- 1
Ingredients
- Sourdough Bread Starter
Preparation
Step 1
How to Make a Sourdough Starter: Day One - Pinch My Salt
How to Make a Sourdough Starter: Day One
Here’s how I started: I mixed one cup of whole wheat flour with 3/4 cup of room-temperature pineapple juice in a bowl until everything was well blended. I scraped the mixture into a clean glass jar and marked the level with a rubber band so that it will be easy to detect any growth if it occurs. I covered the jar with a paper towel and secured it with a rubber band. Now all I have to do is let the jar sit at room temperature for 24 hours. Pretty easy so far, right?
In a small bowl, mix one cup of whole wheat or whole rye flour with 3/4 cup (6 oz) canned pineapple juice (at room temperature) until all of the flour is hydrated. Scrape mixture into a quart-size wide mouth glass container, such as a jar or glass measuring cup. Mark the level of the starter with a piece of tape or rubber band. Cover the container with a paper towel, cheesecloth, or coffee filter and secure with a rubber band. Leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
You probably won’t notice much change at this point. Scrape the contents of the jar into a mixing bowl and add 1 cup of unbleached all-purpose or unbleached bread flour plus 1/2 cup pineapple juice (make sure juice is room temperature). Mix until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Wash and dry your glass container and scrape the mixture into the container. Mark and cover the container just like day one. Let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
You may notice some activity at this point. The mixture may have risen some and there might be bubbles. Regardless of whether you notice any fermentation or not, discard half of the mixture (or give it to a friend to cultivate), and mix the remaining half with 1 cup of unbleached all-purpose or bread flour and 1/2 cup filtered water (make sure water is room temperature). Wash and dry your container and scrape the mixture into the container. Mark and cover as before. Let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
The mixture should have at least doubled in size at this point. If it seems to be sluggish and hasn’t doubled in size, allow it to sit at room temperature for another 12 to 24 hours. Otherwise, repeat instructions for Day three.
King Arthur Flour has a pretty terrific Sourdough Guide on their site. If for some reason you don’t “catch” wild yeast, you can start it with regular yeast (or have a good friend give you a cup of their “mother”), then cover loosely with cheesecloth so that some wild yeast might still get through and follow your directions above.
I’m currently on day 5 and in another 5 days I will split the dough into 4, make one into a cake and give the other 3 to friends and so on
Thanks. I am inspired to try it but I can’t eat wheat. Do you know if this would work with sorghum or other types of flour? Maybe a note in your book. Thanks.
I used both his method (pineapple and orange juice behaved the same), and Chad Robertson’sn (using just whole wheat flour and bread flour, not juice added). Chad’s started was faster and more reliable in my recollection, but maybe the season was different who knows.
I can hardly wait to make bread from this starter. I’m
Can I use freshly ground whole wheat flour for all the steps of this recipe?
Sounds doable. Can we use freshly ground wheat flour. And how to store the left over ?
add 1 cup of … flour plus 1/2 cup pineapple juice
This is Day 1 for me, but the 1 cup / 3/4 cup juice is way thick and does not look like the picture at all, it stands up. The photo looks like a far more liquid mixture and now that I’m reading other recipes, this one uses the least amount of liquid of any I see online… yet the photo looks very different than what I have.
I see no mention in any of the text as to thickness or ‘feel’ of the mixture.
I tried this recipe for a starter, along with a plain white AP flour & water mixture, as experiments to share on my class page. I didn’t have pinepple juice, but had some fresh oranges, so I used the juice from the oranges. It was quite successful and really only a day ahead of the four/water starter. I found the recipe online somewhere (it might have been your friend’s blog) and it explained that the acidity in the juice keeps the unwanted organisms from developing, while encouraging the beneficial organisms to grow. Made sense to me!
I think that the SF sourdough is probably impossible to keep going outside of San Francisco. It’s the unique yeasts in the air there that make SF Sourdough so special. I think that even if you brought some home from SF it would eventually revert to whatever yeast spores are living in your own neighborhood.
