellent!
Eric, we made our first loaf of rye with our new rye sourdough starter. We added 1 cup starter, 2 cups white flour, 1 cup rye. The loaf took about 8 hours for the first rise, and about 4 for the second. It had a lovely texture, wonderful crust-but is a touch on the too sour side. I understand that long rise times can contribute to excess sourness, so we cut the first rise to 4 hours-but the same flavour emerged. I can’t cut it further, because it does take long to rise. Suggestions?
Hi Tatiana,
This should be an inspiration to all the people who are trying to make their bread MORE sour.
As far as making it less sour without having to cut the proofing time – maybe try using white starter instead of rye. Or half rye starter and half white starter. Just a guess.
Thanks, we’ll give it a shot. By the way, as I am new to bread making, does proof time mean the time it takes to rise?
Yes. Either before or after you shape the dough for baking.
Eric: This is the coolest site I have seen on bread. I am off again, on again with baking bread. The no-knead is intriguing. My attempts have been too wet. Read a comment today about throwing out the old flour. Mine has been in the freezer for over a year do you think that is the problem. I have 2 emails this is the one at work. but if you answer today, I’d like to get it
I’m in Austin TX
Hi Kay,
Thanks!
If the flour in your freezer is regular white flour (as apposed to whole wheat) it should be fine. There can be a problem with whole wheat flour spoiling at room temperature because of the oil in the germ exposed to air. But even whole wheat flour will keep well in the freezer as long as it was fresh to start with.
So, my usual long winded way of saying I think you’ll be okay.
Yipee! I ordered starter & other STUFF on Fri. Did not expect to see it arrive before next Fri. It came today, Mon.
I’m fixin’ to revive my starter. I’m sure I will have questions but will let you know how it goes.
Appreciate the fact that you are willing to share your knowledge.
Thanks
Kay
Hi Eric,
I have been baking with my starter now for about 2 months and it seems to be working out pretty well. My last bread (half whole wheat), though, was a real failure. It looked ok after rising. I dumped it directly from my bowl onto the hot baking stone at about 450°. But in the first 15 minutes it started elevating from the bottom like crazy. By the end it had turned into a mushroom!!!
I could barely slice it, huge hunks from the bottom of the “stem” kept coming off and it wasn’t even done in the very center.
One thing I did differently this time was I kept spraying the loaf with water while baking, trying to get a thick crust. It was thick all right, but didn’t even adhere to the loaf and chipped all off.
Even my husband who is very encouraging about my bread efforts didn’t want to eat it. What went wrong???
Thanks,
Sarah
Maybe someone else has an idea. I have no clue. Are you sure someone didn’t toss a 1/4 cup of yeast in when you weren’t looking? Just joking of course, but really, your experience does sound pretty bizarre.
I don’t know how extra spraying would cause that much disruption, but I have read that spraying is only effective in the very early stages of baking.
Do I feed the starter BEFORE I put it with the other ingredients to bake bread? This makes the most sense to me since it rises after I feed it. Perhaps I take the starter out to prepare the recipe, then feed what’s left so I have more later??? I have great looking starter (thanks for the super easy pineapple method!) but now I don’t know what to do with it between keeping it in the fridge and baking with it. I’ve watched the videos and if I’m missing it, I apologize. I don’t know what to do with the starter when I’m ready to bake. Is it immediate or does it have to rise?
Also, can I make a good batch of sourdough in the bread machine? I made one loaf with my starter, putting the ingredients in the bread machine on a delay time cycle. The loaf tasted great but didn’t rise very well.
Hi Karen,
You should feed your starter at least several hours before you use it for baking. That’s if you leave it at room temperature. I usually just feed mine the night before baking, let it sit on the counter for an hour or so then put in the fridge for the night.
The starter can look pretty lifeless when you go to bake, but if it’s been fed within a day or two, it should perform quite well when it’s mixed up with fresh flour when you start your recipe.
Once you’ve removed the starter from your storage container for baking, you can replenish it then by adding water and flour and putting right back in the fridge. Or if you still have plenty, then just put that back in the fridge and replenish it a little the day before you bake again.
I’m not sure I’ve actually answered your questions, so feel free to ask for clarification.
I’m not at all experienced with baking sourdough bread in a bread machine, although I may try to figure it out just so I can help others. I do know that they are very popular and I have no doubts it’s done and maybe even easy once figured out. There’s a very active Yahoo user group on bread machine baking http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bread-machine/ . You could join and I’m sure get help.
Eric
The link says there is no such group or it no longer exists. Can anyone else chime in who may have made sourdough bread in the bread machine? I would love to find a way to help it rise better.
I fixed the link I think. Refresh and try it again.
Eric,
What type of container should I use for the starter, should it be airtight, ceramic, glass, plastic, etc?
Is there anything different I might have to do for a higher altitude (Denver)?
Thanks,
Kyle
Hi Kyle,
Ceramic, glass or plastic is fine for storing sourdough starter. I’ve heard that metal is not desirable. This may not be true but might as well play it safe and avoid it. (It is alright to use metal utensils to stir starter however).
You definitely do NOT want an airtight seal. Allow for at least a small air flow to avoid having the starter container explode.
I’m not aware of any adjustments you’ll have to make in managing your starter in Denver. The adjustments will come in when you actually bake the bread.
Eric
Hi Eric
My starter is great. I think I have learned to keep a small amount going strong. When I decide to bake I add the flour & water in large amounts not spoonfuls. I bought the book Classic Sourdoughs. Got past the bricks, but what makes crust hard – not flakey. Am using KitdhenAid. Could I be beating it too long? Since the KA is powerful I have not been kneading it after turning it out, letting it rest a short time, forming loaf and letting it rise. When you squeeze the “artisian” bread in Sam’s or Costco the loaf/crust feels hard. Mine is made from bread flour, and whole wheat or rye. Crusty would be nice. Do you have any suggestions? This is a learning experience; will appreciate any advice. Kay in TX
Hello Eric,
I live in Oregon and I have started a starter using 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup milk at room temperature, 1/8 cup sugar, and 1/8 tsp. of yeast…
I first made my starter about 2 weeks ago and I had it sitting out on my counter for 12 days feeding it every other day and it would bubble up a lot, but it never doubled in size, it would bubble up a lot, and then deflate. On the fifth day I finally noticed hooch forming in the starter.
My question is, why is my starter rising and then deflating? I’ve also noticed that once the hooch forms on the top, it will stop bubbling and rising all together…
Does it sound like to you that my starter is healthy?
I tried making a starter last spring and within 2 days it had a lot of hooch, but the whole time it would never bubble, and after about 5 days of feeding it everyday, I attempted to make bread and it was horrible… It didn’t turn out at all…
So, someone at a local culinary school told me to try it with a very small amount of yeast in it because in Oregon we don’t get very much wild yeast I suppose…
This time has been more of a success, my only concern is that my starter doesn’t really double in size, it rises a little bit, but then deflates… I’ve never made starters before, and I am just a little paranoid that I screwed something up.
Let me know what you think!
.
Hi Stephanie,
Your blog is very nice by the way. I’ll have to try that Pad Thai recipe.
If you’re going to leave your starter at room temperature, you should be feeding it at least once and maybe twice a day until it’s healthy. Then you can store it the fridge and feed it about once a week or more frequently if you’re baking a lot.
You’ll know when it’s healthy when it about doubles in volume within a few hours of feeding at room temperature. It doesn’t have to actually double but the increase should be pretty substantial. Like at least 50%. It’s normal for starter to rise well after feeding and then deflate as the yeast consumes the available nutrients in the flour. But when you see hooch forming, that’s probably just because it’s been sitting too long between feedings.
So I would just feed what you have more frequently (use chlorine free water) and see what happens. That means you’re going to have to dispose of some of the old starter each time you feed it so you don’t end up with 50 tons of starter.
If this doesn’t seem to be working, just bail and start over but follow the Peter Reinhart "pineapple juice technique" that I roughly cover in this video. Forget about milk and sugar and yeast (there’s plenty in Oregon).
If that fails then let me know and I’ll mail you some of my live starter as an early Christmas present
.
Good luck.
Thanks Eric,
I appreciate the advice very much… I have a question. I fed my starter last night and it did double in size, and I made some sourdough pancakes this morning for breakfast, which were excellent…
My question is, well I have two questions… My starter doesn’t really smell sour, it has almost a beer smell and a yeast smell. Will my sourdough starter get more sour tasting and smelling as it ages?
My next question is, since the yeast has established in my starter, can I start feeding it with water and flour even though it was started with flour and milk and sugar? Or will that ruin the starter? Let me know what you think, I’m sorry to ask so many questions!
Stephanie
Your questions are good.
Your starter might get more sour with time but that doesn’t necessarily translate to more sour tasting bread. There are a bunch of factors that go into controlling the amount of sour you get. I’m still trying to figure them out!
You should start feeding with just flour and water. It definitely will not hurt the starter. I think it will help it. Although your starter sounds like it’s doing fine now.
Eric, I received your live starter yesterday afternoon, and fed it today for the second time with King Arthur unbleached AP and boiled tap water. After a couple of hours it has doubled in size. When I opened the bag to have a peek there was a very strong vinegar aroma which was quite pleasing. I can’t wait to bake with this starter. I should be able to mix up a batch of dough tomorrow with enough starter left to feed it again and keep things going.
Thanks,
Ken
Hello,
I’m afraid my starter has lost its punch. Not great timing as I’m practically counting the hours until my La Cloche baker arrives tomorow. Here is what I’ve got. About two weeks ago my budding “pineapple method” starter was at a standstill. To avoid frustration I stuck it in the fridge. A few days had passed when I noticed some hooch had formed on top. Having learned that this indicates that the sugars are all used up, I took that as encouragement that it did have some life to it. Discarding all but a half cup, I followed your instructions for reviving a dormant starter. Sure enough it came back even better. Over the following week it doubled well after feedings and began to foam up. It also took on a pleasant nutty slightly sour odor. I knew that I was on to something when my French husband took a whiff of it and said that it brought back memories of his childhood!
Last night, in anticipation of baking, I combined 2 cups of refrigerated starter, 2 cups of U/B org. flour and 1 3/4 cups of filtered water. This made a massive amount of starter which I then divided into two containers so as have enough room for doubling. This morning I found that, aside from some bubbling action, the starter had not budged. At a loss for what to do I am tempted to give it another “time out” in fridge. I’m not sure what I did wrong other than I may have forgotten to stir the air out of the starter before calculating the feeding.
So here are my questions….If it was given proportionately too much food, is there any way to salvage it? Did I really need to refresh (ruin) it last night or could I have mixed it into the dough straight from the fridge? What about the method of discarding some before feeding? This fixed it before. Thanks very much for your help.
Hi Naomi,
Gosh, I can’t see that you did anything that would harm the starter. Quite the contrary. Refreshing it was a good thing to do. I don’t think you over fed it, and even if you did, it would just take longer than usual to do its rising thing. A professional baker at King Arthur Flour tells people to quadruple the amount of starter with each feeding.
It sounds like you left your starter on the counter overnight after feeding it. I don’t suppose it could have risen and then settled back down by morning? I doubt that actually.
I have found that very occasionally, and for no reason that I’ve been able to find, it just takes a seemingly inordinate amount of time for the rising action to kick in after feeding.
In any case, it seems extremely unlikely you harmed your starter. Given your time sensitive situation and the fact that you now have a ton of starter, you could split that up and try a few different things (whatever you can think of) to see if one takes better than the other. Feed again, put one back in the fridge, keep another out, leave one portion unchanged.
Definitely let me know what happens. This is interesting. I’m going to be taking off for a few hours so if you have any more questions, I won’t be around to respond for a while (not that I would know the answer anyway).
Good luck.
Eric
Thank you so much for a wonderful website. I love sourdough bread but I find it to be time consuming, the way you do it is so much easy that you can really enjoy it without filling guilty for loosing so much time. I have a question that I hope you can help me with. I used to bake regularly until I started working. Now I do not see how to manage the time for the rising of the bread etc. Is there a way that I could mix the dough and refrigerate till I come home from work then let it rest from 6 pm to 8 am put back in the refrigerator and bake after work? I could also ask my husband to put in the fridge at noon, that way it would have the 18 hours. I really hope this can work. Thank you so much for all your help in baking. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend.
Maria
Hi Maria,
Great question. Eventually, I’d like to do a whole article on managing the rising times to adapt to various schedules. You can definitely make use of your fridge to delay the fermentation. I haven’t done any experimenting on this yet, but the first thing I would try is mixing up the dough in the evening and then just put it in the fridge straight away. Then take it out in the morning at let rise sit all day and bake in the evening.
That way, the whole process takes roughly 24 hours but things are moving pretty slowly in the fridge so it might very well work out to the equivalent of the normal 18 hr. process. I think it’s a good idea to bake the dough from room temperature rather than from the fridge.
By the way, refrigerating the dough does not stop the fermentation, it just slows it down a lot.
If you try this, please let us know how it goes. You can be the guinea pig for everyone else who wants to know the same thing
.
Hi Eric,
Thank you so much for your help. I got my bread out of the oven 5 minutes ago. It looks great, I could say that it had more oven spring that making it the other way. Too bad I am going to sleep without trying it. There is always tomorrow.
I refrigerated the mixed dough yesterday at 7:30 p.m. Took to room temperature this morning. I started around 7 P.M reshaping, etc.
I could not be happier with the results. Let you know how it taste, but now we know that you can go to work and bake bread at the same time. Makes me happy.
Thank you again for your great help.
