How To Make and Maintain Your Own Sourdough Starter
Have I dragged this out for you enough?
Truth be told, I rarely go through rounds and rounds of testing when it comes to recipes. I’ve been pretty lucky, because I usually get things right the first time. Not so with the sourdough. My poor family choked down some pretty awful bread last week. But I think I’ve finally got it down.
Let’s first discuss what’s so great about sourdough:
1. It’s delicious. Especially hot out of the oven with a generous pat of butter/Earth Balance/my face.
2. The “souring” of the dough breaks down some of the gluten and phytates in your flour, making sourdough bread more digestible for those with gluten sensitivities (not Celiac) and removing anti-nutrients.
3. It lasts longer. If, and I do mean if, your loaf lasts beyond the first few hours after you pull it from your oven, sourdough bread doesn’t mold as quickly as other breads as the fermentation acts as a natural preservative.
4. It’s delicious. It was worth repeating.
When I first learned you could make your own sourdough starter, I was scared. I didn’t want to invest the time in “growing” something that would either completely flop or grow some mold and bacteria that didn’t belong in my bread. I toyed with buying my own whole wheat sourdough starter here, but then finally sucked it up and took the plunge on making my own.
I hope you will too.
Whole Wheat Sourdough Starter
adapted from Breadtopia.com
- ~1 1/4 c. white whole wheat flour*, divided
- 1/4 c. + 2 T. unsweetened pineapple juice (liquid drained from unsweetened canned pineapple)
- 1/4 c. + 1 T. purified water
*other types of flour will work fine, including regular whole wheat flour, unbleached all-purpose flour, spelt, etc.
Day One:
AM: Put 3 1/2 T. of flour and 1/4 c. of pineapple juice into a jar or container and stir until combined. Place a lid or cover on container and set at room temperature.
PM: Remove lid, stir starter and replace lid.
Day Two:
AM: Remove lid, stir starter and replace lid.
PM: Remove lid, stir starter and replace lid.
Day Three:
AM: Remove lid, add 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of pineapple juice, stir starter and replace lid.
PM: Remove lid, stir starter and replace lid. You may start to notice some faint bubbling and a slightly sour smell at this point.
Day Four:
AM: Remove lid, stir starter and replace lid.
PM: Remove lid, stir starter and replace lid.
Day Five:
AM: Remove lid, add 5 tablespoons of flour and 3 tablespoons of purified water, stir starter and replace lid.
PM: Remove lid, stir starter and replace lid.
Day Six:
AM: Transfer your starter to a larger jar or container. Add 1/2 c. flour and 2 tablespoons of water. Within an hour or two, your starter should be very bubbly and sour smelling. Cover with lid again.
PM: Your starter is ready to use or move to the refrigerator for future use.
Helpful tips and starter maintenance:
- One of the best things I did when creating my starter was to draw up a feeding schedule for myself and post it on our dry-erase board. This reminded me of what to do and when to do it. And it also reminded me to pick up some new dry-erase pens.
- You may want to buy bottled, purified water when first creating your starter. I’ve been using tap water to continue to feed mine, but you should probably play it safe with the initial starter.
- Once your starter has come to life, you can keep it in the fridge and “feed” it once a week or more. At each feeding, I add:
1/3 cup of water and 1/2 cup of flour
-
I always remove my starter from the fridge about 24 hours before I want to bake a loaf of bread. (So if you plan to bake right away with your starter after making it, don’t bother moving it until the fridge until after you’ve baked a loaf.) My goal is to feed my starter 2-3 times at room temperature (using the amounts in bold above) before using it. I will feed it every 8 hours until I’m ready to bake.
- It’s pretty hard to kill your starter. Some people are able to go longer than a week in the fridge without feeding it and are still able to bring it back to life to bake with it.
- Your starter should be floured-colored for it’s life. If something dark or funky starts to accumulate on top of your starter, just pour or scrape it off and keep going. This never happened to me, but if it does, it’s not going to kill you. (Easy for me to say, right?)