Also, regarding thickness and/or thinness of your starter. It doesn’t really matter as far as concerns the health of your starter. I like to keep my starter quite thick; it can’t be readily poured from the jar. This way, if I need it thinner I can just add liquid to the recipe. But this hasn’t been necessary.
I keep 3 jars of starter. One white, one rye, and one whole wheat. When I do a spelt loaf I start it with the rye starter. (three jars in the fridge is more than enough!)There are times when my starters get neglected, not being stirred or fed for up to 3 weeks. This isn’t a good habit for sure–they usually get fed once a week, always kept in the refrigerator. But they always come back bubbly and alive. I hope to keep this starter the rest of my life.
I love the video of Sourdough Rye demonstrated by Eric at Breadtopia.com. This is a wonderful site for learning how to make crusty, yummy, artisan style bread.
The other story, the one about the local yeasts, does hold some truth. Whether or not San Francisco’s airborne yeasts and lactobacilli (microbiological flora) make a more sour sourdough than any other place is debatable. There are certainly different techniques to making a sourdough more sour. Some are genuine fermentation methods and some are “cheaters”; that is, they add citric acid. There are many commercial breads that claim SanFran on the label but are just “cheaters”. Adding citric acid to your own homemade bread, in my opinion, is fine if you simply want to add a little more sour to your bread and can’t get it through fermentation. Just don’t add more than about 1/8 tsp per cup of flour (or less). That recommendation comes from the King Arthur Flour website.
And yes I agree, I’ve read that the yogurt method can work well too. Don’t understand how it could be easier. Tell me about that. I didn’t find this pineapple juice method cumbersome at all–happened very fast with no babysitting. Just removing some and adding more flour and liquid is basically how I take care of my starter even after it has matured. Doing this once a day for only 3 days didn’t seem like much for what I have gotten out of it. Does the yogurt method work faster than 3 days for you? Maybe you’ve got some awesome mini critters in your air!
2) easier to mix since it’s not so doggone thick… trying to mix that pineapple method in a glass ball jar was not easy. The yogurt method is smoother and easier to mix and work with.
You don’t continue to feed it with the pineapple juice. You can get the whole thing going with only 1 cup (1/4 cup on day 2 works fine). Also, you can make it as thin or thick as you like. Raisin water works well too
So after making a batch of sourdough starter… what are you doing to make bread? Adding the sourdough starter to your regular bread dough?
What if I want to make sourdough pizza crust?
Double the size of my starter a couple days before, then blend it into my regular pizza dough?
This makes a VERY wet dough which some will find hard to handle. But I have found through a series of trials and errors and successes that the wetter dough produces a higher loaf. But note: I am using a preheated clay baker which gives a great “oven spring” to the bread.
Let me just HIGHLY recommend breadtopia.com for great videos and explanations on the handling of dough that makes bread to dream for. Between Nicole’s starter and Eric’s techniques I have gained a reputation for being a good bread baker.
you will see how to make a sourdough rye. I pretty much follow this technique but I prefer to leave out most of the strong-flavored herbs. I just use caraway and I use half molasses and half honey for the sweetening.
you will see just how simple it really is to make a sourdough bread even while camping. Eric’s second try turned out wonderful. And here you will see the different results between a sturdier, stiffer dough and a wet floppy dough. Eric is so good at it; I’m still learning.
I also find that putting the starter in the bowl first and then adding just a very little water at a time mixing as I go makes that lump of starter break up much better. Then I add the pre-measured flour to that. I don’t mix it a lot; just enough to incorporate stuff.
Oops, I forgot: I put 1 & 1/2 tsp salt into the flour before adding the flour to the water
Is there a ratio of how far a sourdough starter will go? and after getting the starter mixed with the regular ingredients.. I am guessing the time it should set is dependent on 100 different choices?
Yep… so for every cup of sourdough, how far will that ‘stretch’ out when mixed with standard dough? I’m guessing it depends on what I am trying to bake?
