So you just made your own, purchased or received some sourdough starter, congrats on your way to making healthier baked goods at home.
Here you’ll find short and simple video tutorial and written instructions on how to take care of your starter.
Depending on the quantity of starter you have, the first thing to do is feed it. If you don't have 1/2 cup of starter to work with, no worries; You can still use the starter you have. If you only have a 1/4 cup of starter, just cut the adding ingredients in half from the recipes below.
So Let's get started.......
If you have what seems to be an abundance of starter, measure out 1/2 cup, place into a large bowl for the current recipe you want to use, follow instructions below.
If you have right much sourdough starter remaining, this is called Discard, you can use it in another recipe, like this one for Classic Sourdough Pancakes or pass it to another person to create their own starter, or toss it out. I highly recommend the pancakes 🩵
Room temp. Starter
If you’ve been storing your starter at room temperature, before feeding stir the starter thoroughly.
To the 1/2 cup starter in your bowl:
Add
1 cup (113g) flour
1/2 cup (113g) lukewarm water
Mix until smooth, return to its jar or crock, and cover.
Don't worry about lumps, make sure it's well combined with no dry floury patches.
Your fed starter's goal: doubling in size within about 2-8 hours.
Repeat feeding process every 8-12 hours for daily use or store in refrigerator until ready to use.
Refrigerated Starter
If you've been storing in refrigerator for later use and now you are ready to use it to make something delicious, take the starter out of the fridge, open the starter; there may be a bit of liquid on top, either drain this off or stir it in. It’s your choice; it's simply a byproduct of the fermenting yeast. Allow the starter to rest at room temperature (about 70°F) for at least 2 hours; this gives the yeast a chance to warm up and get feeding.
Once the two hours have passed, stir the starter thoroughly again, then measure out 1/2 cup and place into a large bowl. With the remaining starter(Discard) use it in another recipe.
To the 1/2 cup starter in your bowl: Add
1 cup (113g) flour
1/2 cup (113g) lukewarm water
Mix until smooth, return to its jar or crock, and cover. Repeat every 12 hours.
If you don’t plan to use it right away, after feeding and left out for about 2 hours, replace the starter in its storage container and refrigerate. Repeat the feeding process about once a week until ready to use.
Tips
In my experience starter is picking on the type of water you use. City water is a no no, due to the water treatment process; I've seen it kill a starter. It's best to use well water, spring water or distilled water.
If after three to four days of feeding your starter and it does not double within 8 hours of being fed, I’d recommend tossing it and buying a new healthy starter.
Use a high quality flour from King Arthur or Great River Organics