About 10 years ago I was given a starter by the Chef at the Through The Seasons restaurant in Soldatna, Alaska, and have been enjoying it ever since and have always kept it in the fridge between uses and it has never failed me. However, last year we were travelling a lot and I was unable to use the starter for a few months. This week when I used it in my usual way (stirred it, put 1 1/2 c starter and 1 1/2 c flour and 1 c warm water and set it aside to work overnight; next morning I put 1 1/2 c of the starter back into my starter container, added 3 T sugar and 1 t salt and 2-4 cups bread flour to the bread I was making, stirred it and kneaded it until it was elastic and would take no more flour. I then covered it lightly and set it aside–out of a draft–and let it double. Then I punched it down, shaped it into two loafs, covered it lightly, and let it rise until double–or almost (it never did completely double). I baked it in my gas oven @ 350 for 40 minutes which has been absolutely perfect in the past. However, this time it didn’t rise well at all and doesn’t have the lovely “sour” flavor.
My question is this: can I just let the starter sit on my counter until tonight, again put my 1 1/2 c starter, 1 1/2 c bread flour and 1/c warm water into my usual bread maiing tupperware bowl and complete the process as above? Will that eventually renew my starter to it’s former glory??? Thank you so much for your website–it has given me heart to keep trying.
Hi Norma,
It sounds like maybe you just needed to refresh your starter with 2 or 3 feedings before attempting to bake with it again since it had been idle for so long. It must be pretty hearty to have worked as well as it did after a few months hiatus. I think if you do what you’re thinking (feed it again), it will indeed be restored to it’s former glory.
Hello Eric,
I am new to sourdough baking and found your video on managing starters to be very helpful. I have one starter that began life as bakers yeast and another one that I started from orange juice and whole wheat flour. I prefer the latter but I find it to be somewhat slow. Is that normal for scratch starters? Keep up the good work. I look forward to viewing some of your other videos.
Hi Bill. I’m not sure what’s normal and not for different kinds of starters. The ones I’ve used all perform about the same.
Hi Eric
Great video! This is my first attempt at cultivating a starter – using Nancy Silverton’s La Brea bakery book.
The starter started bubbling, but never did double in volume, AND I have been been feeding it religiously. Tried using some to bake, but the dough never really rose. Any suggestions? I tried it twice, with same results. Any ideas? I have some starter that I saved in the fridge, but threw the rest out in frustration(after multiple cups of flour. I have no trouble making with commercial yeast, but would really like to try my hand at sourdough.
Thanks.
My one attempt at Nancy Silverton’s method failed too. I think her method is more trouble than it’s worth. I recommend you try Debra Wink’s Pineapple Juice Technique. It’s much easier and probably has a better chance of succeeding.
See: http://www.breadtopia.com/make-your-own-sourdough-starter
The low-rise may not be the starter/yeast strain, but the time being allowed to rise. 2-hours is a general guideline, but I’ve found it sometimes take twice as long to double in size than the standard 1.5-2 hour rule of thumb (and the slower they rise, the better the flavor)! I check it at an hour or two, and if it looks like it is on the slow boat, I ignor it a little longer. I have taken to proofing in a cold oven with the lights on which sometimes speeds things up a bit.
I just made the no-knead bread recipe from CooksIllustrated where they call for adding beer (about 1/3 of the liquid) and a T of vinegar. DELICIOUS! I’ve taken to adding a bit of beer and vinegar to my yeast pizza dough and it has really, really improved the flavor and texture. I’m going to try a test loaf with my next sourdough batch. Stay tuned.
I also just pulled a Cooks Illustrated "almost no knead" loaf out of the oven. It is indeed very good. I’ll certainly be doing more of these and your idea of adding the beer & vinegar to pizza dough sounds great. I’ll try to get a video done soon for anyone interested.
Thought I’d add a couple pics…
Oh My Gosh!! Can I just say thank you, thank you, thank you. I am very impressed with your thoroughness and skill, and cannot wait to try making my bread again. Your website was all I needed to lift my hopes up. ( I killed my starter yesterday. it was very sad..) Hope you have the Bread of Life this Christmas, thanks again!
Katie
Watching your videos, it looked like you did not use the rubber gasket that comes with the jars with the wire bales. Is that right? I ordered some starter from a different website and also the jar, which I thought I was supposed to use the gasket. Then, another starter said to not airtight the starter because it would explode. Which is correct? Do the different starters require different storage techniques? Thanks, JO
Hi Jo. That’s right, I don’t have the gasket on so there’s a little air flow so no pressure build up from the CO2 gas from fermentation. I think all starters are the same as far as storage goes.
We just recently received your sourdough starter and noticed that you reccommended using distilled water when activating because of the chlorine. My question is, once it is activated and working like it’s supposed to, is it still necessary to continue using distilled water or is it ok to use tap water which is city water with chlorine.
Thank you,
Peggy Leachman
Peggy2265@comcast.net
Hi Peggy,
Chlorine is put in municipal water to kill harmful microorganisms. Yeast (in the sourdough) is a microorganism and I doubt if the chlorine can distinguish the good guys from the bad. Having said that, I know a lot of people use tap water with their starters and get by fine. I recommend purified water to be on the safe side and insure you’re getting the best results possible.
Fortunately, getting chlorine out of tap water is an easy thing. If you don’t want to hassle with distilled or spring water, or water run through a Brita kind of filter, then you can just let a pitcher of tap water sit overnight and the chlorine will evaporate on its own. So maybe just do that.
While I was away for the holidays I forgot my starter out for a few days. Made a call and had it place in the frig. When I removed it there was a white and black mold like substance on top. I removed this and fed the remainder a couple of time and it is growing great. So I know my yeast is active but I am concerned about any harmful bacteria that is present.
By the way I received the whisk and la cloche in October, what nice products both have added to the ease and quality of my baking. I just wish I could bake more than one loaf at a time.
thanks
Hi Nick. As long as your starter looks, feels and smells like it did before the mold issue, then it’s fine. It’s not unusual for starter to get moldy even in the fridge if left unattended long enough. And it’s usually easy to rectify just through several good feedings.
What if it’s left out of the frig for a few weeks..still smells good/like yeast….should I throw it away?
DL Dove
I would throw away all but about 1/4 cup, then feed that with 1/2 cup flour and 1/3 cup water and see if it shows signs of life. Then I would feed it a few more times, each time at least doubling the volume you’re starting with (so you may want to throw some away each time before feeding so you don’t end up with a ton of starter). After several feedings, there’s a good chance your starter will be in good shape again.
Hi Eric,
Thanks again for sending the order. Everything arrived great and have been having a ball baking bread.
SITUATION: I got some starter from a professional bakery. It was a HUGE plastic bucket, and super thick. The owner works with it in a 5 gallon Hobart mixer. I have fed it 4 times according to your videos, and all I get is a bundch of bubbles, but no vigerous action. It never goes above the line I put on the jar to note progress. I use bread dough and tap water. Do you have any recommendations?
QUESTION: Any thoughts? Should I get another starter?
Thanks in advance,
Richard
Hi Richard,
It should be pretty easy to revive that starter. Is your tap water chlorinated? If so, use purified water of some kind. Other than that, I don’t know. If you’re using too much water, the starter can be healthy but not rise much. But if you’re using equal WEIGHTS of flour and water, and the starter is healthy, you would get the rise you’re looking for.
Hi Eric,
I wanted to let you know that the fresh starter I ordered from you arrived in great shape, and I made the best loaf of bread with it I have ever made. The flavor was out of this world with a lovely lactic twang.
My problem is that the starter, after several weeks in my care, has lost the lactic twang. I have been feeding it religiously as you recommend, and storing it in my fridge between weekly baking days, but I can’t seem to bring the twang back. It bubbles up well and raises the dough perfectly, but I’ve messed up something, and I’d like to figure out what… Do you have any wisdom?
Thanks so much! Julia
Hi Julia,
I can sympathize with your situation. Sourdough starter seems like it has a mind of its own sometimes. This might sound funny, but you may be taking too good care of it. Really fresh, well fed starter can be pretty mild smelling and tasting compared to starter that hasn’t been fed for a while and generally unattended. The lactic acid builds up over time when left alone.
But even that may not necessarily help all that much. More of the taste of your final loaf comes from all the variables that go into the entire baking process than just from how you manage the starter. Getting just the taste you are after on a consistent basis can be a confounding experience.
Professional bakers take great pains to control every aspect of their baking conditions to be sure of getting consistent results. It’s not so easy at home. A slight change in temperature or humidity can alter your outcome, even when you are being really precise about everything else like exact ingredient measurements and proofing times.
I’m sure others can contribute better advise on this subject, especially considering I didn’t really provide much
.
Eric,
I made a rye starter about 2 weeks ago with just rye flour and water. It started within a day or two and smelled great for the first week while I fed it about every day. Now it has developed a nail polish remover smell. Should I be worried, should I start over, is it ok to try a loaf with?
I’ve never made a rye flour starter but nail polish remover doesn’t sound very good. Maybe someone else has an idea on this one.
Eric,
Darn….I used tap water to revive the starter I got from Freinds of Carl’s. I missed it if it was mentioned on your video about revivng starter and there is no mention of it in the directions that came with the starter. So I am up to lets see… probably 3/4s cup of tap water in my starter with the equal amount of flour. I am wondering if I should be concerened about the starter or just make sure I use bottled water from this point on.
I’m sure the amount of chlorine must be minimal but I thought I heard somewhere chlorine does not loose its poetency.
The starter seems to be doing fine but I would hate to think I have effected the potency of it. I’m thinking that the next feeding maybe I’ll go with 1 cup flour and 3/4 cup bottled water. Then after that has had a day at room temperature I could use or dump 1/2 of it say a cup, and then refeed the remainder always using bottled water.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Dave M.
Fresno, Ca
As long as it does come to life you’ll be fine. Any trace of it will be gone in practically no time.
Hi Eric,
Thanks for such a great site and also for your store. I love my new dough whisks and scraper! They came within 3 days – wow! Great for an impatient person like me! Now I have a some questions as I get really into baking bread.
Re sourdough: My starter instructions are to remove from starter from fridge, throw out 1 cup, then add one cup flour and 1/2 cup water. After a few hours, remove 1 cup starter to bake with, again add flour/water, wait 2-4 hours and refrigerate. I hate having to throw out a cup each time I start it! And the timing of waiting 2-4 hours after the second feed is tough because I’d like to put up my bread late night right before going to bed so it can do first rise overnight. Almost all of my recipes call for 1 cup fed starter. Could I just one time skip the second add/wait and instead refrigerate the “remnant” left after removing my one cup fed starter. Then next time just feed and use and again refrigerate the remnant?
Also, I find the starter very hard to work with. You say to use almost the same weight flour/water. Could I increase the water if I want a wetter dough and simply adjust my recipe with slightly less water? Is there an advantage to a particular thickness of starter?
Lastly, I have two “formula” questions. Is there a formula for amount of flour to make a full loaf in a 9×5 pan? Most of my recipes use about 5 cups flour, and I find they just don’t fill my nice stoneware pans with a nice tall loaf. I finally realized it’s maybe because I’m not using enough dough rather than a problem with my technique.
Also, is there a formula for amount of dried spice per cup flour to flavor bread well?
Thank you!
Hello Jean,
Thanks for the nice comments.
Most of the instructions for managing sourdough starters, including my own, can be considered suggestions rather than hard rules. There’s quite a lot of flexibility in how you can deal with it successfully.
After you feed your starter, you can put it right back in the fridge. It will continue to feast on its new meal but at a slower rate than if you left it out.
As for how much water to add to your starter and how thick to keep it, you can do it any way you want. However, whomever formulated the recipe you’re following had some reason for calling for a stiffer starter (a particular hydration level). You can tweak it to your liking and see if you still like the results. Some recipes call for a wet starter, some call for a drier one. Some call for 1/4 cup starter, some 2 cups. In addition to experimenting with the recipes you’re using, you may want to find another recipe that conforms more to your liking. There’s countless ways of getting good results and countless recipes.
I know a lot of people have a hard time with throwing out starter. As a rule of thumb, when you go to feed your starter, it’s nice to be able to at least double what you’re starting with. (You don’t have to but your starter will be in more optimal health if you do.) If you’re not baking all the time, sometimes you just end up with more starter than you can use. It’s a bit of a balancing act trying to use what you have, keep it healthy and not have to throw any out. In time you’ll settle on what you’re comfortable with and still get good baking results.
Just yesterday, I was adjusting a recipe to fit in a 9 x 5 loaf pan and found that 18 ounces of flour worked well. This particular recipe was 12 ounces of white and 6 whole wheat. Sorry I don’t have the equivalent in cups as I mostly just weigh ingredients.
Don’t know any formulas for the amount of dried spice per cup flour.
Hope this helps some. It’s hard to get real specific sometimes when there’s a million ways to do everything. There’s a joke that goes something like if you ask 10 bakers a question, you’ll get 11 different answers. I’m butchering the joke, but you get the idea.
Thanks for the very helpful video. I’ve read a lot of different websites about sourdough starter, but your video instruction is so much more helpful than merely writing about starter.
Thanks David!
Hello Eric,
Have been visiting this site for a long time Just love it even if there seems to be something amiss with your videos. In the left column where videos are listed the sound is so low I can only get the odd word. I tuned in today and when I watched the Video of Nate low and behold… SOUND and from that was able to tap in to your other videos listed at the bottom of that one ie:no knead but I need your Sourdough one. I know I know I am long winded My husband always says I go back to the beginning of time when I am trying to say something.LOL But you have to have that backgroung info first as this is for two reasons one to tell you you have a problem with the sound portion of your videos and the other is Sourdough.
I can create a starter. In Fact I have no problem catching the wild little beasties. They multiple like crazy reminding me of Gremlins. My problem is I have been on every site from here to eternity and back and I still can’t get the info of when do I use it.Do I feed it and let it set until it starts to fall and then add my ingredients for bread? Or what. When recipes call for a sponge when do I add it before I feed it ?????? I can’t tune in to your Video NO SOUND…..HELP!!!!