I have seen recipes that call for only 1/4 cup all the way up to ones that call for a full cup for one loaf of bread. I’m a bit of a rookie too actually so I haven’t studied or experimented much to tell the diff. But the beauty of sourdough is that, just like yeast, it grows and continues to grow as long as it has food to eat. That food is carbohydrates (sugars). That doesn’t mean that you have to add sugar to the sourdough; the starter will find enough sugar in the flour.
Anyway, the way you “feed” your sourdough and keep it alive is to give it more flour. If you don’t bake bread for a while that’s okay, just remove some of the starter, put it in your compost or trash (don’t put it down the drain!–remember, water and flour make glue). Then add some flour and water back to your starter and it will be happy. Keeping it in the refrigerator will slow down the activity and prolong the bubbly action. But then, keeping it in the refrigerator is sometimes a good way to lose sight of it and forget about it for a year (been there done that, oops) It usually dies with that kind of treatment. I’m better now about pulling it out every 5 to 10 days to feed it. It’s a habit now—so is baking sourdough bread lol.
So, to get back to your question; I find that using about 1/3 cup of starter to every 3 cups of flour works pretty good. However, if you are only going to proof the dough for 6 hours, say, then you might need to use more starter. If you proof it for 12 hours then you don’t need very much because it will grow (“stretch”). It will permeate the whole lump as the scriptures say. The experts tell us not to let it proof longer than that because it “over-proofs” and I don’t know what that means. My guess is that it looses its umph. I’ve seen that happen in the starter jar. It will double and rise to the top of the jar if I feed it and leave it out on the counter. And then it falls back down to its original level. That’s okay for the starter but it wouldn’t be very good for when you are trying to make bread.
Every time you make bread you feed your leftover starter and put it back in the fridge. The only people I know that leave their starter out are the folks that bake every single day and have big families. That gives the starter a better environment to grow quickly and be ready for baking sooner.
Sourdough starter is VERY forgiving. If it separates (liquid on the top) no problem. Just stir it all up and feed it–it’s your baby bubbly
I think, since you say it smells good, that you should simply feed the thing. Remove some and stir in fresh water and flour. Let it sit 12 to 24 hours and stir again and sniff. Taste it and see if it has a nice sour taste. Keep your eye on it and see if it doesn’t rise up a bit. “Growing” doesn’t mean the amount of starter will actually get bigger; “growing” means that the starter, that is the natural yeasts, will multiply and permeate the whole batch. It will rise in a while because of the gasses released but if you stir it it will go back down to where it was.
When you have 2 cups of nice-smelling, bubbly starter (remember, the bubbles go away when you stir it) then you are ready to bake bread. Take out 1/3 cup for the bread and take out about 2/3 cup to toss or give to a neighbor. this will leave you with 1 cup in the jar. Stir in about 1 cup flour and about 1/2 to 2/3 cup water. Cover with something loose (starter needs to breathe). You can just leave the lid sitting loose on the jar or cover the jar with a paper towel or cloth held by a rubber band. If you are going to bake again the next day then leave it out on the counter. If it will be several days before you bake again then put it in the refrigerator.
I just want to mention that I do let my dough proof for 18 hours when I make a regular no-knead bread using conventional yeast granules. That makes amazing bread too! Only takes 1/4 tsp yeast!
Thank you for the quick reply. I have been letting it breathe with a paper-towel rubber-banded on top and have been feeding it with the schedule recommended in the directions, but it just never seems to grow in size by more than a quarter of an inch, even after giving it 24 hours. I will feed it for a while longer and maybe make a test batch of bread to see if it will work. Thank you again!