- Most bread recipes require approximately 1 cup of starter, so once you start accumulating more than that through multiple feedings and are able to keep up with your own family’s demands, feel free to gift a cup of starter to a friend or relative with feeding instructions. And if anyone who lives near me wants some of my starter, let me know, I’ve got plenty!
- You can make delicious bread with your starter, but you can also make muffins, pancakes and even coffee cake, and they all have the health benefits of being made with sourdough.
Got that?
I’ll give you a day or so to digest all that information and ask any questions before I give you the ultimate sourdough bread recipe.
Meanwhile, I’m going to feed my starter.
And my face.
I had no idea you could use the starter for things other than sourdough – so many possibilities. I can’t wait for the bread recipe!
Yup! I haven’t tried anything else yet, but I’m going to whip up some pancakes this weekend and see how they go over.
Hmmm. Gonna have to try this! I’m intrigued….
Wow! This is even more labour intensive than growing your won kombutcha! Looks awesome Mama! Can’t wait for the recipe for the bread!
<3
It’s really not too hard at all!
And really, anything that will eventually produce hot, fresh bread, well, is there any effort that would be to much?
This is the kind of baking that freaks me out! Experimenting with fermentation and soaking nuts is about as fancy as I have been so far.
I was scared of it too, but it’s truly a cinch!
Tomorrow, I have a date with Trader Joe’s!
I just about have a daily date with him. Might as well face it, I’m addicted to love.
I just shared a bit of my starter with a friend. The sweet old woman who gave it to me says it’s over 100 yrs old…from the Oregon gold rush:) can’t wait to see your recipe! What I love is that the timing of rising and souring can be so flexible. You can even do it in the fridge for several days. I’m due to bake a loaf in a couple of hrs….
No way, seriously? Oregon starters must be the best. Feel free to pass on any recipes you have that use a starter too!
I recently found this good pancake one. I like how chewy they turn out.
8-12 hrs ahead
2 c starter
2 c warm water
2.5 c whole wheat party flour
2 Tbsp sucanat or other sweetener
Stir till smooth
8-12 hrs later
1 egg (flax for you?)
2 Tbsp oil…I use ref coconut
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda that’s been dissolved into a Tbsp of water
And I add vanilla
Great timing! I was just about to put our flours out to soak for either pancakes or muffins for breakfast. It sounds like that makes a TON of pancakes too, which is good because I can then freeze some. (btw, we’ve found a great source for local eggs, so we’ll use those, but I bet the flax would work fine)
I’m so happy to hear you are incorporating some happy eggs into your diet….might I suggest you raise a back yard flock:) your girls would love it!
My starter is white…so I’m not sure how your w.w starter will work in those pancakes. Maybe you should use a bit of white too….
Seems you are switching things up a bit there..I’m excited to see what else you have up your sleeve. The Phytic acid talk is right up my alley. I’m wondering what got you started on that path? I’ve recently become a “Weston Price-er” myself…I’m soaking my grains, nuts and using sprouted flour…among other practices.
Cheers!
I am switching things up a bit. My body seems to be having a bit of an issue with soy and I’ve just been reading a lot about “real foods.” Feel free to email me. I’d love to chat about this stuff with you. Pea Daddy thinks I’m kind of nutty.
I am going to do about 2/3 whole wheat and 1/3 unbleached white for the pancakes. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Memories of constantly feeding my Herman cake came flooding back when you mentioned a starter kit but this seems much more manageable. Also it doesn’t contain yeast so my house won’t smell like a brewery which is always a bonus!
Who is Herman cake?!
Herman is a Friendship Cake.
http://www.hermanthegermanfriendshipcake.com/
I want to eat Herman.
My grandmom, her sisters and friends used the Herman cake started for years. I’m pretty sure someone in my family probably still has one going now. I loved those cakes when I was a kid. Haven’t thought about them in years.