Hi Sherry,
I haven’t heard from anyone else on video problems and they work fine on my computer. So don’t know what to tell you there.
Generally sourdough starter is at its peak a few hours after you feed it. A few hours at room temperature, that is. After that, I like to use it within a day. But I’ve used starters for baking that haven’t been fed for a couple days with good results and could have probably gone longer still. So there’s a fairly wide window of opportunity for what can work.
Thanks so much Eric for getting back so quickly.I really appriciate it.So its not that fragile a thing.???? So long as its alive and at room temperature basically
That’s right… and been fed at least kinda recently.
Hi:
I watched your very informative video, and I still have a few more questions. I got some starter from a friend and have been having a hard time renewing the starter. Currently, it does have some bubbles but is clearly in the relatively-flat-almost-dead stage. I just found out that the starter I was given had yeast in it; does this mean that my efforts to revive it will be in vain? I’m trying to keep the water-flour proportions as you’ve prescribed; what is the optimal amount of starter to use? Half-cup? One tablespoon? Or does it matter? Also, when I’m feeding the starter, I’m unclear whether the container should be covered or not. Also, as I’m doing these repeated feedings, can the starter stay out of the fridge (i.e., for several days)?
Thanks for your help–
Torbie, just-starting bread starter starter
When you’re feeding your starter often – like twice a day, you can leave it out of the fridge. That’s how some bakeries do it. Since they’re baking all the time, their starter never makes into cold storage. It doesn’t need to be.
You should cover your starter but don’t make it an air tight cover. Allow for a little air to get in and out. So a loose fitting lid would work well.
I’m not sure I understand the other parts of your question. What’s the optimal amount of starter to use? For what?
When you say that the starter you were given had yeast in it, do you mean someone put commercial yeast in it, like the kind you buy in packets at the store? If your starter doesn’t revive, I don’t think it would be from that.
Thank you so much for your prompt reply.
Yes, I meant that the starter my friend gave me, she’d made with commercial yeast.
As I’m having to continually feed this little batch, as it was/is quite weak, is it best to wait just the 3-4 hours between feedings, or is it better to ‘allow’ up to 24 hours between feedings (especially if I’m seeing minimal evidence of the starter growing)?
And is it critical to use an exact proportion of water and flour, or are your quantity recommendations approximate?
Thanks again.
Torbie
I would allow up to the 24 hours. Sometimes I’ve noticed that when a starter is weak, it just takes a long time for the yeast population to get going and if you feed it too often, it’s difficult for it to “get a leg up” and show any progress.
Everyone’s got their own idea of what a “good” proportion is. I like equal weights flour and water (100% hydration or about 2/3 c water per cup flour) because it’s easier to see the rise after feeding and it’s still liquid enough to be easy to spoon out and it’s more likely to match what a recipe might call for (in terms of hydration level) than a very wet or very dry starter.
Hi again:
Could you please tell me what recipe you use that calls for 2 cups of starter?
I’m feeding my starter and can’t stand to throw any away if possible!
Thanks–
Torbie
Torbie – Classic Sourdoughs by Ed Wood has quite a few recipes that call for 2 cups of starter. I highly recommend it so you’ll have plenty of options to make good use of LOTS of starter.
Anyone out there have any recipes and/or experience using sourdough starter for the batter for on-the-griddle English muffins?
Thanks—
Torbie
San Francisco
Just reviewed your Maintaining the Starter video. Question: after you fed the starter, left at room temperature, and it became bubbly and doubled in size, do you then stir it down before putting it back in the refrigerator, or before you bake with it? You mentioned a favorite recipe of yours that uses two cups of starter. Which one is that?
Hi Erika,
I don’t stir it down before putting it back in the fridge, although it wouldn’t hurt to do so. I do stir it down before I bake with it only so I’m measuring it in the stirred down state each time.
Ed Wood’s book Classic Sourdoughs has quite a few recipes in it that call for 2 cups of starter. One of my favorites in that book is a rye he calls Swedish Limpa.
I believed you mentioned that one should use a jar/container with a loosly fitting lid after feeding the sourdough starter with water and flour. I did so and the starter expanded (as it should) and spilled out of the jar causing a bit of a mess. Is there a problem with using a tightly fitting jar lid to prevent the spillage or will I have an explosion in my kitchen? (My wife would shoot me!)
Thanks. Your website is great.
John
Hi John,
When I think there may be too much starter in my jar, I put a plate under it. I’ve cleaned up starter in my fridge a few too many times.
Somewhere on this site, someone described their exploding starter. It was kinda funny, but I don’t think they thought so. It was because their container lid was tight. To avoid your wife shooting you, I feel compelled to urge you to keep that lid loose.
Hi, Eric
May i know how long is required to feed the starter? Or can i set it in the fridge until i need it?
I always keep my starter in the fridge until I need it. I feed it at least once a week to keep it fresh and healthy.
Eric,
Question for you..
I have read about the San Francisco starters and how famous their breads are. Have you ever tried the San Fran starter and does it change the way your breads taste? My buddy, as I mentioned in a previous posting, gave me some of his 20 year old starter and I think it would work fine. Just curious to see if another starter would offer some unique tastes.
Howie Cohen
Utica, NY
Hi Howie,
Your Buddy’s starter probably will be just fine. It’s my opinion that the final qualities you get in sourdough leavened breads comes much more from how you manage the starter and "build" the bread, than from the specific type of starter used.
I’m very encouraged by your videos. I’ve tried sourdough numerous and mine have all died; one was a purchased culture.
I wonder if I can use distilled water and if air conditioning is considered room temperature. I’m sure Texas is hot and humid like Florida is, so I’m assuming your room temperature is air conditioned too?
Thank you for your kind help.
Marsha
Hi Marsha.
Distilled water is fine.
Here in Iowa, we go from frigid and arid in the winter to hot and humid summers (May and October are very nice!). As far as baking bread goes, it’s “the colder the better” as far as I’m concerned. So crank up the AC if you want. But of course you don’t have to either.
Many years ago I had a sourdough starter, which I recievedfrom somebody in PA., & used it for 10-+12 years, what was great about it is that I used it on our boat & did not have to keep it in the fridge, used it for pancakes, as it was easy to use & was a great hit. Somehow I lost it & threw it away, at that time ithad to be 20 years with me & at least that with the person that gave it to me, which I should not I have done. I never put it in a fridge. In my old age I want to make a new starter. HELP
THANK YOU
Hi John,
This may help – http://www.breadtopia.com/make-your-own-sourdough-starter
Hi all,
I noticed in Ed Wood’s Classic Sourdoughs book, he refers to a liquid culture and a sponge culture. The difference is a bit vague in his book at least to me. What is the difference? Amount of water? Eric doesn’t make a distinction between either of them in any of his videos.
Comments?
Howie
I used to bake out of Ed’s book a lot and still do occasionally. For his recipes, I kept two different starters. Since it is vague in his book, I just guessed on the consistency. Out of laziness mostly, I went to keeping just one white flour starter and used it with whichever recipe of his I was baking, with satisfactory results. This starter was probably closer to what might be considered a sponge. It definitely wasn’t liquidy.
I think it would have helped if he actually defined “liquid” and “sponge” by baker’s percentage. It’s not that complicated.
If I’m following a recipe that specifies the exact hydration level of the starter, I follow that. In many of Peter Reinhart’s recipes in his new(ish) whole grains book, he specifies a 75% hydration level for the whole wheat starter. So for every 100 grams of whole wheat flour I add to the mother starter, I add 75 grams of water (for example). This is a pretty stiff starter.
Most people probably keep their starter closer to a 100% hydration level or higher. My regular while flour starter is about equal weights water and flour (100% hydration by the baker’s percentage rule). I don’t know off the top of my head what percentage you get with equal volumes of water and flour, but it’s significantly higher that 100%.
The reason I don’t specify what hydration level to use in the sourdough no knead recipes on this site, is that since they only call for 1/4 cup starter, I don’t think it matters much.
Wow, what a ramble.
Hello, been reading up on your questions and answers on sour dough. I have been trying for overa year to develop a starter that will raise my bread dough. So far it’s been friutless, and I don’t understand why. Using 1 cup flour and 1 cup of tap water to start each time. Never seem to get much bubbling, or doubling after feeding. When I try to use the starter to bake bread, I am lucky if my bread gets to be over 2″ high. Tastes ok, but is disappointing. Reading the messages, it may be that I’m just not waiting, or feeding the starter enough. What would happen if I used the starter too soon? Also from what I ‘ve read in the messages, it seems as though the amount of starter used to make a bread loaf, sometimes 1 teaspoon, other times a cup of starter is described as used. Does this mean that for a healthy starter, I would expect the same raising of the bread dough, ie, whether I use 1 Teaspoon, or a cup of starter? What am I misunderstanding here?
Hi Richie,
As someone who has a wildly bubbling little starter that I created from scratch in the last 2 weeks, I would suggest you follow ‘the pineapple juice solution’. Eric’s video does just that. When I created my starter, I stirred it several times each day to aerate it, and I also kept the temperature between 72 and 78 degrees. Watch the video and just use pineapple juice and whole wheat or rye flour for the first 3 days, and see if you don’t see bubbles by the end of the third day. Hope you get better results!
I think I’m going to have to try whole wheat next as I’m on my second white flour try and this one isn’t looking any better than my first try
That’s a good idea, Marsha. Whole wheat flour gives you a better chance of success and you can easily switch back to a white flour starter once it’s going.
Thanks for the reply David.
I’ve seen reerences to this Pineapple juice video, but I’ve never seen it. Don’t know if I can view it even if I find out where it is, because I have a slow dial-up connection to the internet, and video’s take forever to download. One of the first attempts at making sour dough was very successful. The starter became very active and bubbly, and the bread that I got was just beautiful, about 6 inches high by 5 by 9. I was so impressed that it “was so easy”, and I thought that I wouldn’t have any problems the next time. But since that very first success, I haven’t been able to produce a viable and effective starter. What I got was a starter with very small bubbles, very inactive, and after a period of time got Hooch. Every time I tried to use this for making bread, the rise time was between 24 hours and 36 hours, and at that I only got a bread that was about 2 inches thick. Disappointing to say the least. But I’m still trying. Just wish that I understood what I am doing incorrectly, or why I am not successful in capturing the wild yeast into a starter.
Eric,
Enjoyed your videos. I just took my dormant 10 year old starter out of the refrigerator.It has not been used in 10 years.How would you bring it back?I have tried feeding it .It bubbles but does not rise and has a very stong sour smell but not a putriid smell.Is there hope? I am in my second day of feeding. Thanks for your response in advance. Ted
Boy, that will be interesting to see if a 10 year dormant starter can be revived. I guess I would just feed it a couple times a day at room temp. Starting with a very small amount.
I am now using Herr Reinhard’s firm starter for sourdough. Do you know if the 10 oz. portions of firm starter can be safely frozen?
Hi James.
I’ve only read that you shouldn’t freeze live starter.
Hello alll,
I am really new to sourdough baking and really love the idea of natural leavened bread, BUT, I don’t really like sour bread. I ordered your live starter the other day and it is very lively and active, I made my first loaf with it (no knead) today and it rose the bread fine, but is it SOUR! Is there a way to use the starter to rise the bread but somehow lessen the twang?
Hi Alice,
You could try shortening the proofing time some. The longer that dough proofs, generally the more sour it becomes.
I have a diabetic husband and use “splenda” for all my sweetning. I have just started using a Friendship Starter, and so far the “Splenda” seems to be keeping it happy. I know that there is a difference (obviously with the removal of the carbohydrates), can you tell me how this effects the bread?
Thanks Eric,
I actually found a great method for a much less sour wild bread and it does include a much shorter proofing time. I was really wanting to do a no knead, but this other way only involves a couple of minutes of kneading with my hand mixer (I use the “dough hooks” that come with it, it works beautifully!) The breadtopia starter is rising the bread wonderfully and I am finally able to make my own wild yeast bread..hooray!
Eric,
I have finally decided to go over to the Dark Side of bread making and to attempt creating a sour dough starter. I used the pineapple juice recipe with Bob’s Red Mill unbleached white bread flour, as all of my baking is white bread right now. I mixed up the batch at 10 p.m. last night and when I got up at 5 a.m. this morning for work I noticed that there were a few bubbles in the surface (only 7 hours). I thought this might be from induced air from mixing the evening before, so I just stirred it and went to work. When I returned home around 2 p.m. I checked the starter and it was loaded with little bubbles. I stirred it and re-covered it on the counter.
Is it common to get such quick results, or should I be calling the CDC to have the ambient air in my home checked for an infestation of yeast beasties?
Joe
Hi Joe,
It’s been a while since you posted this. What’s happened since? Is your starter thriving or did the CDC quarantine your house?
The starter (named “Bubble-icious” by my wife due to its bubbly nature and delicious taste of the bread) is thriving well in the fridge. I made my first loaf of sourdough no-knead in the oblong cooker, and everyone enjoyed it. When I get some time I will be using the starter to make some pancakes as well as more bread. I already have a friend who wants to have her own starter, so I will be splitting mine and sharing it with her in the near future.
Joe
Nice!
Hi Eric,
I recently made my first starter but my recipe leaves me with a starter dough as opposed to batter. How do i feed this as its not so easy to stir in the flour and water? do i need to add extra water to make it into a batter? Thanks for your help, excellent site for beginners!
Hi Claire,
I’m not sure I understand your question completely. Different recipes often call for different degrees of thickness of the starter which is simply changed, as you suggest, by adjusting the amount of water you add when you feed it.
I just spent last few hours trawling your website and found someone with similar query to me, sent when you first started up the site! think i understand what i need to do with my dough starter now, thanks!!
I used self raising flour in my starter will it be OK
Pauline
I suppose it will be ok. I’ve never tried it. Not sure what benefit (or otherwise) comes from adding baking powder to starter.
