So Someone Gave You Some Sourdough Starter
I get asked for starter a fair bit since I’ve had mine going for a couple of years now. Five? I think five. So you got some from me or from someone else. Great!
Now what?
Step One: Naming Your Starter
Every starter must have a name. “Starter” is not a good name. Mine is named Zaphod. If you have to ask who Zaphod is named after, never mind. Naming your starter is important because (a) it’s kind of a living thing, (b) you need to care for it, (c) it’s more interesting than calling it “my starter.”
For the purpose of this post, I’m calling your starter Eugenia.
Step Two: First Feeding
Terms you’ll see in recipes that call for a starter will refer to it as “active” or “fed” or “discard.” Active/fed are actively growing and expanding. Discard is what you get after it’s done growing and expanding and shrinks back a bit.
What you’ve probably been given is starter in its “discard” state, not currently growing. So now you need to put it into a container and give it, by weight, equal parts of flour and water. You don’t want to give it too much — about the same amount that you’ve been given. So if you’ve been given 100 grams of discard starter, give it 100 grams of warm water and 100 grams of flour (we’ll talk about types of flour later) and let sit at room temperature with plastic wrap over it to keep insects out.
If someone gave you 50 grams, add 50 grams of water and 50 grams of flour.
If someone gave you 200 grams, add 200 grams of water and 200 grams of flour.
You should be seeing a pattern by now.
(Someone I gave some of Zaphod to panicked when they added 160 grams instead of 150 grams. Don’t panic. Just add 160 grams of flour, too. One-to-one by weight. )
A note about water: Use good water. Filtered from the refrigerator, bottled, etc. Tap water has chlorine in it. You can use it, just put it into an open container on the counter for an hour or so before using it in your feedings or in your baking to let the chemicals “boil off.”
Ideally you’ll have a clear container so you can see it growing. I use Oggi acrylic containers and have one for Zaphod and one for my discard. More about this later, too. I use a rubber band around it to mark where the top was right after feeding so I can tell how much it’s growing. Some people use medical or scientific containers that have markings on the side for levels. Just make sure to use something that has a lid or use plastic wrap or a cheap shower cap. (Dollar Store shower caps are like 6 to a package and can be used a few times.)
Keep track of the time and see how long it takes to double. A lot of it will depend on quantity, room temperature, and humidity. But just get an idea of how long you’ve got from feeding until it’s at its peak. (Here’s a timelapse of mine.)
Congratulations: You have a starter. Eugenia.
Step Three: Now What
Put the lid on and refrigerate it. Or use some and feed it again. You never want to use all of Eugenia — you have to have enough left over to keep going to use for years to come. If you’re baking with it all the time, great. If not, you need to get rid of some (or you’ll have a refrigerator full of Eugenia) and then feed it and let it grow.
If you’re not using it, about once a week take it out of the refrigerator, remove and discard about half of it and, feed it equal weights of flour and water, mix it well, let it sit out a couple of hours, and then put it back into the refrigerator.
The stuff you remove to discard you can keep or put in the garbage. Don’t try to put it down the drain unless you like calling plumbers — it’ll harden up.
As mentioned above I have a container marked “Discard.” Discard Eugenia has a lot of flavor but very little rising oomph so you can use it in recipes for pretzels or some breads or waffles.
Step Four: Baking With It
If you talk to 10 bakers you’ll probably get 10 different ways to prepare to make a loaf of bread. But here’s what I do.
A lot of this depends on the season and temperature in your house.
In warm months, four to five hours before I want to make my initial mixing I take Zaphod out of the refrigerator and take out about 50 grams of starter to a bowl. Why 50 grams? My Go-To Sourdough uses 50 grams of starter.
To that bowl I add 50 grams of flours (I use 5 grams of rye [10%] and 45 grams of all-purpose [90%]). Then stir and let sit until doubled in size and bubbly. Then it’s ready to use! I add 50 grams to the recipe and put the remaining 100 grams back into the container with the rest of Zaphod, stir it, and put it back into the refrigerator. This way your starter is always being fed, evolving.
You could take out 17 grams, add 17 grams of water and 17 grams of flours and use the entire thing in your recipe, too. That’s another option.
Step Five: Shopping
Here are some things you may need.
- Digital scale that does both metric and imperial.
- All Purpose Flour, Unbleached
- Whole Wheat Flour
- Dark Rye Flour
- Vital Wheat Gluten
- Kosher salt
- Fine sea salt (not iodized)
- Granulated sugar
- Yeast (instant or active)
- Bench scraper(s)
- Bowl scraper(s)
- 6-quart Cast Iron Dutch Oven safe to 500°F (optional)
- Oven mitts
- Baguette Pans (optional)
- Baking Sheets
- Pre-cut Parchment the size of baking sheets
- A lame (optional)
About Flour
For feeding I give Zaphod 10-15% dark rye flour and the rest as all-purpose (AP) flour. So if I’m giving him 200 grams of water I’ll also give him ~25 grams of dark rye flour and ~175 grams of AP flour — just so long as the total is the same as the water. Dark rye flour has more natural yeast in it. You can use a combination of rye/AP, whole wheat and AP, or only AP. Your choice — this is your way to make your starter, Eugenia, your own. Pick a ratio. Do 10% whole wheat and 90% AP one week, 20% whole wheat and 80% AP the next. Go wild. (Note: Buckwheat flour turns it an odd color. Not sure I recommend it.)
Step Six: Care And Maintenance
Every so often your container will need a good cleaning. You get some on the side inside, it hardens, etc. This is a good opportunity to feed it.
In a clean bowl put about 200 grams of Eugenia. Put the rest in your discard container or in the garbage. Feed Eugenia 200 grams of good water and 200 grams of your choice of flour mixture. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it grow.
Meanwhile, clean out and dry your Eugenia container.
Pour Eugenia from the bowl back into the container.
Step Seven: The Hooch
If you let Eugenia sit too long between feedings and uses you’ll get a layer of brown liquid at the top. Sometimes clear. This is called “hooch” and is alcohol. Stir it back in to Eugenia. But now would be a good time to discard some and give Eugenia a good feeding.