HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SOURDOUGH STARTER

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SOURDOUGH STARTER An easy step-by-step guide to creating and maintaining your own starter. DAY 1: Get yourself a clean jar with a lid. Add: 15g bread flour 15g water Mix well until there is no dry flour. Cover with the lid and leave somewhere warm for 24 hours. REPEAT EVERY 24 HOURS You'll be using a 1:1:1 feeding ratio. Take your starter out of the jar and transfer it to a clean jar OR clean out your current jar. Keep: 15g starter Discard the rest. Then add: 15g bread flour 15g water Mix well until there is no dry flour. TIP: Clean your jar out every day to help prevent mould. You cannot keep your discard and use it until your starter is active. DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE DAY 3 RISE! DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4+ You may notice your starter suddenly becoming very active and rising quickly. This is called a false rise and is completely normal. Your starter isn't ready to bake with yet! Keep feeding it every 24 hours and be patient - the activity may disappear before your starter becomes consistently strong. EVERY STARTER IS DIFFERENT The timeline for your starter becoming active will be different for everyone. It depends on things like: Temperature Type of flour Feeding schedule Your environment Don't use your starter until it is consistently active and doubling reliably. WHEN IS IT READY? YOUR STARTER IS READY WHEN: It consistently doubles in 4-6 hours after feeding for 3 days in a row. It should also smell pleasantly fermented - not unpleasant or rotten. This can happen in as little as a week, or it can take up to a month or more. Be patient! ONCE IT'S DOUBLING CONSISTENTLY... It's time to strengthen your starter with a 1:3:3 feeding ratio for 2-3 days. Keep: 15g starter Then add: 45g bread flour 45g water Mix well and leave to ferment. Repeat this feeding for 2-3 days. MAINTENANCE YOUR STARTER IS NOW READY! Once your starter is strong and consistently doubling, you can switch to a smaller daily maintenance feed. You don't need to keep large amounts of starter - a tiny starter is much easier to maintain and creates less discard. DAILY TINY STARTER MAINTENANCE Keep: 2g starter 13g flour 7g water Mix well and leave to ferment. If keeping your starter at room temperature, repeat this feed every 24 hours. If your starter is peaking much sooner than 24 hours, you may need to feed it more frequently. HOW I FEED MY STARTER FOR BAKING I take 8g from my maintenance starter. 8g starter 70g bread flour 55g water This takes 12 hours to peak at 24°C in my home. I feed at 9pm to bake the next morning. I then use the remaining starter from my maintenance starter to do my maintenance feed. Once my baking starter is as active and bubbly as possible, I use it to bake. HOW I STORE MY STARTER IN THE FRIDGE TO STORE: 8g starter 65g bread flour 55g water Leave at room temperature for 1 hour. Screw lid on tight and put in the fridge. WHEN READY TO BAKE: Take it out - let it get to room temperature. Discard it down. Feed it a 1:3:3 ratio until it is reliably doubling again. Then do my bake feed the night before I want to bake. SAVE THIS FOR WHEN YOU START YOUR STARTER! Creating a sourdough starter takes patience! Don't worry if yours doesn't behave exactly like someone else's. Temperature, flour, hydration and feeding schedule can all affect how quickly it develops. Trust the starter, not the calendar.