Herman is yummy. Tastes like an apple danish
I’m German and that just brought back all my Hermann memories!
.
For a while it was so popular I didn’t know what to do with all the dough anymore – oh the good old days! I think we passed Hermann dough around in school lol. And I tried a million different recipes when the dough was ready.
That makes me want to start one right now
I’ve never had gluten free sourdough – I think I just might try it out!
Hmmm…I’m not sure how that would work!
There’s only one way to find out, right?
Chelsey, I would love to know if you make a gluten-free version
Mmmmm that bread is sure to be delicious!!! I may need to give it a whirl for the gluten eaters in my family!!! Thanks for sticking it out through all of the bad bread!
I tried making a starter over the summer! His name was Javier. I loved him. However at that point I was unaware of the pineapple juice trick and only used water so evil bacteria overcame poor Javier. I cried a little. But I will try again sometime soon!
Haha, this totally cracked me up. I’ll have to think of a good name for my starter.
Oh my gosh, I am totally naming my starter.
Ok, I got my starter started! Am I going to need bread flour for the recipe? Also, what am I going to do with this can of crushed pineapple that I just opened and stole the juice from??
You don’t need bread flour. Just more whole wheat and some all purpose. I used my pineapple for the Flex on the Beach smoothie! http://peasandthankyou.com/recipage/?recipe_id=6013842
Mmmmm, fresh warm bread! This will be happening this weekend, with or without a sourdough starter
Good luck if you don’t have one!
Thank you for the step by step lesson. I read the book, By Bread Alone, a long time ago and that inspired me to start baking my own bread. The main character baked sourdough with a starter that was like a hundred years old or something. I don’t know how that can be possible, but who knows. Great starter recipe and will definitely try this out.
What a cool book! I might have to get my hands on a copy.
MamaPea, are you working on any recipes for a soaked sourdough loaf in the breadmaker? I fell in love with your soaked spelt and wheat loaves !
I tried a sourdough loaf in the breadmaker and didn’t have any success, but I’m not giving up yet.
I love this! I read a whole book actually that centered around a sourdough starter and I’ve been fascinated ever since! I definitely want to try this!
Really? I want that book!
I’m reading one right now that’s about sourdough starters! It’s called How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O’Neal. It’s good! I was inspired by it to bake bread soon, and now you’re giving me a starter recipe. She uses one with a bit of rye flour in it, which intrigued me.
I already have a starter!! I want the recipe!! Hahahaha. Actually I’m on day one of this http://www.instructables.com/id/Sourdough-Bread/ recipe right now, but I’d love to try yours next
By Thursday, promise! I’ve just got to finish editing the photos, writing the post, etc.
It’s Thursday! Your post is due!
You are right…I am a liar. By Sunday! It’s a snow day here
I love playing with sourdough starters. My mom used to make the most incredible cinnamon bread with hers when I was a kid. I need to start working with it again, but I have to make is gluten free. HEAB shared her recipe with me a couple of weeks ago and I think I can do all of it gluten free. You have definitely inspired me to start working with it again.
Oh man, I want your mom’s cinnamon bread recipe!
I made my first real homemade bread this past weekend, and I’ve been really into this whole bread making thing ever since! Definitely trying this because it sounds really cool! I’m hoping I won’t mess it up somehow
You’ll be surprised at how easy it is! Good luck!
Quick question- on AM of day 6, do you cover with a lid again?
Yup, just edited to reflect that! Thanks!
I wonder if you could use gluten free flour???
I would guess not
i’m in love with this…there’s something so romantic about making your own bread from a starter!
My uncle used to always have a sourdough starter in the fridge. He made sourdough pancakes all the time and they were unbelievable!
I’m convinced…pancakes this weekend it is!
Please share your successful pancake recipe using the starter!!
Will do!
Mmmm! Sourdough bread. Off to get the starter started. Hope I can wait till it’s ready for the big game!