Samuel, remember that the starter does’t actually get bigger as it grows. What is growing is the little live yeasty babies living in the starter. If you want it bigger (more starter) then add some more flour and water. Just be careful because when it bubbles up it can overflow. You can put a bowl or pan under it if you are concerned with that. But usually, if the stirred starter fills the quart jar half way (2 cups of starter) then most probably it will only bubble up to near the top. When you stir it, it will fall back down to where it was
or Google some recipes on line–there are LOTS. Again, my favorite place to go for bread instructions is Breadtopia.com–
Hi, 3rd try at a starter. Used wholemeal rye this time, day 3 halved mixture, added 1/2 cup water and cup of unbleached flour as per recipe. It has doubled in 7 hours, its gone mad!!! Do I still wait 24 hours or just go to day 4 early?
Wahoo! It won’t hurt to give it another day. Stir it down, put it in the fridge and feed it the same way tomorrow. You can probably leave it out on the counter just make sure you leave plenty of head space for the bubbly action. If it doubles again then MAKE BREAD! If you make bread every day or even every other day you can leave your starter out. But keeping it in the fridge will keep it fresh and alive and (LOL!) a little quieter
As far as I know temperature is part of what determines development time. Cold: slow, warm: faster. Other things in the environment determine speed and flavor as well. I say just get started and see what happens. I assume your kitchen is warmer than your refrigerator! You should be able to have success right now. Just be patient when making your own starter; it may take up to a week but possibly less. Follow the directions given here and you will be on your way. My loaves have been quite high lately–beautiful!
Hi, I started my starter in a glass jar and it seemed to be doing well. It was growing, I split it and put it in a plastic measuring cup to give it additional room. It never really bubbled but did increase in size. Day 4 it seemed to have a crust on top and really didn’t increase in size much, so I let it sit another day. Next day I fed again, it is very thick and not bubbly, but did increase some in volume. Is having it in plastic causing problems? I’m not sure where to go from here. Ideas?
Also, there really isn’t any need to transfer your starter into anything. If the starter only fills half the jar that will give it room enough for it to “grow”. If it ever looks like it’s going to overflow just stir it down. It doesn’t actually grow bigger; it simply gets full of beautiful gasses that give it “lift”. If your starter lifted up to twice it’s original height then it will have bubbles. Keep it loosely covered so the crust doesn’t form and you will see bubbling going on. It’s not like soda pop bubbling, it’s big, slow mudpot type of bubbling.
You can remove the crust or not. Leaving it there won’t hurt the starter. You can just stir it in and most of it will re-hydrate in the moisture. If there are any pieces of it that don’t they can be lifted out when you are ready to make bread.
Did you think this is my blog? Actually, it’s not; I have simply been the one who replies to a lot of the posts that come in. This blog belongs to Nicole who started this sourdough excitement with her “How to Make Sourdough Starter” topic. I followed her advice a year and a half ago and my sourdough starter is still going very strong. I don’t know where Nicole went. I should subscribe to her newsletters again. I did once but got into a “cleaning” mode and unsubscribed from a lot of emails, even ones I liked including this one.
My starter doubled one time, but will hardly grow at all in between feedings now. I’ve followed all of the directions. It is fragrant and bubbly, but I cannot seem to get it to double. Any suggestions?
Are you leaving it alone or are you stirring it once in a while. It needs to just sit. When you stir it, the gasses escape and the starter falls to it’s natural level. You say it’s fragrant and bubbly so that sounds really good. Taste it; it should have a nice sour flavor.
Maybe it needs to be in a slightly warmer spot though this isn’t usually necessary unless your kitchen is cooler than average. Coolness will slow the fermentation but too much heat isn’t good either–you aren’t rising this like you would the bread before baking, just allowing it to ferment.
Hi Janna (and Annie!) – Sorry I’ve been MIA on this post for sooooo long! Janna – how long have you had the starter going? I use filtered water for my starters because chlorine isn’t especially good for the wild yeast. If your tap water is chlorinated, you can let it sit out in a container for a while to let the chlorine dissipate before using it in your starter. One of the things Peter Reinhart mentioned is that some people have a very active starter very early and then it slows down so much that they think it has died and they give up, even though it will usually come around (this was the reason he developed the pineapple starter). If yours was active and doubled very early, perhaps that’s what is happening here. Keep feeding it on a regular schedule like you’ve been doing with chlorine-free water and see if it starts to wake up. The fact that it’s fragrant and bubbly is a very good sign. Another thought – is there a chance that you’re keeping it in a place that’s too warm? Could it be that it’s rising and falling so fast that you don’t see it until it’s already fallen?
