Interested in starting your own sourdough starter? Well, look no further. This is the process I have used to create my own starters and teach other people how to create their own successful sourdough starter too!
A few preliminary notes:
Flour: You can use a variety of flours to create your sourdough starter and your make your sourdough bread. Each flour has different characteristics and will yield different results. The flours that we recommend, will provide you with greater success as you begin your sourdough journey. We recommend using organic flours, as these will have more of the beneficial bacteria and wild yeasts that are needed for a successful sourdough starter.
Water: It is best to use room temperature filtered or unchlorinated water for maintaining your sourdough starter. You can boil tap water and let it cool, or just leave some water on the counter in a container overnight.
Pineapple Juice: This may seem to be an odd ingredient to use as you begin making your starter! It’s purpose is to provide a better environment with the right acidity to promote the beneficial bacteria growth, while limiting the growth of bacteria that can hinder your starter development. You only use it for the first two days, then unchlorinated water thereafter. You can start with unchlorinated water instead of the pineapple juice.
Ingredients
Method
- Mix the rye flour and pineapple juice together in a bowl, making sure the flour is fully moistened. Put into a jar (pint canning jars are great for this) and cover with plastic wrap. Use a piece of tape or elastic to mark the height of the dough. Let it sit on the counter for 24 hours. (you can use unbleached or whole grain flour instead of the rye, however rye flour tends to give you a better start).
- You will likely not see much activity yet, don’t worry. Hopefully you do see a few bubbles forming!
- In a bowl, combine your Day 1 mix with the Day2 unbleached and whole grain flours, and pineapple juice. Mix thoroughly and then place into a clean jar and cover with plastic wrap. Use a piece of tape or elastic to mark the height of the dough. Let it sit on the counter for 24 hours.
- You should be starting to see activity in your starter, bubbles and even a bit of a rise too!
- In a bowl, combine half of your Day 2 mix (toss the other half in the garbage) with the Day 3 unbleached (15 g) and whole grain flours (15 g), and water (30 g). Mix thoroughly and then place into a clean jar and cover with plastic wrap. Use apiece of tape or elastic to mark the height of the dough. Let it sit on the counter for 24 hours.
- You should notice good activity in your starter by now, bubbles and even a bit of a rise too! If you don’t that is OK, keep going.
- In a bowl, combine half of your Day 3 mix(toss the other half in the garbage) with the Day 4 unbleached (15 g) and whole grain flours (15 g), and water (30 g). Mix thoroughly and then place into a clean jar and cover with plastic wrap. Use a piece of tape or elastic to mark the height of the dough. Let it sit on the counter for 24 hours.
- Your starter should be active with lots of bubbles and doubling in volume. If you don’t that is OK, keep going.
- In a bowl, combine half of your Day 4 mix (toss the other half in the garbage) with the Day 5 unbleached (15 g) and whole grain flours (15 g), and water (30 g). Mix thoroughly and then place into a clean jar and cover with plastic wrap. Use a piece of tape or elastic to mark the height of the dough. Let it sit on the counter for 24 hours.
- Your starter should be active with lots of bubbles and doubling in volume, each day. Do not get discouraged if it takes a bit longer, sourdough is a slow process, it takes time. Be patient, you will be rewarded for waiting!
- Each day, combine half of your previous day mix (toss the other half in the garbage) with the unbleached (15 g) and wholegrain flours (15 g), and water (30 g). Mix thoroughly and then place into a clean jar and cover with plastic wrap. Use a piece of tape or elastic to mark the height of the dough. Let it sit on the counter for 24 hours.
- After about Day 7, it may be strong enough to make bread, however it is best to give it some more time to become stronger, ideally give it a full 2 weeks to get strong.
- You can keep your starter on your counter and refresh everyday, or just place in the refrigerator when you are not using it for making bread. You do not need to let your starter control your life!
- If the starter has been stored in the refrigerator, it will need to be refreshed at least 2 times prior to using for making sourdough bread.
- To refresh your starter, bring it out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.o Put 60 g of starter into clean container, discard the remainder.o Add 30 g of unchlorinated water.o Add 30 g of flour – unbleached (15 g) and whole grain flours (15 g)o Mix well, cover let sit until double – this could be as short as 3-4 or up to 10-12 hours. Do the above twice and then build your levain for your bread according to your bread recipe instructions.