Mmmm, I love sourdough. I’ve never kept a starter alive for more than a month, then again, I can’t really keep plants alive either and they require even less attention.
I wanted to mention a couple things I picked up in baking school; you don’t need to buy purified water for your starter, just fill a jug with tap water and leave it on the counter uncovered for around 24 hours. The chlorine and other chemicals that can be detremental to your starter’s development evaporate. Also, if your starter grows a pinkish slimy substance throw it out immediately.
Excellent! Thank you for the wonderful advice!
I can’t wait to see your recipe! I’ve been working with a sourdough starter for a few weeks now and love baking bread so much more than I thought I would! It’s so rewarding and my freezer is stocked with homemade goodness. And the smell of baking bread??? Divine.
Btw, I’ve transitioned to the full-on naturally curly method since the day after reading your post. Thanks for the revelation!!
You are quite welcome! I would love to have your bread recipe as well!
Okay, this is very awesomely explained, but I don’t know anything about making bread. I LOVE sourdough and would love to make my own. So I guess my question is…what do you mean by “starter” and feeding it? Is this something that you always have on hand? To me, it seems like you go through the process of making the “starter” and then you make the bread from that. Then, next time you want to make it, you make the starter again and then make the bread. This doesn’t seem to be the case. I guess I just don’t understand how you have anything leftover each time. That’s actually a lot of questions…thanks for any help you can give!
You don’t have to start over each time…by adding the 1/2 c. of flour + 1/3 c. of water at feedings, you are essentially doubling your starter. And the actual bread recipe only uses a cup, so you’ll have lots leftover. As long as you keep feeding it, you’ll be able to keep it going essentially forever. Does that make sense? And yes, you are just making the starter here and then eventually you’ll use a *part* of that to make your bread. I hope that helps!
Thanks so much! This plus everyone else’s comments helped. Makes total sense and I can’t wait to try this. Thanks again…looking forward to the recipe!
This looks great! Does it have a slight pineapple taste?
You can also make sourdough starter from the peels of organic apples. It’s the way my dad always did it when I was a child.
http://www.newscancook.com/recipes/sourdough-made-with-apple-peel/ It’s something like that.
Mmmm, can’t wait to try this variation though!
No way! That is very cool! And no, you can’t taste the pineapple at all!
I did a speech on sourdough in college. You can make starter with bark from a tree…yeast is everywhere…
Very cool!
I made my own starter years ago but haven’t made sourdough in a long, long time. Looking forward to trying ti again! =)
I made my own. Pretty easy. I love it.
That’s awesome that you have the starter, that you’ve been working so diligently on finding the right recipe, and that you’re nailed it.
There are a few things I don’t make and bread is one of them. The most that I play with bacteria and yeast is brewing kefir and kombucha, but never sourdough.
I cannot imagine how crazy good pineapple is in the bread.WOW.
You actually can’t taste the pineapple at all!
I’ve done sourdough before and keep meaning to get a starter going again… I think tomorrow is a good day.
I really wanted to point out, though, that white whole wheat flour is NOT whole wheat pastry flour. Whole wheat pastry flour is a low-gluten flour milled from soft whole wheat. White whole wheat flour is milled from hard white wheat, and is high in gluten. If you try to bake bread from true whole wheat pastry flour alone, you are not going to get very good bread, because there isn’t enough gluten to adequately trap the gas bubbles from the yeast (wild or otherwise). In other words, you will get a brick. White whole wheat flour, on the other hand, is very suitable for bread-baking, and produces a loaf lighter in color and without the same bitterness of traditional whole wheat flour, which is ground from red wheat.
Oh, and English muffins made with sourdough… there are no words for their awesomeness. This is the main reason I want to get a starter going again!
Thank you for pointing that out! I will change what the flour is called in the recipe directions. I must try sourdough English muffins!
You’re welcome! If you’re in the market for a good book about whole-grain bread baking, check out The Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book. Pretty much all of my bread-baking knowledge comes from that book!
