Making a sourdough starter for bread is essential if you want to make real sourdough bread. Luckily making a starter is really easy. However you will need to allow about a week to ten days to get your bug going.
I’ve been fermenting all sorts of things and making various versions of sourdough breads for years, like this gluten free and grain free sourdough bread where I used a kombucha sourdough starter.
The advantage of the kombucha starter is that it’s a faster way to get a bread bug going if you’re in a hurry, or if you don’t make bread regularly.
But even for the grain free sourdough you can make your starter exactly the same way as I’m going to explain here but with a grain free flour such as buckwheat, or you can use a wheat or spelt flour if you’re not worried about the gluten free/grain free aspect.
So let’s get started!
Making A Sourdough Bread Starter From Flour and Water
All you will need for this is a glass jar, some filtered or distilled water, flour and a few days.
- First add about a 1/4 cup of water to your jar.
- Then add enough flour to make a paste the consistency of glue or wallpaper paste (not runny, but not really thick either).
- Mix the flour and water well making sure there are no lumps or patches of dry flour.
- Cover the jar with a cheesecloth, or nutmilk bag to keep insects out, and leave it on a bench at room temperature.
The Following Day….
Add more flour and more water to your mixture, and combine well. Use approx 1 tbsp of flour and enough water to keep that glue/paste consistency.
Cover the jar and leave on the bench at room temperature.
Note: The amounts are not important. The consistency is.
The Next Day….
Add more flour and more water to your mixture, and combine well. Use approx 1 tbsp of flour and enough water to keep that glue/paste consistency.
Cover the jar and leave on the bench at room temperature.
Repeat this adding of flour and water for 7 to 10 days and eventually your bug will begin to ferment. You will notice air bubbles and frothing, and it should smell yeasty.
Once your sourdough starter gets to this stage your are ready to make your bread!
Tips: What To Do If Things Go Wrong
If your bug isn’t beginning to show signs of fermenting after 10 days, try putting it somewhere warmer, or add something that’s already fermenting. This can be a little kombucha, kefir, whey from yoghurt or even sauerkraut juice. A couple of teaspoons is all you need. Mix it well, keep feeding your bug for another couple of days and see what happens.
Use your senses – does your bug smell like it’s starting to ferment? Or does it smell bad? It should have a pleasant yeasty smell once it starts to ferment and there should also be visible signs – bubbles and/or frothing.
If there is any bad smell or there are any signs of mould, discard the mixture and start again.
Ensure your water does not contain chlorine! This is really important as chlorine will kill the bacteria that you want in your bug! This is the bacteria that causes the fermentation. Only ever use filtered or distilled water in ferments.
How To Store Your Sourdough Starter
This is really simple. Just put the lid on your jar and store your starter in the fridge until you need it.
Each time I make bread, I use about 3/4 of my bread starter and then place what’s left in the fridge.
I bring the bug out a few hours, or the night before I plan to make bread and add enough flour and water to fill the jar back up again, making sure it’s not too runny, but rather that familiar glue/paste consistency.
I then leave it for a few hours on the bench to warm up and start fermenting again.
Warning! Don’t fill your jar to the top as it will likely overflow once warm, fermenting, and bubbly. I often place a bowl or plate under the jar just in case…
If you look after your sourdough bug, it will last you a lifetime.
Simply feed, use, refrigerate, repeat.
And that’s it. If you have any questions or comments feel free to add them below. I’m happy to help if I can.
Enjoy!