My sourdough bread is not heavy and moist. It’s more my regulary yeast bread and rolls. How do you get the heavy moist texture?
How can I keep a starter without refrigeration, and without making it dormant as by drying it?
Thank you.
I just watched your video. Many of the websites I have visited say to punch a hole in top of a sealed container but I noticed that the video shows locking canister tops. Looks llike when placed in the refrigerator the tops are just closed but not locked. Can I keep sourdough starter in the manner just described. Think it would be a lot cleaner and easier to work with if I did so. Thanks, Carl Sweetland
Hi Carl,
I’ve taken the rubber seal off the jar, so even when I lock the wire bale, there’s enough air flow to prevent any pressure buildup. You wouldn’t want an air tight seal.
I just watched your maintaining you starter video. I just bought your starter last week.
1. I noticed you were able to pour out the starter into a cup like pancake batter. Mine is much thicker, I think it would hold onto the container if I turned the container upside down. So what is the right consistency and how do I go about thinning it if I should?
Thanks…Mark
Hi Mark,
Mine is usually much thicker too. While there’s no “right” consistency since some recipes call for a stiff starter and some for a more liquid one, I like mine at a 100% hydration level. 100% hydration means equal weights of flour and water are used (as opposed to equal volumes). Equal weights works out to about 2/3 to 3/4 parts water (in volume) for every part flour. So 2/3 cup of water and 1 cup flour, for example, will produce a nice consistency that works well in most recipes.
Hi Justine,
The only way I know of to maintain starter without refrigeration and without drying it is by feeding it daily or even twice daily. That’s what bakeries do but it makes sense for them since they’re baking with it every day.
I hope you can answer a question for me. I’m attempting to begin a starter using flour, sugar, water and potato flakes. How long does it take to become starter with the characteristic odor and bubbles? I started it on Tueday and fed it on Friday, leaving it on the kitchen table the entire time.
Thank you,
CW
Hi Cherry,
It’s impossible to say with much accuracy since it depends to a large extent on when you actually capture the wild yeast. It could happen within a few days or not happen at all. If the wild yeast starts to take off right away and it has optimal growing conditions, you’re looking more at the “few days” scenario.
When trying to get a starter going, I’d feed it a couple times a day. Have you read the section on Making Your Own Sourdough Starter?
Hello Eric,
I watched your pineapple sourdough starter recipe video, (along many other of your video’s) and at that time, I placed an order for some of your products, including the whisks and baking cloche. We went camping last week and I left the starter on the kitchen counter, (it had completed the various steps for starting and looked and smelled really great). We were away from home for almost a week and we returned today, I was so excited to see the post-office notification that my Breadtopia package had arrived! All items safe and sound and such fast shipping to Canada – thank-you! …So I was really motivated to get my starter activated again. Before I had a chance to refresh myself by watching your ‘Managing Sourdough Starter’ video, I stirred the hooch into my starter before feeding it…..will this cause a problem? It has been 4 or 5 hours since I fed the starter, and it is bubbling, no sign of the hooch, but it definitely hasn’t doubled in size. Please advise.
Hi Rosemary,
Hope your camping trip was fun.
It’s fine to mix the hooch back in. You can pour it off or mix it in. The starter probably would have been better off if left in the fridge while you were gone but will likely be OK. Lot’s of times, the rise you are looking for is a function of getting the hydration level down to about 100%. This means adding the same weight of water as flour. Translated into English, this means adding about 2/3 cup of water for each cup of flour.
Also, if you don’t add enough new flour and water as a percentage of what you start with, you may not notice much rise. So if you want to see the biggest growth, take about 1/2 cup of starter and add to it 1 cup of flour and 2/3 cup of water, mix it up and keep it on the counter for several hours and you’ll likely see a doubling or something close to that.
These are just example quantities for illustration purposes and to get the principles across. In actual practice, you don’t have to be all that precise. Starter management should be (and usually is) very flexible over a fairly wide range of management practices.
Since your starter was sitting out for so long, it might be hurting a little and may take more time than usual to come back. Let me know how it goes.
Hi Eric,
Just want to say Thank You! Thank You! for the videos on starting a dry starter. I purchased a well known starter and followed the instructions to the letter and could not understand why in the time frame they specified 4-12 hours I had nothing, no bubbles-not anything. I waited 24 hour and still no signs of life. I thought maybe I had killed it. Then I found your site with the video and I am happy to say after 2 feeds it’s A Live
Plan to feed it a few more times. Can’t wait to bake my 1st loaf of bread. It will be wonderful not to have to spend $2-3 for a few packets of commercial yeast whenever I want to make bread.
Hi Michelle,
Just wanted to let you know that if you have a Sam’s Club or GFS Food Service near to you, you can buy 1 lb vacuum packed packages of SAF Instant Yeast for just over $2.00 for the WHOLE POUND! You can keep some in the refrigerator in a 2 oz glass jar, and the rest in a sealed container in your freezer for over a year. Definitely cheaper than those expensive packages, and it’s ready to use NOW!
Keep up your starter, but keep in mind there’s a more cost effective solution to those little yeast packets, especially if your starter is not ready when you are.
Joe Valencic
Hi, I watched your videos on making a homemade sour dough starter. I used orange juice instead because that is what I had. I did the first step and that went well. I did the second step, but at the end of the day I looked and some of it was turning black. what do you think I did wrong? I did leave the cover ajar so it would get air.
thanks,
Pat
Hi Pat,
Most of the time it’s not a matter of doing anything wrong. If a contaminant of some kind gets in there, which could happen to anyone, you just have to start over. It sounds like that’s what has happened with some of your starter turning black.
Also, sometimes, you just don’t capture any yeast, or it doesn’t “take” for some reason. In this case you also have to start over. I don’t know what the percentage success rate looks like for starting sourdough starter, but it’s quite common for it not to work on the first try. It’s kind of a numbers game.
I’ve read that the yeast that gets the starter going is actually already in the flour, and not so much in the air. What do y’all think?
That sounds about right. Some recipes for starting starters call for adding mashed up grapes because of the yeast on the skins. Seems more likely there’d be more yeast in the grain than in the air.
Hi Eric, I recently got interested in baking bread and took my old bread machine out of the pantry, dusted it off and it still worked!… I always followed the little booklet it came with for recipes, but never ventured further, and only baked it in the machine!… I now want to make sourdough in my oven and I plan to use the machine to mix and rise the dough…
I’ve seen recipes for starters with different ingredients / amounts also different amounts of time to let it ferment… I’m using fast acting yeast and my starter is bubbly in about 20 minutes. I want really sourdough so I left mine out to sour but it turned orange-ish so I threw it out! I’m making another batch of starter now, and here are my questions!…
How long after it’s bubbly (fermented) should I put it in the fridge? How long do I need to wait until I can use it to bake with? How long until it will taste like sourdough!… TIA
Hi Traci,
I would start storing the starter in the fridge as soon as it was well established, usually within a few days of when it’s all bubbly. That’s about the same time I would start to use it for baking too.
No telling if or when the finished bread would taste like sourdough though.
I made starter according to your recipe, and used it as soon as I completed all the steps in the instructions, to make sourdough pancakes. About a week after that, I made sourdough biscuits. Both tasted sour, just like I remember with purchased starters. Earlier in the process, it did smell kind of pineappley . .
hi Eric thank u for this vedeo, but i want from u afavour please send for me the recipe for bread making from sour dough thank you
Eric,
I have been making sourdough bread for about 4 months now with a rye starter that I made using the pineapple juice method. The starter looks and smells good and doubles in size when I feed it. Sometimes I feed it twice the day before I bake. However, I have never gotten a finished loaf to rise and have a holey crumb. I have varied the flour from all KA bread flour to 1 cup rye + 2 1/2 cups bread flour, tried 1 cup whole wheat, tried 1 cup 6 grain flour, etc. I weigh the ingredients. I let the last loaf sit for 14 hours in my oven with the light on because my kitchen is chilly. Then I proofed it in the oven. The initial rise and proof were very good —- and I got NO oven spring. In fact it flattened. Could the problem be the starter? I am tempted to shift to yeast.
Hi Fred,
Whenever I hear that someone is getting good rise during proofing but then no oven spring, or the loaf flattens as you describe, it means one thing to me – that the dough is OVER proofed. The yeast (in the sourdough starter in your case) has just plain petered out.
A chilly kitchen is a good thing. You want a chilly kitchen. I wait all summer for my kitchen to get chilly again in the winter. (ok, I’m exaggerating about the waiting all summer part), but bread bakers sometimes have “cool rooms” where they proof their dough. I have one sourdough bread recipe I like a lot where you proof the dough in the fridge and it rises overnight. And it really does rise well.
You want a long slow rise where the flavors have more time to develop. Unless for some reason a recipe actually calls for proofing in a warm area (I don’t know of any), l wouldn’t do that. I get the best oven spring when I put the dough in the oven to bake before it’s reached its peak height. Getting the timing right on that isn’t always easy but it gets easier with practice and familiarity with a particular recipe.
You could switch to store bought yeast just to see what the difference is like. Sourdough baking is much trickier than commercial yeast baking when trying to get consistent results. You can switch back anytime of course.
Hi Eric. I’ve been having problems with your videos (all of them are not working today. The video will start with no sound and freezes up. Is anyone experiencing this as I’ve never had this problem before. Thanks for your help Eric.
I know generalizations are very difficult, but, does anyone have any experience with starters maintained on whole wheat, vs. those maintained on white flour? Once I got my starter going well, and had made several successful loaves with it, I decided to split it into two starters, a white and a whole wheat, so that I could make 100% whole wheat bread with sourdough. I’ve only made a few loaves with that starter, but it seems to be much less active and slower rising than my white starter.
Do whole wheat starters need to be fed more often? Is there any other way I should treat it differently?
I also posted this question over on the yahoo sourdough group, so, for those of you who read both, I apologize for the redundancy.
HI Dave. True-generalizations are difficult at times, especially when dealing with the “temperamental” starter. Some brands of whole wheat have a higher ratio of bran which in turn cuts the gluten thus giving it a slower rise. In my experience, I find that adding a small ratio of white bread flour to the whole wheat starter greatly improves rise, and dependability with the added benefit of an almost ww starter. A lot of variables are added into the mix with types or brands of flour as well. Hope the helps! Susan in Calgary
I’ve also found that I have to feed ww starter more often than white or it will show signs of spoiling. I suppose that’s because of the wheat germ oil present in whole wheat.
I made my own sourdough bread and it is extremely active. However, recently it has lost most of its taste. What comes out of the oven is normal white bread.
Hello Eric
I have created a starter which is pretty good but after putting it in the refrigerator for a day I can’t seem to get it to come back to life. I have watched your videos but I just can’t seem to keep my starter alive. So if you could give me some suggestions it would be appreciated.
Eric,
I have been maintaining my starters using a ratio of about 3/4 cup of water to 1 cup of flour. That seems to work well, although the white one actually seems a bit stiff, as though gluten has developed so much as to make it almost rubbery.
Anyway, I was reading some sourdough threads over on thefreshloaf, and they kept referring to 100% hydration starters, 90%, etc. I decided I should know what my hydration level was. Someone sent me a link to a conversion chart at http://www.culinarycafe.com/UK_US.html, so I looked up the weights of flour and water. They show flour at between 121 grams for AP and 140 grams for WW. By their numbers, starter at 100% hydration would only have a little over 1/2 cup of water for 1 cup of flour. My starter would be at over 180% hydration. Can that be? Should I reduce the hydration level?
Or do I simply misunderstand hydration level?
Unless my understanding of hydration conventions is wrong or that I’ve forgotten whatever I used to know (a distinct possibility), isn’t equal weights of flour and water 100% hydration?
If so, then 3/4 cup of water and a cup of white flour should be about 100% hydration. I don’t see how even roughing out the quantities could result in 180% hydration. I think you’re probably fine.
Hi Matthew,
I’m not sure what to suggest. It’s hard for me to tell whether there’s something wrong with your starter or it has to do with the way you’re handling it. Have you come up with any ideas since you posted your question?
Hi Eric,
You mention in one of your videos that your favourite recipe calls for 2 cups of sourdough starter.
Please could you send me the recipe for your favourite loaf.
One more questions please, can you tell me how to make my sourdough bread to be more sour… my husband said that the bread is great but not exactly sourdough!! Any suggestions?
Shereen,
As I suggested in my email reponse to you, cut back to half the amount of starter and retard longer.
Yesterday, I bake two recipes of my Basic bread, one with a full cup of starter and the other with a half cup of starter. The lesser amount took an additional four hours to double, but the resulting bread had the same oven spring as the full cup recipe. I have not sampled them for a difference in flavor.
Bob
I just got my first successful sourdough starter going…it seems great. I am going to be experimenting baking with it now and so i don’t want to put it in the fridge. How often should I feed it to keep it healthy and tasty leaving it out on the counter?
Also I got through the start-up instructions using the pineapple juice method you have on here and I wanted to have a larger quantity so I figured that I had about a cup of starter in my jar and then added a cup of whole grain Spelt Flour and 2/3 ish cup of purified water (I have a spelt starter) about 24 hours after the last feeding with the start-up instructions. It got bubbly and active and good smelling but it didn’t double in size like I expected. Do you have any thoughts? Like I said I haven’t tried baking with it yet. I am very excited that I seem to have a successful starter going finally though. I was so excited to find the information you have here on your site, and read the essay about the pineapple starter method. I had tried many times before this with terrible results. I was having the exact problem that was researched in the essay. And so with this pineapple juice method it worked first try and performed just as you described it should. So thank-you so much for being willing to help people. It means a lot. Thank-you for your time
I have just started my “starter” using rye flour and pineapple juice. I’m in Day 2.
When I have finished the process, I look forward to making bread from sour dough starter. My goal is to be able to make bread like the European Artisian Bakers…….Chewy and dark crusts.