Thanks, again Nicole for this inspiring article. Something about your photos and words of encouragement really got me to step up to the plate. My beautiful sourdough is thriving after over 2 1/2 years. I think it’s improved with age. I would love to show you a photo of the pretty breads I get. For a while I got crazy and had 3 sourdough starters in my fridge: Rye, whole wheat & white. I realized pretty quickly that that was unnecessary since I only use 1/3 cup in each loaf. So now I just keep one jar with basic white. I use it for all breads.
Hi Jessica – Yes, a quart size jar is fine. The starter should be taking up a little less than half the jar and it’s rare for it to overflow if that’s the case (although if you end up with a crazy active starter, there’s always a possibility!). If you have somehow ended up with too much starter in your jar, just remove some so that it looks about the same level as the photos and continue with instructions. As for the crust… like Annie says, there may just be too much airflow. It’s fine to put a loose lid on the jar to restrict the air flow. And it’s fine to just stir the crust back in to the starter.
I have a question. In day three you said to discard 1/2 the mix and then do the flour and water thing. Then on day four you say to follow the directions fr day 3. Does that mean to discard 1/2 the mixture or not? When do I stop discarding 1/2 the mixture?
Eloise, Yes, the day 4 instructions are a just little confusing. But still, just continue to discard half and add water and flour as in day 3 until it is happily doubling and bubbling within a 12 hour period. Do this for a total of 6 days. If your starter isn’t doing anything by Day 6 you probably need to start over. But usually it will come alive before that. If your starter is bubbling at all, then just keep going and follow the instructions for Day 6.–and make bread. Re-read all the instructions carefully; Nicole puts it quite easy to understand. My starter, now over 2 years old is better than ever. My breads rise the same as, and even better than when using yeast. This is so worth it.
Colleen, I can’t really say what is going wrong with your efforts. Mold is certainly not a good thing and how it’s getting there is a mystery to me. Maybe start again using plain, unbleached white wheat flour.
What is the temperature of your kitchen? Just curious; don’t know if that would make too much of a difference. Room temperature (around 70 degrees F.) is the best but cooler is okay.
You might not be aware of the fact that many commercially sold “sour dough” breads are made more sour with the addition of citric acid so it’s easy to think that all sourdough should have a distinctive sour taste.
The main reason for even having sourdough in the first place isn’t so much to get a sour flavor but to be able to rise bread dough without the use of yeast.
Anyway, if you want to spark up your bread with a bit of sour flavor go ahead and mix in no more than 3/8 teaspoon of citric acid to the measured flour & salt before blending it in with the starter/water. I frequently do this because I just love that sour flavor myself.
I have found that I (and my hubby) really don’t like the sour flavor with whole grains. Whole wheat has so much of it’s own sweetness savor that for some reason it just doesn’t seem to go together with sourness. Might just be a personal preference. But with a crusty white bread it’s divine!
Also, the longer you proof your starter the more sour it will get. But I don’t recommend doing the final proof for too long as it can (not always) lose some of its lift-ability. It also depends on your baking technique. I use a very hot pre-heated clay baker which gives excellent results.
umm…just realized that to make my sourdough bread, I need to have a starter. I will try again but will need to buy a loaf for this holiday.
Excited to see if this will work for me. Is it OK if the wholewheat flour I start with is coarse-ground? My Day 1 mixture is a little lumpy looking. Harder to find fine-ground wholewheat in Ireland, as indigenous recipes tend to call for coarser.
Martin, I don’t think the course flour will cause any trouble. Just feed it and stir it every day according to Nicole’s directions.
Indian Simmer