Welcome to the intriguing world of sourdough. There is something special about taking a bubbling starter, flour, water, and salt and creating a crusty light loaf of bread. Many crocks of sourdough starter traveled in covered wagon as settlers settled over the New America and Canada.
Sourdough starter can be used as yeast in any type of baked item. Its use is not limited to just breads. Anything you use flour in can be made with sourdough starter, including pie crust, noodles, etc. Fermenting the dough for 7 hours or longer breaks down the phytic acid in the grain. This makes it so much easier for our bodies to digest.
You will find many more recipes in the spiral bound 600+ page Around the Family Table Cookbook and the hard cover spiral bound It’s all About Sourdough. All recipes are sugar-free and label with the correct fuel. Books can be purchased using this link. We have now added additional items to our store… Sourdough Starter Kits and more. Buy It Now. Follow my blog, Facebook, and Instagram pages.
Sourdough Starter!
Where do I get a starter? You can make your own starter by following the directions on this post…Making a Sourdough Starter. All you will need is a good quality unbleached flour and water. Bleached flour will have the natural bacteria removed from it and will not develop a good strong starter. Just a note..if you make a starter from scratch, it will take at least 3 week but most likely longer to get it mature enough to rise bread.
You can also buy a mature starter from the BUY IT NOW page. You will get a dried starter which you will re-hydrate with water. After the starter is re-hydrated it can be fed with flour and water just like any other starter.
What is a mature starter? a mature starter is a starter that is older than 3 months. The older your starter is the better it performs. The sourdough starter you buy from this website is 15 years old.
In the above picture, you will see the difference in a new and old starter. The starter on the left is a new starter. It rose quickly but fell just as quickly in less than 4 hours. The starter on the right is a 10 year old starter. It rose slower but held its peak for 16 hours. If your starter does not hold its peak for 7 hours after feeding, it will not properly rise your bread.
Feeding my starter! Here is a detailed blog post on feeding a sourdough starter. I use this basic ratio 1 part starter, 1 part flour, and 2/3 part water for feeding. I have found by trial and error that this ratio works the best. When you use this ratio your starter will grow fast. Every time you feed it you will double your starter.
Feeding amounts:
- I will at times adjust the water amount to make a thick pancake type batter.
- 1/2 cup starter, 1/2 cup flour, 1/3 cup water
- 1 cup starter, 1 cup flour, 2/3 cup water
- 1 1/2 cup starter, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup water
How often do you feed your starter: I only feed my starter when I want to use it. Otherwise, it lives in my fridge. You can keep your starter on the counter and feed it every day if you use it all the time.
Here is a video showing you how I feed my starter. Toward the end you will see the 2 starters and how much they rise in 3 and 6 hours. It is better to over-feed a starter than to under feed it.
After the first feed your starter should look like the picture on the left below. Four hours later your starter will have risen but it is not ready to be fed again. It has some bubbles but still has food to eat. (pictured on the right).
The photo on the left shows what the starter looks like four hours after feeding. It has not fermented or eaten through its food yet. It still needs more fermenting time. On the right shows what the starter should look like when it is ready to use. The surface should be full of bubbles and airy looking. When you feed your starter for this recipe, do not feed it until it looks like the photo on the right.
Picture on the left, in the evening after it was fed. Picture on the right, the next morning when I want to use it.
How should my starter look when its ready to bake? The starter should look light and airy. It should be full of bubbles.
I forgot my starter in the fridge! Did I kill it? Sourdough starter is very resilient! It does not have to be feed exactly at the same time every day. NO, it will not die if it isn’t fed at the exact minute every day. It can get hungry! I have had a starter in the fridge for 6 months without being fed. I removed it from the fridge and fed it a few times. It was soon ready to go. You can read more about reviving a neglected starter….”Can I save this Starter?” A neglected starter takes a few feedings to get it active again.
How often do I feed my starter when it is in the fridge? A mature starter does not need to be fed every week when it is in the fridge. It will be okay for several months. But, a new starter should be fed every week so it does not starve!
Measuring starter! I always stir my starter before feeding it to see how much I have. That releases the gas bubbles so you can tell how much starter you have. I will stir it before I want to feed it. I will also stir it before measuring it out for making bread.
What is active starter? Active starter is starter that has been fed in the past 12 hours. It will be very bubbly and has not fallen from its highest point.
What is discard starter? Discard is starter that you have leftover after you take the amount out to mix bread dough, pancakes, etc. It is also starter that has not been fed for 14 hours. The discard can be put in a glass jar and placed in the fridge for later use. You can feed your discard anytime to activate it to make more sourdough recipes. I will add discard from several days to the one container I have in the fridge.
How do I know when my starter is ready to bake? Your starter should double in size and hold its peak for 7 hours. When it holds it peak for 7 hours it is ready to make bread. This jar as you can see has a black mark where the starter line was after it was fed. You can see how it has doubled in size. Remember, if your starter rises quickly and fall quickly, so will your bread dough.