I had heard moisture is used to get that dark and chewy crust. Should I put a pan of water at the bottom of my oven or throw some ice cubes in like I’ve read about?
Please advise.
Ruthann,
Congratulations on getting started with your sourdough starter. I think you will be pleased with the great flavor from your own starter.
Regarding the texture of your bread, you will get that from baking the bread in a covered baking vessel like a dutch oven or a Corningware casserole dish with a lid. You will preheat the vessel in your oven at 450 F, put the dough in the vessel and cover it for 30 minutes of baking time (no peeking), then 10-15 minutes with the cover removed. The crust will be crisp and chewy after the bread has cooled. You do not need to use any steam in the oven because the bread is covered and is generating the steam inside the covered pot.
The sourdough is just another “style” of no-knead bread, and is baked the same as the original no-knead recipe. Be sure to review the video and instructions for sourdough no-knead bread at http://www.breadtopia.com/sourdough-no-knead-method/
Good Luck!
Joe
A friend gave me a little plastic bag with your “Live! Sourdough Starter” before Christmas, and I was too busy to bake with it. Now it is a few weeks older, with some discolored areas around the edge. It smells quite fermented–not unpleasantly though. Can I begin the process, or did I ruin it by waiting? If I can’t use it, I would like to order some, so I can tell my friend I made the bread!
Thanks,
Leanne
Hi Leanne,
Hmmm, guess it would have helped if I replied to this a few days ago.
It’s amazing how long you can go sometimes and still revive a badly neglected starter. Just feed it a few times and it may very well come back. At least double the original volume with each feeding and wait for it to grow and get bubbly each time. You may have to discard some along the way to keep from accumulating a ton of starter.
Hi,
I am new to bread making. I usually use my bread machine but I really want to start making bread by hand. I really enjoyed your video about sourdough starter. Do you need to poke a hole in the lid of your jar when the starter is in the refrigerator? When I begin a starter for the first time, do I put the lid on the jar while I wait for it to bubble for the first time? Also, any special equipment necessary for bread baking? I have metal, glass and stoneware loaf pans. Thanks, Adrienne
I’m a bit confused on when to feed the starter, especially if you are just starting a jar using some sombody else gave you. My friend gave me 6 tablespoons out of a jar of starter that someone gave her. We added in an equal amount of flour as put in the jar. with just enough water to double the batch. What i’m confused about is to increase the amount of starter so that I actually have enough to bake with, when do I feed it? A day or so before I would like to bake a loaf, or do I feed it until I get enough in a jar to have a resonable amount on hand, say a cup? Any clarification please. I’m newbie and the sour dough starter.
Tammala,
At the stage your are at, try this:
Use this ratio: one portion of starter, 4 portions of flour and 3 portions of water. Example: ¼ cup of starter, one cup of flour and ¾ cup of water will give you more than a cup of starter, which is what a lot of recipes call for.
If you go to MY website and look at the menu on the left side, you will see the instructions I have posted.
http://www.allthingsbread.bravehost.com
Bob
Adrienne,
Since no one else responded to your questions, I will tell you what I do with mine.
When developing a starter, I leave it out on the counter with a cloth over the mouth of the jar with a rubber band securing it. You want to keep the insects out, but leave the good ‘critters’ a way to get in.
I do poke one tiny hole in my jar lid when I refrigerate the starter. I feed my starters heavily just before they go into the cold, so they DO develop some gas.
Equipment:
if you have bread pans and a couple of large bowls, that’s all you need to really start with. However, I would get one of Eric’s Danish Dough Whisks to make mixing/stirring the dough much easier. I frankly do not know how I got along without it, and I have several big Bosch Universal mixers.
I use aluminum; non stick; clay bakers and glass to bake in. In addition, I bake all of my artisan breads on unglazed quarry tiles on a rack. If you use glass, reduce the heat by about 25°F.
I would get a good thermometer for the oven (oven dials are famous for being off); an instant read thermometer and a scale. You can use measuring cups/spoons, but your product will be more consistent if you scale your ingredients. It also helps if you are dividing a batch of dough into several loaf pieces.
Hope this helps,
Bob
Hi there, Just finished making my sourdough starter and what fun. My source of organic bread flour has dried up. Is it reasonable to order flour for shipping?What would you recommend? Thanks, Marcia
I fed my starter as suggested and it was doubling in size nicely. This morning I when I checked it, it had fallen back down into the jar by about a 1/3. Is this normal. It just sat on my counter in the kitchen overnight. Could my kitchen have just been cooler than it had been early in the evening when the stove was being used? I hope not to mess this up, because i’m very much looking forward to making my first loaf of bread out of this starter this week. It still has the most amazing smell and seems to still have some bubbling.
Tammala,
Yes, they will fall. You might look at your jar and you can usually see how high your starter rose. Starters are pretty tough. Just feed it on your regular schedule and you should see it vitalize.
As an experiment, I tried drying my starter and reviving it a few days later. It worked like a charm. Thanks. Now I can share it with relatives and friends off island.
Hi,
I have made my rye starter after your recipe and had wonderful results. My starter was very sponge and gave my bread perfect. I had it in the refridgerator for a week.I fed it before putting it in and I fed it when I got it out and let it sit over night. Since then I have problems to get it very active as before. It just won’t bubble up as it did before. I have tried to feed it again and took some of it out ( into the trash) Am I overfeeding? I let it sit over night and would only get a view bubbles. Before I put it in the fridge 12 hr was enough to get it perfect for baking. Thanks for the help…
Stefanie T,
If I take my starter out of the fridge after a week, I feed at least 3 times before I use it to make dough. Also, one thing you want to do is to feed the starter well just before you refrigerate it.
Bob
I made some sourdough English muffins the other day. They turned out really nice. However, the next day — less than 24 hours after I made them — they started turning gray. Can you help me out with this? I also made (well, attempted to make) sourdough bread. I left the starter to proof too long — over 24 hours — and it developed little black flecks on the top. Does this mean my starter has gone bad? It smells fine. I have tried unsuccessfully to research this on the internet. Any help/advice you can give me would be appreciated.
Thanks so much.
Angela Bayler
i just started my first starter 5 days ago the first day i used warm water and it rose and droped. the 2nd day to the 4th day of feeding the starter i used cooler water our of my cleaning water system. todaythe 5th day i remembered about the warm water and did it today but my starter has not rose sence the 1st day. i had the hooch on the top every day everything else seems good but stired in the hooch which i wont do nextime after watching your video. i m so afraid that my starter is bad because it wont rise and that is what i wanted to ask can it still be saved i feed it everyday sometimes 2 times and take out half i have bubbles on top but few throught. o please help i have been looking everywhere and cant find anything that matches my problem. thank you very much and God bless
I just made my first batch of sourdough bread from my own sourdough starter that I created using Peter Reinhart’s process in Bread Baker’s Apprentice. I had this huge amount of barm left over, I cut it back to about 1 cup put it into a plastic gladware container and put it in the refrigerator. I can feed it every couple days or so by adding 1 cup flour and 1/2 – 3/4 cup water. Do I need to bring it to room temperaure or can i leave it in the chill chest?
Bread turned out good, not super sour but its almost gone already
Angela – I don’t know about the gray muffins or the black specks, but I would take a small amount of the starter and build it back up with daily feedings and if the problem persisted, I’d toss it.
Shirley – It takes more than a day to start a starter so I don’t know what you saw that first day. If after following the the instructions for starting a starter, you don’t see results after about 4-6 days, you may just have to start over. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out the first time.
Dan – You don’t have to bring it to room temperature. In fact if you leave it in the fridge, you can usually easily go a week between feedings.
I am very interested in using natural leavens to bake bread; however, I am not crazy about the taste of sourdough breads. Do sourdough leavens usually give the bread somewhat of a sour taste?
Hi Mary,
They often do, but they don’t have to. If you keep your starter fresh by feeding it well prior to use and you go with a short leavening time for the bread dough, you may not get any sour taste.
I’ve baked plenty of naturally leavened breads with no noticeable sour taste.
When storing starter in fridge can I use a metal lid on the jar?
Yes. No problem there.
Hey everyone; I mailed off for the Carl Griffith Oregon Trail sourdough starter, and I’ve been at it about a week now.
When I received it, I measured out the right amount of dried starter, which ended up being about half of what I received (good — if I mess up I can try again!), mixed it with water and brought it back, then put it in a glass jar, fed it 2 tbsp water, 2 tbsp w.w. flour, and not even 24 hours later I saw some signs of life, some fine bubbles. They weren’t ABOVE the surface, but kind of IN the surface, probably given the thickness of my mix.
I continued feeding and stirring it once/twice a day, but it seems activity has slowed. I’m not seeing anything wild, like large frothy bubbles on the surface, but in the last 2-3 days it’s taken on a strong smell of “white vinegar”. The liquid coming to the top doesn’t look badly colored (no pinks or oranges, which my readings tell me are BAD!), just light tan. Also, I’m not seeing that stretchy ‘doughy’ property when I stick my spoon in there, though I did at the very beginning. It’s more of a soupy goop now. I’ve been keeping it in warm places (created steam in the microwave then popped it in there), but I’m feeling like this isn’t where my starter needs to be heading.
Any advice?
Two questions:
1. After adding four & water to starter to increse the size, do I need to leave
the starter out on the counter for a period of time or do I immediately
put it in the fridge?
2. The glass jar that I would like to keep my starter in has a metal lid,
will the metal lid be a problemL?
Martha
Hi Martha,
1. Either way is fine.
2. No, the metal lid will not be a problem. You don’t want an air tight seal. Allow for a little air flow.
Matthew,
Trying increasing the amount of flour a little. I use one portion starter, 4 portions flour and 3 portions filtered water. So if you are using measures, try one teaspoon of starter, 4 teaspoons of flour and 3 teaspoons of water. If you are scaling, try something like 10 grams of starter, 40 grams of flour and 40 grams of water.
I’m totally new to this site, also to sourdough baking. ‘ Just got a batch of whole wheat starter from the friendly folk at my favourite bakery, where all of their breads are gorgeous sourdough varieties — except rye. I do love european-style sourdough with carraway seeds, and am wondering if I can use the whole wheat starter to make it?
Also,the starter they gave me is in a plastic container — is this o.k. or should it be in a glass jar, and — covered or uncovered? Any help greatluy appreciated — thanks.
Hello Eleanor. Welcome to Breadtopia!
Sure, you can use whole wheat starter as your starter of choice. Usually, the percentage of the recipe that the starter represents is relatively small compared to the overall ingredients, so the results are usually not so greatly impacted by the type of starter you use. If you want to experiment with different starters, just feed the one you have with different flours and it will soon become that starter. Altering starters is easy and fairly quick.
Maintaining a healthy whole wheat starter requires more frequent attention that a white flour starter would. The wheat germ oil (absent in white flour) will go rancid if left for too long.
Plastic or glass is perfectly fine. I recommend keeping the container covered but not air tight. Allow for at least a tiny amount of air flow so the CO2 gas from fermentation can escape.
I have been making bread with this starter I have for a few months now. I feed it and do everything i’ve learned on Breadtopia, for the first few loaves of bread I made it turned out perfect. Just like it should have, but now it doesn’t seem to rise like it used to. The starter still works when I feed it, it has the most amazing sour smell, but it doesn’t seem to rise like it did. What is happening? I use the Extra tangy sour dough recipie. Any thoughts?
do you know if whole wheat starters tend to rise less? I am on the second to last stage on start your own starter recipe and when i fed it it bubbled but didn’t rise. Also how sour is it supposed to smell? thanks for taking the time to answer all of our questions! couldn’t have done it without you.
Yes, whole wheat starters and whole wheat breads tend to rise less than those made with white flour. Most starters smell pretty sour but that sour doesn’t always transfer to the bread.
Greetings!
Received my starter from Breadtopia last week, and its practically bubbling over!
It’s working wonderfully. Made some sourdough rolls from the Tassajara recipe; they were a bit sour (actually quite sour!), and after further reading, I probably should have followed the advice of giving it a good feeding close to baking time.
I plan to bake my first sourdough bread this weekend, and look forward to that spelt recipe.
All the best!
Sherine
Thank you for the video on how to revive starter. I made mine three weeks ago. The sponge seems to be ok and it does smell sour. I’ve poured out a cup and feed it with a cup of unbleached flour and cup of water. Seems like I’m using too much water according to you. My problem is I’m using a mixing machine to make the sourdough. Last two times it did not rise. I make it at 3pm yesterday covered it and put in my cold oven overnight. Nothing. Is it my starter or something else? I worked in 2 1/2 cups of flour during the mixing process.
HELP. I”m hungry for sourdough.
Peter
Well, you have a wonderful site. I have gained tons of knowledge about Sourdough, and with a yeast recipe from my Aunt have been having some success. Now that my feet are wet, I need to ask you or your readers for advice.
I got so excited about this whole sourdough thing. I went out to the Antique Shop bought this huge old crock with a good fitting lid to start my starter in. No problems. Or so I thought. at least a good 7 weeks into this “starter business” I decided to clean out the crock, moving the thick starter “sponge”into another bowl and give the “old Crock a good washing. While washing I realized I was taking off the glazing off the bowl bottom, and when I bought the bowl, there was a couple nicks in the bottom that I didn’t pay much attention to. Well I am scrubbing away, on the nick that now is about 1/2 in diameter, and the stuff the crock is made of is coming off on my sponge. I rinsed the crock out and dried it well, then screamed for my Uncle (a Snowbird visiting from Illinois) my Son, Husband. I just freaked out. I had already fed these three Men Sourdough bread, sourdough pancakes at least 3 times. Now I am worried, and My Son did say to me Mom you better throw out the starter and start over. The crock was old and I couldn’t determine any marks to see how old, nor what is was made of nor whether or not what we had eaten could hurt us….None of us had been ill nothing like that. So my Uncle and I went back to the Antique store, and I returned the bowl. (However, it reaked of vinegar or fermentation even after soaking it in a box of baking soda and boiling water for hours) They did an exchange with other merchandise which was ok with me. I at least got something useful for the $38.00 I spent. Then I went on a search for a heavy bowl, for rising the Sourdough, and now on a determined Crock Quest. I did find brand new 1 gal Crocks for $17.00 so I bought 2. Uncle made me wood lids that fit terrific, and all is well there. Now,The Rise Bowl Quest, found a brand new never used glazed ceramic bowl large, large and love the bowl. First time I used is yesterday to ferment my starter overnight, then I mixed up the rest of the ingredients and put the “bread” back in the same cleaned out New Large Bowl to rise.