Too bad I didn’t read this post before I made the starter! I used whole wheat flour and my starter on day 6 has a doughy consistency that is nothing like your pictures. Should I start over or is there a way to whiten/thin this out? (am I showing my ignorance!?!)
I think you’ll be just fine, actually. I’d just maybe use a greater proportion of white flour in your bread if you want a lighter loaf.
yay, this is awesome! I was just reading the “bread” chapter in my Experimental Foods textbook and learned all about the chemistry of bread baking and now I”ve got the carby munchies like no one’s business! Your loaves are making my mouth water
these directions are so easy to follow! i love
what kind of jar do you use? like a mason jar? and do you close the lid completely or just rest it on top?
I made a sourdough starter last year and it was great! Every week I made something new – muffins, bread, etc. My family was spoiled until I forgot to feed it and IT became spoiled! I was wondering why you use pineapple juice. I just used water. Just curious!
I read that the acidity/enzymes kill off the bad bacteria while feeding the good.
Thank you! Excited to give this a try–we love sourdough! BTW, for those who are into such things: Using canned pineapple juice can acidify, and it adds natural sugar to feed the yeast. But there are no active enzymes left in canned juice; the heating process for canning destroys them. That’s why it’s OK to use canned pineapple in Jell-O, but not fresh pineapple, which contains live enzymes that break down the gelatin and prevent setting up. That’s also why we need to eat fresh, raw produce: cooking destroys enzymes, which our bodies need as much as vitamins.
Good info–thank you!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for putting out such an easy Sourdough starter recipe! I’ve been waffling back and forth about making my own bread for the longest time (yeast bread intimidates me!), but your starter is so easy to follow that I might make the plunge and start this weekend. Thanks so much and wish me luck!
Good luck, good luck, good luck!
This sounds like something i just might be able to do with messing up! I had no idea that the ingredients would be this simple, and never would have guessed that it would involve pineapple juice. You may have created a bread making monster over here!
I hope so!
Thanks for letting me know yesterday that the ultimate recipe doesn’t involve a bread machine – I think I will start the starter this weekend and maybe I can bake something the following weekend. I actually usually steer clear of bread in my house but this is irresistable…looks like it would make an awesome grilled “cheese.”
Fingers crossed yours takes off!
If you want to know what sourdough starter looks like when it’s gone bad…. http://urbangardeneranna.blogspot.com/2010/07/bread-therapy.html
Thanks, Anna!
Thank you Mama Pea for simplifying this process! I’ve read other starter instructions that sounded too complicated and turned me off. I just printed the entire post. Will start mine Saturday morning.
You are welcome! I was totally confused myself.
The only time I’ve tried to make a sourdough starter, our dog ATE it. It might be time to try again…
i have never heard of using pineapple juice! mine is just water + flour and I love it
it’s awesome for making pancakes.
I’ll have to blogstalk for your pancake recipe!
here it is!
http://www.branappetit.com/2010/02/06/sourdough-saturday/
i haven’t made these in a long time. i should get my starter out again.
Thanks, Brandi!
My brain hurts, but in an intrigued I want to subject myself to this kind of way. Thanks!
Excited to try. I really want to get back “to the basics” and make the time to bake our own bread and eat only non-processed foods, but it can be challenging. I just need to stop being lazy and suck it up.
Once you get a system down, it becomes pretty easy. I think making little schedules for yourself and doing prep work when you have time is key!
If you end up with a lot of starter you can also portion it out and freeze it. Then let it thaw and start feeding it again as you would do for your regular feedings. It will take more time, but it comes back to life! (that’s useful in the event you kill your starter…)
Good to know, Eleonora! Thank you!
I’m so excited about this post! I love your step by step instructions and explanations…I honestly never considered doing this before but you have totally convinced me. Can’t wait for the bread recipe!!
The star post it notes again!! Love. I wish I loved sourdough bread…it looks perfect. I know, I know. I’m kind of a freak.
No sourdough cake for you!