What flour can be used to make a starter? I have used white whole wheat, King Arthur Bread flour, and rye to make starters. My favorite flour to use is King Arthur Bread flour. King Arthur flour is #1 in the sourdough baking world. Their flours are very consistent in quality and I love them. There is just something special about their flours for feeding when it comes to sourdough. I have tried different kinds/brands but kept coming back to the King Arthur Bread Flour for feeding. Now that is the only flour I will use. You can use 100% whole grain flour but you can get a more sour smell/taste. I will at time mix bread flour and white whole wheat together to feed my starter. That does well, too. Most large supermarkets carry these flours, you can also buy from King Arthur Flour’s online store and Amazon.
How often do you wash your starter container? I wash my starter container whenever it starts to get yucky. I do not wash it everyday nor sterilize it.
What do you store starter in? I store my starter in a glass quart jar in the fridge. When I am feeding it I use a glass Pampered Chef Batter Bowl. It is recommended not to store the starter in metal. You can stir the starter with a stainless steel utensil without it causing a problem.
How much starter do you store in the fridge? I store keep 1-2 cups of starter in my fridge. When I wan to bake I remove 1/2 cup and feed it a few times. You can always store more starter is you like it use it for discard recipes. I don’t recommend feeding 2-3 cups of starter unless you want to make a large amount of bread. If you start with a large amount of starter and feed it 3 times, you will soon have more starter than is manageable.
Sourdough Baking!
What utensils do you need to mix bread? I use a Danish Whisk, measuring cups/spoons , a large glass bowl or Tupperware Mix and Fix bowl.
What flours are on-plan for THM bread? Pearl and Serene do allow for a small amount of white flour in bread products. Using 100% whole grain would be the “purist” method. I choose to use King Arthur Bread Flour in the sourdough starter. It will be fermented twice as long as the flour in the bread dough. In the bread dough I use 100% whole grain flours. My choice of flours are white whole wheat, whole wheat, spelt, rye, or oats. Rye and oat flour are best when used with another type of flour.
Can I use sprouted flour? Sprouted flour has be already fermented. It is best used with yeast as it does not need to be fermented again. You can use sprouted flour in sourdough but it is not recommended. If you do use it in sourdough it has a tendency to over-ferment, break down, and become unstable. Reserve your sprouted flour for yeast breads or other baked items that are not fermented. If you want to make bread with sprouted flour do not allow it to ferment for more than 2-3 hours. If you allow it it ferment longer it will over-ferment.
What is Vital Wheat Gluten? Vital wheat gluten is just what is says…wheat gluten. Gluten is found in most grains. However, when it come to whole grains it is much harder to develop that gluten. Gluten is the structure that traps the gases causing your bread to rise. When gluten is developed in bread it makes a crisscross structure that traps the gases. When you do the stretch and fold method of kneading–as you fold the dough you are crisscrossing the gluten strands. If the gluten is not developed the bread will not rise and will be dense-brick. Adding additional gluten to whole grain bread dough will give you a much better softer loaf.
Can I use yeast in sourdough bread? If your starter is sluggish you can use 1/2-1 teaspoon of yeast per loaf to get a nicer rise. However, you MUST allow the dough to ferment for 7 hours at room temperature to be on-plan. If you do add yeast to your sourdough bread you will have to knead the dough or deflate the dough a few times. That will keep it from over-rising and break or tear the strands of gluten.
What do I need to bake my bread! There are a few things that I use when baking bread. I use Pam Spray if I am baking bread in a bread pan or parchment paper if I am baking in a covered baker. If you want to slash the loaves you will need a sharp knife or a lame slashing tool.
This is my favorite lame and is made by Wire Monkey. It fits perfectly in your hand and is the best for slashing loaves.
Do I need a Clay Baker? It depends on what kind of bread you want…a covered baker will make a crusty artisan loaf and a regular bread pan will make a soft sandwich loaf. You can use a clay baker, enamel cast iron baker, or any covered roaster pan.
How many hours does bread dough need to ferments to be on-plan? Bread dough must ferment for 7 hours at room temperature to be on-plan. The time is counted from the time you mix the bread until you bake it. You can do a combination of room temp and fridge temp. 1 hour room temperature is equal to 3.5 hours refrigerator ferment.
Look for blog post coming “Feed to Bake”!
If you would like to learn more about the Trim Healthy way of eating you can purchase the PLAN BOOK. The Plan Book will tell you what foods to pair together to for healthy eating. There are also two Cookbooks to purchase….THM Cookbook and Trim Healthy Table.
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You will find many more recipes in the spiral bound 600+ page Around the Family Table Cookbook and the hard cover spiral bound It’s all About Sourdough. All recipes are sugar-free and label with the correct fuel. Books can be purchased using this link. We have now added additional items to our store… Sourdough Starter Kits and more. Buy It Now. Follow my blog, Facebook, and Instagram pages.