Here is the problem I need an answer to:
Is there any way on God’s Green Earth that the Sourdough Starter, fermenting for less than 24 hours, then letting the Sourdough Rise, cause the glaze to CRAZE ??? This new $48.00 bowl is now crazed with one use.
I asked my Son (he took Ceramics years ago in High School and knows more about the whole ceramic, and glazing. firing thing than I do), He blamed it on my Sourdough Starter. Said the ferment process may have caused the bowl to start the crazing. …….HOGWASH……I don’t think so…But can someone answer this….My first reaction is to return the bowl, because I think the glazing process is done poorly. What do I know?? I asked him if a Stoneware Crock type bowl would do the same thing and he didn’t know about Stoneware.
The other thing is that my kitchen is about 72-78 degrees, that is too cool for bread to rise. So I put that heavy new covered bowl in the oven, then use a pan of very hot water on the lowest rack. I refill or change the water as needed to keep it hot. It still takes 5-6 hours for the double (except it tripled in bulk) I will be baking it in a few more hours after this last rise, but I think I am going off to the other Store to return this 2nd bowl, and invest in the Antique Stoneware old time yellow bowl she had there. It had no crazing and is made of the bumpy kind of clay or what ever they used in the olden days. I thought the smooth nice glazed bowl would be better, but I just don’t know now.
Help…..
And thanks to everyone that submits comments….it helps more people than you will ever know.
Happy Easter Everyone
Roni
I want to add that my Sourdough Bread the first batch, was quite sour tasting. The sourdough flavor was evident. Texture was a bit finer than store bought sourdough bread and it had a nice crust. It also was a bread flour and whole wheat mix. I fed my starter a couple times with the whole wheat flour. I also, didn’t feed my starter everyday. Much less 2 times a day. I did stir it daily, and always had bubbles on the top. Never any separation or Hooch rising to the top. Always smelled sour and like vinegar. That batch that I had to toss out made some great sourdough pancakes. The pancakes come out barely sour tho’.
This new batch of starter, is already 3 weeks old and smells great. I do have bread to bake for Easter Dinner, of which I added in some whole wheat flour and wheat germ. The dough smells wonderful.
Roni,
I would be very careful about glazed utensils, unless you know whether or not the glaze does or does not contain lead.
If the glazing is scratched or crazed, there is a good possibility that lead might be leaching out and into your breads.
From my readings, glazed baking pots from Germany are certified safe. I have a Romertopf that I used constantly for breads. However, it does NOT have a glazed interior, either.
I personally do not think that SD starter would crazy a fired glaze.
As far as your kitchen being too cool. Since you are putting the dough in the oven to rise anyway, why don’t you try just using the oven light or the pilot if gas? Mine maintains about 78F with the oven light on.
You say it takes 5-6 hours to “double”, but that it “triples” in size. U am a bit confused here. If you use a straight sided clear container, put a mark at the top of the dough and then you can see how much the dough is rising by measuring it.
Bob
Bob
Roni,
I would be very careful about glazed utensils, unless you know whether or not the glaze does or does not contain lead.
If the glazing is scratched or crazed, there is a good possibility that lead might be leaching out and into your breads.
From my readings, glazed baking pots from Germany are certified safe. I have a Romertopf that I used constantly for breads. However, it does NOT have a glazed interior, either.
I personally do not think that SD starter would crazy a fired glaze.
As far as your kitchen being too cool. Since you are putting the dough in the oven to rise anyway, why don’t you try just using the oven light or the pilot if gas? Mine maintains about 78F with the oven light on.
You say it takes 5-6 hours to “double”, but that it “triples” in size. I am a bit confused here. If you use a straight sided clear container, put a mark at the top of the dough and then you can see how much the dough is rising by measuring it.
Bob
Bob
Bob, Thanks for the input on the glazing, and the crazing. I didn’t think the SD Starter would cause that in a brand new bowl. So that bowl goes back to the store. Then finding a good bowl for my rising is on the agenda. Not glazed.
Yes on the starter taking so long to rise. I have an electric oven. And the light doesn’t seem to get that warm at all. The SD Bread I did yesterday for dinner today did take forever to rise. I was checking it every hour and in between. Then got busy and forgot it. It was about 4 hours when I remembered and it was doubled. I punched it down, and let it rise again. The 2nd rise took 5 1/2 hours and tripled by the time I got around to checking on it. And my recipe calls for a 3rd and last rise, but now in the baking pans, then you bake it. I think the last rise was just too much, or I got impatient and didn’t wait long enough for it to reach the double point. I used a shallow pan too because it is more egg shaped. The bread is delicious, with a sour taste, and crunchy crust. Somewhat holey but not big holes. Your suggestion for a straight sided bowl is a good one, I can mark it and be able to tell from there on the size of the rise.
My starter sits on the counter, in a 1 gal food safe, no toxins, heavy white crock, made in Ohio. It is made for Sauerkraut, and my Uncle made me the wood lid…(we get gnats like crazy here so I have to keep it covered or pick out the gnats. They love moldy or sour stuff.) So as far as my starter goes I have no problem. Sometimes I forget to stir it one day, and the next day it is still bubbling. I feed it maybe every other day or miss that for 2 days. It has no hooch, bubbly top and smells sour, no mold or the like, and not offensive, and has so far given me a sour tasting bread.
My 94 year old Granny, had lots to tell me recently about rising bread.If left alone it will rise up and out of the bowl, and all over the oven. She cleaned that up, and not happy about it….turned right around and did it again. Twice. She was so mad at herself. She raised 8 kids during the Great Depression, on a Railroaders paycheck, very frugal gal she is, and the 4 boys 4 girls, are wonderful, and quite resourceful.
I m ok on the starter. If it gets weird on me, out it goes and I will start over again. It is the rising I am impatient with, and the funny bowls I seem to get that are giving me fits.
Thanks again
Roni
Roni,
I don’t understand the fuss over the crock and bowl. Any container will do.
Roni,
I have had dough all over the counter and on to the floor several times. I have two starters that are so active that you have to cage them! That’s one reason I now retard my doughs in the fridge overnight.
Your “saurkratut” jar will be just the ticket.
My routine for starter is that I keep it in the fridge (either plastic or glass jars) all week. I pull it out on Thursday evening and feed it. Then I feed it twice on Friday. After the second feeding on Friday evening, I wait an hour or so to ensure it is happy and content and then build either my sponge or dough, depending on what I am doing.
As soon as I remove what I need from the container, I feed it and immediately put it back in the fridge. Most of my active starters are 3 years old and I have good results.
If I am reviving a dried starter, such as the one I bought from Eric, I feed it at least a week, twice a day, before I use it. And, bear in mind, I only store small amounts of starter in jars like baby food jars or a shade bigger. I build up for usage in plastic bowls, slipped into a plastic bag to keep the other ‘critters” out.
Janet,
Not QUITE true.
I would never use any metallic container except Stainless Steel for either starter or dough. In addition to my large plastic bowls, I also use two Stainless bowls to mix and/or raise my doughs.
I do sometimes use metal forks or spoons to stir my starters. I have not problem with that since the contact is for just a short time.
And I use Eric’s Polish/Danish Dough Whisk to mix my doughs (and everything else) if I am not using my Bosch Universal. (another shameless plug for Eric!)
Bob
I am submitting a couple pics of my Easter Bread, and my bubbling starter. I also have Friendship Starter in the pic in the smaller crock. So I am a busy baker. I bake and I give away my goods to friends and neighbors. I love sharing with others. I love developing my own recipes as well. Sharing helps us all in one way or another. And this site is wonderful.
I thank you for explaining “Why the choice of bowls we use are important”. Spending my life in the retail food industry as well as being a Soap Crafter, I do know how different metals can react with acids/fermentation and they can wreck havoc leaching into foods and products. Not knowing about glazing and ceramics created my problem. Thank you for explaining that to Janet as many people do not realize bad things can happen. Stainless steel is one of those that does not react, and is generally considered safe. I have bought cheap junk made in other countries that was stated as Stainless Steel. And in just a couple of uses rusted and pitted. Good and well made Stainless should not do that, nor should it pit. Good stainless can out last us…as does cast iron if well maintained.
My Bowl problem: Since I am a seasoned cook, and baker and being completely familiar with Friendship Starter I knew that the fermentation process bubbles up to a point that it can explode all over, if the container you choose is not of suitable size, or has an air tight lid there can be problems. I wanted to be able to stir the devil out of the starter when feeding and didn’t want restrictions on size so I can dip my measuring cup into the starter simplifying the baking process. I bought a large lidded old crock not paying attention to the crazing, nor to the pitted bottom. (my ignorance) After about 2 months, and many pancakes, I discovered that pieces of the glaze was in my starter, also, the nick in the bottom had grown from a dot to 1/2″, and the stuff the crock had been made of was in the starter that I fed to my family and myself. Out went the starter. And the crock went back to the store. Having solved the crock problem for my new starter, I still wanted a good BIG bowl, for mixing the bread, and proofing it. Heavy crock type bowls or good glazed bowls maintain proofing temperatures much better than Plastic, Glass, or any type of metal. Some Plastics can impart a plastic or chemical taste and can release toxins into the foods it contains) In the old days many used handmade wood proofing bowls, others could afford the very heavy thick Stoneware bowls for mixing and proofing. I don’t know if they were suitable for baking in tho’. That isn’t my issue. I have a new clay baker, and an old one I only use for baking whole Chicken. Have not used the clay baker yet for the bread, as I wasn’t quite sure about soaking it in water for using on the bread (knowing how to use the clay bakers I thought it would make the bread soggy). I know now from this site that yes you do soak it. Mine although new, came with no instructions for bread. Bought it new unused no box for 2 bucks. Good deal. Since I bake 3-4 loaves at a time, and up to 10 loaves of Friendship bread I want a very large bowl for proofing the bread dough, then separate out the dough when it is time into baking containers. The ones sold on this site are too small for my uses.
I hope my experience can help someone.
Roni
*Click to enlarge
Great site here! I have been feverishly reading through much of these questions so as not to have you repeat yourself…so sorry if you already covered this, but my struggle is getting my bread sour tasting. My husband and I enjoy a really sour sourdough and so far I have good texture, beautiful exterior, but no sour flavor. I did see that you had said something about letting the dough rise for a longer period of time or letting it rise slower. Do you have any more tips for a more sour loaf?
Two questions related to sourdough starter.
#1. Purchased a starter. I have fed it multiple times for four days.
Last night I took a new jar, placed 10 oz of starter, 10 oz of bottle water, and 10 oz of freshing made whole wheat flour. Marked the jar where the final level was. 6 hours later it had doubled in size. 12 hours later it was flat and back to the original level.
This has happened every time …. if this natural? Am I supposed to use the starter when it is at double size and not use it for baking after is has flattened?
I attempted to make the no-knead bread using starter instead of yeast.
First loaf used 1/4 cup of starter per the instructions. dough after final proof was quit sticky. loaf cam out of the oven only 2 inches tall instaed of normal loaf height.
Second loaf – used 1 cup starter (see if it was the starter that caused the issue). Dough after final proof was VERY sticky … loaf came out of the oven very flat again – less than 2 inches tall – tastes good though.
I found a comment on the Internet that suggested the lack of raise was due to the dough being too wet.
Please provide your thoughts.
Thanks – very much enjoy your site.
Joe
I would say that you can use it any time. If it is fully active it is just a matter of getting used to the amount you use versus the times you wait for your bread to proof. I have a very active starter and I usually can’t wait more than 10 hours before preparation to cook it(Usually, that prep consist of kneading out the bubbles and letting it sit for another 1 1/2 hours.) or it doesn’t rise nicely. I would say that if you let it settle down as you have been doing you should have a more accurate way to judge its state and will be able to start refining the process you make the bread. Since there is no exact science and all starters are different you will have to find what works out best through repetition. One of the things I have noticed that does make a difference is the dryness of the dough you are working with , so try to get used to it and try to keep it consistent. I would let the dough expand to about 2 1/2 times its size but no more before you squeeze out the bubbles. Erring on the early side is better in my opinion because if you let it sit too long you get flat bread that doesn’t rise much when you get it in the oven and you can just let it sit a little longer if it hasn’t gotten to a decent size before cooking it.
I just reread what I wrote and wanted to qualify a couple of things.
The starter is active so it shouldn’t make a big difference when you use it. If it is as active as you say then it will be hungry while it is coming up almost has much as when it has flattened out. If it has come down it is safe to say it it has peeked as far as eating from the flour/water you added and will be fully ready and alive to continue from there on for quite some time.
If you leave it out on the counter a day or two it might be a different story but for now you have a pretty big window for use that starts well before the starter has flattened out.
Is it normal for my starter to have a strong alcohol odor? Also, can I keep my starter out at all times and not refrigerate? I bake daily. During my second rise my shaped loaf doesn’t get too big (it looks a little flat), but does ok in the oven . I use 2 cups of white bread flour and 1 1/2 cup white whole wheat. Do you think I use too much whole wheat?