Great information–glad for the breather tho! Looking forward to the ultimate recipe
so much simpler than other starter instructions I’ve read! i’ll definitely be picking up some pineapple juice on the way home from my night shift tomorrow morning… my dad has been dying for a sourbread loaf!
Yum!!! Love love love sourdough!!!
Wow, you showed amazing dedication to this project! I have to admit it is a bit overwhelming but I believe in baking everything from scratch too so I am going to get over my fear and try it. Thank you for posting this! Looking forward to the bread recipe!
Ok – I seriously may have the world’s first truly dumb question: What the heck is a starter? The sourdough bread I made in my bread machine called for greek yogurt & uses yeast… was my recipe inauthentic? Is a starter used in place of yeast?
Hey Jenny!
From what I understand, a starter is yeast…it’s just a naturally occurring one! Basically, the flour/juice/water ferments, forming a certain kind of yeast, which works to produce CO2. Active dry yeast, or yeast you buy at the store does the same thing; both the starter (home-grown yeast) and purchased yeast cause CO2 to be produced as the carbohydrates (yeast “food”) are converted. This gives the lovely gas bubbles that cause the dough to rise and the final product to be light and lovely! In a more limited sense, this sort of gas production is what happens when you bake with baking soda/baking powders. The yeast is just more “lively”
Hope this helps
Okay Mama Pea, I’ve had many failed attempts with sourdough before. I even purchased a starter kit from a well known company only to have it die too! I’ve never seen one with pineapple juice but what I read in one of the comments above that you said “it has enzymes that kill the bad bacteria while letting the good bacteria grow” (paraphrasing here), makes a lot of sense. So I’m trusting you, I started my starter yesterday morning. I am hoping I’ll be able to make bread for my family on Monday. I’ve been making our own bread for some time now- I even have a grain mill and grind my own flour. I’ve soaked my flours, and even though they all devour the bread, I’ve never had a loaf substantial enough to hold up for a sandwich.I’m very excited to see how this turns out.
Have you tried making this kombucha stuff? I’ve never actually had any unless my homemade ginger ale counts. If you have and had good success with it, I can’t wait for you to share that one too. Suddenly I’m craving all -well maybe not all- but a lot of things fermented.
Let’s do this! I haven’t made kombucha yet, but I so badly want to! I did do the fermented ginger ale, and it was tasty, but no kombucha. Bread recipe coming…I hope your starter is doing well!
a generous pat of your face. haha. on my bread. promise to come to utah so i can try that?! anyway, marshall has been on a sourdough kick for a couple months now. we have tried various kinds from various stores.. but i keep telling him i will make it from scratch……..eventually. now that you have gone through the trial and error for me, i think i will give your method a shot. either that, or buy the starter that the baker at the grocery store told me he would sell me. but honestly, i think i would get some sort of sense of accomplishment if i made it myself. that’s the best part about recipe successes
thanks for your hard work, love you!
ps also like how the STARter label is on a star paper.
I’ll admit–I’m a little scared to try this, but you make it look so easy!
I’m looking forward to trying this out! Many years ago, I was given a sourdough starter that was a 100 years old and it made the best waffles! It’s too bad I ended up loosing the starter when we moved… I was very careful with it, but something happened.
I’m enjoying your blog. I must admit I am not sure about going totally vegan (yet)… mainly because I do not love the tofu and soy products… any suggestions?
Have a great day and thanks for sharing!
Susan,
We are not totally vegan and I’m of the mindset that you don’t have to completely overhaul your life to fit a label. If you don’t love tofu or soy products, don’t eat them! I have drastically cutback on our intake of soy. It’s been causing me some digestive issues. Maybe there’ll be a way I can work it back in someday, but for now I’m just making the best choices I can for me. That’s all you can do!
In other words, you don’t have to be sure about going totally vegan…that’s not something I’m going to advocate for you to do. For those that can, great! But for those who fall outside of the label (like us), that’s just fine too.