Thank you
Gosia
I just acquired some sourdough starter and left it out all night. Will this hurt the starter or can I just go ahead and feed it and put it back in the fridge? I am not ready to cook anything with it yet.
Hi Gosia,
I wouldn’t say that is very normal. It’s not difficult for starter to develop a sharp alcohol smell if it’s been sitting around for a while. But if it’s well fed and you’re using it daily, I wouldn’t expect that to happen. Even though you’re baking daily, you may want to consider refrigerating overnight.
I’d have to know the recipe you are using and bunch of other details to comment half way intelligently on the “flat” question. But your ratio of white flour to whole wheat wouldn’t be a problem with the right recipe and handling.
Hello again,
I use your basic recipe for sourdough bread and I just put a little more whole wheat and less white. I will try to put my starter in the fridge for the night and see if smell lessens. Does it matter when I refrigerated. Right after feeding or do I wait until it rises? Also could you tell me how often do I need to feed my starter. Is once a day fine if I bake daily, so every time I take my 1/4 cup for bread I put back same amount in flour and water.
Thank you for all your help
Gosia
There’s a wide range of ways you can successfully manage your starter. It’s really something you learn quickly just from doing it for a little while. Sometimes I leave it out after feeding, sometimes not. I feed my starter when I think it needs it. Sometimes I don’t. It all works out anyway. Hopefully you’ll find the same thing.
One more question. I mention before that my starter has a strong alcohol odor but now I thing it is more like vinegar odor. Is that ok?
Gosia
Hello Eric,
I have just been to a course on sourdough making and have been given a tennis ball sized portion of starter. However, the starter I have is much stiffer than the one in your video. My teacher just took a chunk of the dough he made ready for baking and gave all the students a piece.
1) Have you seen starter that is not runny like this.
2) I don’t want to bake with it yet as I have to wait to buy myself some breadmaking flour. What should I do with it. My teacher told me I can just go ahead and make a loaf with it tomorrow but I want to keep it. He said that I would leave it until it forms a crust, cover with plastic and place in the fridge.
Your thoughts on this are appreciated.
Thanks..Kris (australia)
Hi Kris,
Starter can be very stiff or very runny. Mine typically falls in the middle.
I would keep the starter you received in a covered container in the fridge until you get some flour. Then mix it with about a cup of flour and a cup of water. Maybe even a bit more water initially since what you’re starting with is so stiff. It may take a fair amount of hand mixing (kneading really) to get the flour and water incorporated. Then let it set out at room temp until it rises well. That could take anywhere from a few hours to 6-8 hours depending on the temperature.
Now you can just roughly follow the instructions for managing starter at the top of this page. Always have more starter on hand than what you need for baking as your starter “offspring” to perpetuate the process.
Kris,
I am the owner of a very popular food store and bakery in Newfoundland Canada. For years we produced standard breads with no knowledge of the wonderful properties of fermented dough. To make a long story short, about eight years ago I was presented with a lump of dough by a baker who had agreed to teach our staff European style bread baking. That lump of dough was the basis for all our much improved bread baking since that time. We have continued to feed it and have shared it with many others. It is a stiff dough-like starter just as you described yours. We add only half as much water as flour to refresh it, but if you want a liquid starter just add more water and feed it with equal amounts of flour and water. To do this, break up the piece of starter dough and add it to your appropriate amount of water and using spoon or hand, stir until the dough is more or less disolved, Then add the flour. I use this batterlike version at home for making no knead bread but at our bakery, we use very large mixers and just throw in a large hunk of the stiff starter.
I have experimented with starters quite a lot over the years and as Eric has pointed out, once you experiment for a while you will have no problem switching from dough-like to pourable starter or from whole wheat to white to spelt starters. The dough like starter will keep in the fridge the same as the liquid as long as you feed it at least once a week or so. It is very forgiving if you neglect it for a while. Also ,you can always put a small piece in your freezer and use it months or even later.
That original piece of “levain” I was given by my friend still generates its original flavour which I have found to be quite distinctive from starters I’ve made from scratch. Following Eric’s instructions, I dried some of it about four months ago. Tried restoring it from the dried form this week and it worked perfectly with exactly the same taste.
Anyone out there who wants a sample of the dried starter need just ask me and I will send it along.
If I hven’t been clear, try me again with any questions.
I enjoy your bresd recipes. Thank-You for the time it took to do them. Do you have wafle recipes that dont use buttermilk? I would like to try one. Thank-You Gramma
Check this page, Gramma.
http://www.breadtopia.com/sourdough-waffles-and-pancakes/
i baked my first loaf of sour dough bread yesterday, it was fabulous. I have a question though, I fed my starter and forgot to put the water in, I went to make pizza today, and discovered what I had done, I added water to it, and I’m wondering if I ruined my starter? thank you for your great video’s, they are just great to follow, I watched the “Managing Your Starter” again, but you did not cover the question of forgetting the water. Please advise.
thanks
Genny Morgan
Genny,
Starter is pretty tough stuff. If, when you finally put the water in, it started getting bubbles, you are fine. Starters vary from thin and soupy to almost dough like and they seem to all work. Most of mine are like a thick, barely pourable pancake batter.
Bob
This is a picture of two loaves of my Bob’s Basic Sourdough (as featured on my website) baked with Eric’s starter.
The slightly wrinkled crust is because I rub butter on the crust as soon as it comes out of the oven because my significant other likes a soft crust.
Bob
*Click to enlarge
Hi All,
Eric, I contacted you the other day. Your help was very reassuring. I actually baked a loaf and was pretty happy with the result as I expected much less from my first attempt. Another question. I have about 1/2 cup starter from that loaf that I have put into a jar in the fridge. I want to bake again on Saturday. I guess I should take it out on Thursday – feed it and feed again on Friday. But, do I put it back into the fridge between those feedings?
Thanks…Kris (Australia)
Kris,
I am taking the liberty of answering for Eric since he has to earn a living and I just sit in front of a computer all the time.
When you take the starter out of the fridge on Thursday, feed it well and leave it out on the counter unless your temperature in your house are over 85F or so. Realizing it is going into your cooler season now, I think you will be OK. Feed it again Friday.
I have a detailed instuction sheet on the care and feeding of starters on my website, if you would care to look. http://www.allthingsbread.bravehost.com.
That’s the way I handle all of my starters, including that wild, violent starter I got from Eric.
Bob in Oklahoma USA
Thanks so much for responding to my question, when I put the water in , after a while it started to bubble again, so I felt much better, I did not kill it, My husband loved this sour dough bread so much, I will be baking it quite often I’m sure. Thanks again
Genny
This site is great. I have been struggling through several starter recipes. The pineapple and flour looks good. I am on day two with it and it is very active. I am using white wheat flour that I grind just before using in the starter. I have convinced myself that it will have more natural yeasts that way. And it is fun to do everything from scratch.
Qusetion: I am trying to perfect sourdough baguettes (white flour) so they have crunchy crusts, many holes in the crumb, and a very sour flavor. Can I use your no knead whole grain recipe and use my baguette pan to cook (instead of a loaf in the cloche) ? What would I need to adjust ? Do you have a video for that?
Hi Stuart,
I have very little experience with making baguettes. But it seems to me that a traditional baguette has only a small amount of whole wheat if any. But if you do adapt the no knead recipe to form a baguette, as many people have done, you may just have to keep an eye on the time as the long slender loaf is likely to finish baking quite a bit sooner that the usual no knead bread baked in a cloche.
Sure seems like it would be worth a try. Please let us know how it turns out if you do.
Stuart,
Baguette dough is very wet, so you may have to adjust the water content.
When I stretch my baguette dough out to form them, they are sort of like a slippery snake. I just support them with both hands and gently stretch them to the proper length and put them in the baguette pans.
Or, alternatively, you can shape them on parchment paper and transfer the dough, paper and all, over to the baguette pan. Either way seems to work.
The recipe I use is on my blog, http://www.allthingsbread.bravehost.com. You might look at the recipe and get an idea of how much water you might need to use.
I think this recipe is about on par with the ones I used to get when I was stationed in Paris.
Bob
Hello there, I wanted to comment on my “gallon sized crock” with my 1/2 gallon of starter. Have not been baking and cannot bring myself to toss it out. I feed it about every 3-4 days. Stir it every day or every other.
I was feeding it only Bread Flour as I thought the KingArthur Bread Flour had a higher gluten content. This didn’t give much in rise but was active. Had always added the water “distilled”. Well since I am feeding both the Sourdough and Friendship Starter and I don’t measure either as I keep them healthy and active with a 1/4 c sized scoop…semi measured not exact. Sometimes they get 2 scoops, sometimes 1…(I bake 5-10 Friendship bread loaves in one day and get the starter way down in the crock, as it grows quite fast.)
I feed the Friendship Starter GoldMedal All Purpose Flour, but last week I hurriedly fed both starters with the GM AP Flour. I didn’t add water to the Sourdough and stirred in the flour. It became very very active, and I was quite surprised. The most activity I have had yet. I have fed it just the AP Flour one more time with no water, and it did the same thing. Now it is so so so thick bubbly and rising up in the crock more than it ever has risen. It is now almost too thick for even mixing in the flour. I will probably have to add water today to get the flour mixed in good.
Reading other info on SD starters: Some recipes said to “break off a piece of starter”. I am wondering if in the olden days…so to speak…if starter wasn’t quite thick and more “breakable”. Possibly even mixed in with bare hands to get the flour mixed in…(Possibly water was a premium in the Covered Wagon Days….Right?? And the starter was quite thick and not pourable or easy to scoop? I have noticed there is no real science to keeping the starter ongoing and healthy.
I am going to try the dried starter with my SD Starter as I have so much, and I have to leave the State for 3 weeks. (Sister having Brain Surgery) I can’t trust the Husband or Son to care for either of the starters.
I am asking if when I dry this and all my big flat baking pans are Metal, some non-stick….will that affect the starter…? Since, I am a soap crafter, and fully aware of the changes in the use of certain metals with different ingredients, (chemical reactions with various metals)….What about a good non-stick pan and reaction with Sourdough Starter..??
I will be freezing some of the starter as well, and jarring one for the fridge unfed to keep until I return.
Thank You,
Roni
Hi Roni,
I find that smearing a thin layer of starter on parchment paper with a rubber spatula and then drying in the oven overnight with just the oven light on works really well. Once it’s dry it flakes right off and no chemical reactions to be concerned about.
Thank you. I didn’t see the email, but spread out a layer that I realize is too thick now, but did have the tray in the oven. The top dried like rubber, so I just stirred it and put it back in the oven no heat just the light. I think I will scrape this mess back into the starter that is left and feed it. Then try this again tomorrow with your instructions.
Now after I have dried it, and package it up in ziplock baggies or the suck the air out kind…(I have that too.)
How much do I use of my dried starter to make a new starter? Like a couple of tablespoons of dried starter to maybe 1/3 cup water and flour??? I’m just guessing here….
Roni,
it will also help if you thin out the starter you want to dry with a bit of water. Makes it easier to spread and get a consistent thin coat.
If you will look on my blog, there are some very detailed instructions on reviving dried starters. http://www.allthingsbread.bravehost.com.
Also the care and feeding of starter. Few recipes, too.
Bob
Can you still use starter bread if it’s after the 10 day period? I’m on day 12 and haven’t baked it yet.
Well, success with the drying of the starter. Thanks for the help. I have more to dry today and tomorrow. Thin is best, and it does get really flaky when it is thin. It would have taken days to dry on that pan, so scraping it back into the crock and remixing it up with a bit of water helped make the spreadability much easier. I got impatient, got my blow dryer and helped it along. Some spots were thicker than others. I stopped when I realized I was sending flakes all over the kitchen LOL….What was I thinking…geez LOL
Now I have 8 oz of dried flaky starter. I rolled it with a rolling pin to break them down, but not quite to a fine powder. More like minuscule egg shells.
Parchment paper works fantastic, and I have a 4″ flat edged plastic spreader that worked great and fast. (I think it was for painting, but nice and new and clean…I use in for frosting cakes…)
Thanks a bunch, you guys are great…
Roni
Roni,
I’ll be interested in knowing if the starter survives the heat of the hair dryer.
don’t throw your starter away! i, too, hate throwing perfectly good food that cost money away. instead – make pizza dough! i can’t take credit for this idea, though.
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/pizzacrusts.html
i know that this isn’t quite no-knead, but it’s a great way to use starter that otherwise you would be throwing away. i keep a quart yogurt container in the fridge that i pour “waste” starter into and whenever i get a hankering for pizza (or the container starts to fill up), i grab it out, stir it up and go. makes a lovely tangy sour pizza dough – also works well on the grill!
i’ve also half-baked crusts and stored them in the freezer for future use. great for late days at work – you can literally get dinner on the table in the time it takes to bake the pizza, if you have the rest of the ingredients on hand.
blessings,
anja
Hi Eric,
I recently started a sourdough starter – 4 days ago and have fed it twice as I got side tracked on day two. When I went to feed it today I saw that it had an awful lot of hooch and no bubbling to it. Am I doing something wrong? Should I have scrapped the original starter when I missed a feeding? Or is it at a point when I should be putting it in the fridge and only feed it once a week? This is the first time I’ve tried making a sourdough starter and you help is appreciated!
Frenchie,
You should be feeding a new starter twice a day.
I feed my new starters at 6 am and 6 pm as that suits my work schedule. IMHO, sever (7) days of twice daily feeding is the MINIMUM amount of time it takes to get a new starter active enough to bake with.
When I revive a dried starter, I also feed twice a day for about 5 days to ensure full activity. When I remove a stored starter out of the fridge to get it ready to bake, I usually feed twice a day for at least two days to get full activity.
Eric has some instructions on this site and, if it helps, I have instructions on my site, also. http://www.allthingsbread.bravehost.com. Look on the list on the left side of the home page.
Bob
Help, I made a starter using Nancy Silverton’s book “Breads” it was made with grapes and it took 14 days. Then I let it go for 4-5 days, when I opened it it had a smell that wasn’t nasty but it was rancid kinda. I poured of the yellowish water on top – stirred – added flour & water – reduced it to about 2 cups – changed containers. This time I put it in the fridge.
I fed it for about 3 days saw bubbles, it smelled right ( all is well) then I used it. Well, the dough felt perfect but it really didn’t rise, I mean really DID NOT RISE. Now I have fed it again and it is bubbling and it smells right – WHAT am I doing wrong? I can say that maybe my proportions maybe messed up – I keep a little more than 2 cups I add 1 1/4 of water and a heavy cup of flour. Not exactly accurate, but I thought it was close.
Hope you can answer me soon – as I have some baking to do for a fundraiser and I hate wasting flour. Thanks for your help.
Having been a successful sourdough disciple of yours for quite a while, I just reviewed your video on maintaining a starter and noted that you recommend pouring out any hooch that develops. In his Classic Sourdough book, Ed Wood recommends stirring it back into the starter prior to feeding. What are the pros and cons of each approach? Does either approach affect the “sourness” of the starter? My goal is always to have the bread turn out as sour as possible.
Eric,
Hi, my starter has the consistansy of … gluey-mass-yet has this bong to it does not coat the spoon rolls off – with bubbles, for example I start to pour it into a measuring cup – if I stop mid pour – it will all go back in the jar.
I get this life of it’s own feeling. Is this good? :-} ??
Hi Erika,
Pouring off the hooch seems to be a personal thing. Most people just stir it back in. If you are getting hooch you probably are not re-freshing your starter often enough. You can also try a dryer starter, which for me goes a lot longer without refreshing. I store my starter in the refrige and try to refresh it once a week unless I am on vacation. I have not seen hooch in my starters for a long time now.
Hi again Erika,
I just noticed I did not answer your question. The hooch is just alcohol and IMHO does not add or take away from the starter taste. At least I have never experienced any. Maybe Eric has noticed. The sourness comes from having a proportionate amount of lactobacilli to yeast, activily working in your starter. You try to achieve a ballance of lacto and yeast. Too much yeast and you get good rise but lack sourness. Too much lacto and you get a nice sour taste but a flat loaf. When you have a new starter, the yeast grows a lot faster than the lactobacilli. That is a reason the new starter has to be refreshed regularly over a period of a couple of weeks before you have a really good starter. Refrigeration will help the little “lactos” to grow but, it will also slow down the yeast production. Over time you get a good balance.
Eric, please jump in and bail me out. I feel my yeastiness is springing me way over my ability.
Wil
Sounds really good to me, Wil. I especially like your advise on dealing with hooch.
Erika – controlling for the degree of sour has to be one of the most challenging parts of sourdough baking. When trying to maximize sour, for example, it seems like you can try every suggestion offered and sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. It’ll be a happy day if I can ever do or say what needs to be done to get consistent, predictable results in this area. Or any other area for that matter
.
Lucy – I’m not sure if what you’re describing is good or bad. But if you like the way your bread is turning out then I would vote for “good”.
It is alive! yea! Eric, thank you for your response on the sour dough starter that I thought was dead- strong smell of alcohol. Your advise was to reduce what I had to a 1/4C, add 1/2C WW and 1/3 c water. Ta Ta! Look at all those bubbles! Alive & well wouldn’t you say. …. Now what do I do ?
Put it in the fridge? Add more flour & water ~ right?? yes? (ya know you get up wayyyy too early – answering E mail like mine at 3:30 in the morning hope you had some bread starting)
*Click to enlarge
Yes! Alive and well indeed. And yes, I get up way too early sometimes.
Since it’s new, I would feed one or two more times at room temp just to make sure it’s got its legs then use and/or store in fridge.
What kind of flour should I use? Our son has a gluten intolerance and
he eats only sprouted bread now. I do have some sprouted flour but this
is very expensive. Do you know if using white or wheat flour in the sour dough is the same as the bread from the store? Do the gluten levels change in the process?
I have brought refrigerated liquid starters back to life after 5 to 10 years dormancy(no feeding).
It takes about a week to bring the starter back from an intense sour state.The breads turn out fine.Has anyone had similiar experience?
Kelly, you can use Spelt flour which many gluten intolerant people can tolerate. However, even Spelt is not totally gluten free, but it is close. You can read more about Spelt here or google it. Rye would probably be good also. It has very little gluten.
Ted, yes I have restored starter foung in the back of the freezer that was over 5yrs old. It took 2 weeks to bring it back for bread baking.
Wil
Hi Eric. I have a starter problem, I think. It was growing fine for a week on counter, I fed it everyday and it was doubling in size. I then refrigerated and left town for a few days. I have resumed feeding-1/4 cup of flour and 1/8 cup of distilled water. I cannot get it to double in volume. I have lots of bubbles on top, this is Carl’s starter, I have not baked with it yet, now, I am afraid to try. Is the “rule of thumb” if it does not double it is not going to make my bread rise?
Hi Gayle,
It’s kinda hard to tell from here. One thing I wonder is how much starter you have now. If you feed a quart of starter with 1/4 cup of flour, you’re not going to notice any change, but if you feed 1/4 cup of starter with a 1/4 cup of flour and 1/3 cup of water, it should double. In other words, to check the viability of your starter, you should add at least as much flour as the volume of starter you have on hand. That may mean tossing a bunch of your existing starter so you don’t end up with a house full of it.
I would take a 1/2 cup of starter and feed it 1 cup of flour and 2/3 cup of water and let it sit for 6-8 hours and see what you get.
I just got your dried starter a couple days ago (very quickly thank you)and I was wondering. This may be a stupid question but I wanted to make sure. Is bread flour ok to use for feeding my starter? King Arthur unbleached bread flour. Also, does it make a difference once the starter is active whether I use bleached or unbleached?
Thanks.
~Holly
Hi Holly,
Bread flour is fine to use. That’s what I use. People use all kinds of different flours successfully. The yeast is feeding off the complex carbohydrates in the flour so any flour aught to do.
Great site, have used many of the recipes many times, but, I’m having a small problem. I have created my sour dough starter and have used it a number of times, but the last time it didn’t seem to get the intitial rise on the dough and not that oven spring that I normally got the first couple bakings, I had it in the ref. for a couple weeks took it out and feed it and it doubled like normal, stired in another 1/2 cup of flour and 1/3 water the next morning and made my bread. should I have waited until the next day after feeding it to use it?
i guess what i’m asking is do you feed it one day and use the next without feeding the starter? or do I feed it and then make the bread the same day? i have been leaving it out overnite after I feed it also. I bake 4 loaves about every 3rd week, that sour dough is awesome……….
thanks for the help
Dennis
Eric, need your help. A few months ago, one of my pals took the Alaskan Cruise and gave me some Alaska Jack’s Sourdough Starter. I followed the directions and put this in “clean” plastic tub with cover. Things went well for weeks and I had to leave it in the refrig for 3 weeks. When I got back I thought I would feed it. When I opened the container, the smell was great, and it looked great, but on the walls of the plastic tub were round white mold circles with blue/green dots in the center of the circle. Was my plastic tub comtaminated, or was the dry starter contaminated? Why is the mold growing on the sides of the container and not in the sourdough ?
I would take a small amount of the “clean” starter from the tub and feed that until you have a good batch in the quantity you need. It should be fine.
Hi Dennis,
After feeding starter, give it time to digest its meal. Usually the best time to use the starter for baking is somewhere around the time it takes the starter to peak in volume after you feed it. But it that doesn’t suit your schedule (rarely does), then keep in the fridge until it’s ready to use. I just shoot for baking withing 24 hours of feeding but have often gone a few days with decent results.
Thanks Eric for the info, that is exactly what I did, I figured the time I made the batch that didn’t rise as usual was when I fed it and then used it right away, so…. it wasn’t all that hungry. Made 4 loaves the other day, fed the starter let it sit overnite on the counter and made the bread the next day, all perfect loaves except the whole wheat one, which is always alittle flat anyway. The seeded loaves with little or no whole wheat are usually always perfect.
Thanks again
Dennis
Hi,
Enjoyed the video on making your sourdough starter. I have a question: When feeding your sourdough starter (or expanding the quantity) the day before baking should you leave the starter at room temperature until baking time the next day or refrigerate after feeding ? I would be most grateful for an answer.
Thanks
Michael Sims
Hi Michael,
There’s a fair amount of latitude on how you handle it. When I feed my starter the day before baking, I let it sit out for a few hours to feed on its meal then stick it in the fridge until it’s time to bake. Or, depending on the time and my schedule, I’ll feed it then put it straight away into the fridge then take it out a few hours before starting the recipe. The starter will continue to digest its food even while in the fridge, just at a much slower rate.
You probably don’t want to let starter sit out all night or it will deplete too much of its nutrients.
The thing is, if your starter is healthy and robust, however you decide to manage it, it will likely come back strong when you go to add it to your dough when you start your recipe.
Hi there!
I am Joanne Adams, the head baker at Bowdoin College in Brunswick Maine. We have been in the media the last few years for being #1 & recentlly #2 college foodservice in the country! We are trying very hard to regain our #1 ranking! I have a great baker who makes all of our homemade breads, focaccia, & Kaiser rolls daily. The one thing our program has lacked thus far has been a great sourdough made with a starter. We have recently been trying to incorporate this into our program but it is something we have never worked with before & need some tips. We have watched your videos & they are very helpful.
We are looking to make a commerical size batch that we can continuously use & feed. We would refrigerate it on the weekends & bring it out to use during the week. Could you give us a method & recipe for this size batch? Also if you have a starter that you use daily do you have 2 actual starters & feed one & use the other rotating them daily? Is sourdough starter best left at room temp or refrigerated daily?
Any help you could give us would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Joanne & Crew!
P.S. I attached a pic of the crew! Dan is the bread baker, George is the cookie guy, & I am their leader…LOL!
I received my order of starter, dough whisk and scrapper. The starter is working fine and I am looking forward to make bread with it. Thanks again.
Sr. John Paul
Hi Joanne,
Sorry the picture upload didn’t work. I think I have it fixed now if you don’t mind trying again.
*Click to enlarge
I have tried a home made dough enhancer to help with better rising. What are you thoughts about that?
Hi Pamela,
Are you baking all whole grain bread?
Eric:
Kudos to you and your fabulous website that provides an amazing wealth of bread knowledge.
I am using your methodology for making the sourdough starter with great success which will be the basis for a an array of German breads I plan on baking soon.
Thanks again for all the great information.
Best regards,
Bob
It worked fantastically!!
Thank you.
Hi. Just a quick thank you. Loved the video. I really just needed reinforcement that I probably didn’t kill my starter. I’m new at this, since I just inherited starter from a neighbor. I’ve been making some incredible bread for a couple of months now. I took out the starter this morning, then left forgetting to feed it before running out the door. Ugh. So, I just fed it and put it back in the frig … Thanks, Annie
Just revived your starter I purchased with no problems. I have been using starter for 3 years now and lost mine in a refridgerator snafu. Made pizza with it tonight and I can’t wait to make bread with it. I was reading your postings and watching some of the videos and I’d like to share my tip for feeding or reviving starter. When the weather is cooler I set my jar on a reptile warming pad and my starter loves it, so does yours it seems. When reviving starter it is like it’s on steroids, boy does it take off. The pads maintain 80 degrees and if I’m going to cook tomorrow I feed and set it on the pad overnight, works great!
I was wondering if I could substitute sea salt for the corn meal on the second “proof”. I’ll try tommorrow and let all you salt fans know how it turns out.
I have got 3 different starters going right now: one type is a rye/wheat starter, one is a kamut starter and I have a whole wheat starter.I was wondering if you had suggestions as to the type of flour to use when you are feeding your starter. I was just feeding them today and only had King Arthur white flour in my cupboard so I used that for all three — will that be OK??
Hi Liz,
Any flour has the starch that the starter breaks down to the sugars it feeds on. So you’re fine!
Hello to all
I would like to thank everyone who helped me make my first starter.I was not happy at first,then magic happened. Not to be corney but on the fifth day God created STARTER. As I opened my tubberware l was so happy because it never looked good and to my delight a nice sponge was waiting for me. Wish I could by beer that smelt that good.Anyway I make pizza the old way 1 tsp yeast to 6 cups of flour and get to nice 15 oz balls of dough. Do I need 6 cups of starter?
Thank you
Robert Janet via las vegas
Hi Robert,
You won’t need that much starter since starter is mostly flour. You could start with 3 cups of flour and 3 cups of starter and see if that’s enough. It should be pretty close.
i watched your videos and really enjoyed them..i noticed when you dried your starter for storage you had left yours sitting around the kitchen and not in the freezer..my question is.. How long would the dried starter last out of the freezer?
Hi Carla,
For long term storage I do keep my dried starter in an air tight freezer bag in the freezer. But I think it would probably be fine in or out of the freezer for years.
It was the first time for me to make a sourdough starter & very successful.After the first 3 days i saw bubbles & i kept feeding. Suddenly the bubble gone,it look like a batter. Please tell me the reason why.Thank you.
Hi loan. Pretty hard to say from here. Sounds like it may not have ever really gotten off the ground so to speak. Sometimes it just takes more than one attempt or it just takes longer than 3 days to work.
As Loan did, I tried making my first starter, using locally ground whole wheat flour, and it was all bubbly for several days I fed it. Then, when I added more flour and water (maybe almost a cup of each) it stopped bubbling and settled so there is liquid on top and more flour in a bottom level. Is there a way to revive this or do I have to throw it out and start again? My local flour supply is limited and I hate to discard….
Sometimes it takes a number of tries before you’re successful. You could use a commonly available flour to start with and then go with your local flour once it’s working.