Hope that helps.
Thank you so much for your quick response – I appreciate it and I know you are very busy. So… if I incorporate more veggie style meals and not soy products – how do I can all the nutrients I need (proteins etc)… I’m not exactly sure how to begin this “sensibly” – I am pre-diabetic and am concerned about that issue…
I realize you have many people to respond to, but if you are able to give me any input – that would be wonderful. Does your book offer advise on this at all?
Thanks again!
Honestly, I’m not sure I’m the best person to give advice on this, especially given your health condition. I’d suggest seeing if your doctor could refer you to a nutritionist. I strongly believe that each individual has to eat according to the diet that is best for them, and that may or may not be vegan for you.
Hi Susan,
I think Mama Pea’s definitely right, but I would also say you might be surprised at the protein available in plant-based foods! Spelt flour and oatmeal have a fair amount, and legumes (beans, lentils) have a ton! Quinoa is a protein and nutrient powerhouse! I love to grind up hemp seeds to make my own “protein” powder and nuts/nut butters are also really good. The other great thing is that most of these items are low in sugar or at least low GI and have a good deal of fiber, which is super healthy for you and helps slow the absorption of sugars, hence keeping your insulin levels from spiking.
A nutritionist can definitely tell you more or a naturopathic doctor. Either way, I really recommend you look carefully at their credentials. I’m working on becoming a registered dietitian myself right this moment, but I’m probably one of the few out there that is going to be more supportive of a natural, wholefoods diet rather than artificial food “miracles” (i.e. aspartame, and other fake sweetners). Just make sure they have the education to back up their recommendations, as different states have different laws about who can call themselves a “Nutritionist”, but also make sure they have a similar philosophy to what type of lifestyle you’re looking for.
Sorry this is so long! Hope it helps.
Aubrey, thank you so much for responding on Susan’s behalf! I think you’ll make a brilliant RD.
Aw, thanks! I’m hoping so!
I cannot help but thank you both for your emails – What a pleasant surprise! I truly know I need to change my foods and ways of eating for sure, but I have not been positive how to do this in a realistic and healthy way. I’ve been a little bit afraid of not getting the correct nutrients and so it’s easier to revert to what I’m used to eating. It’s a little difficult to make changes. Mama Pea – I’m going to purchase your book in the next couple of days and begin a new eating journey! Aubrey, I love the fact that you are advocating natural foods and not the fake stuff! Best of luck to you!
Thank you again – I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me! It is definitely helpful!
Susan, have you read Kathy Freston’s “Veganist”? The first chapter changed my life! I was already eating a mostly vegetarian diet, but when I eliminated dairy I lost 71/2 pounds in 3 weeks! I have been trying to avoid the “vegan” label and just say I am following a plant-based diet. it is working for me, I highly reccomend it.
So I read your post on the bread and I commend you for making your own. My grandmother made bread when I was growing up and it always made the house smell like home. Now she makes yeast rolls and I love getting them fresh from the oven. Anyway, that little story is NOT why I’m commenting, but who doesn’t love a good g’ma story?!
Here is why I’m commenting. I read Design*Sponge religiously and today they had this in their newsletter! Thought you might enjoy!
http://www.designsponge.com/2012/03/sourdough-starter-diy.html
I love a good grandma story. And a good grandma. Thanks for the link…I’ll check it out!
Checked it out! Those labels are so cute. I will definitely be printing some.
I’ve been wanting to try a sourdough recipe for ages, this is so straightforward it might be the push I need to finally do it. Thanks!
Hi Sarah
quick question. You mentioned that you like to feed your starter evry 8 hours before baking- oh wait never mind I just re-read it and now I understand. Disregard. Good morning and have a great day anyhoo!
Into day 4 and ready for some bread! One question: how much should my starter grow? I’ve been doing the scheduled feedings and stirring, but I’m not sure if it’s activating or not. Is there a way to tell if it’s working? No funky colors or anything. It does seem a little runny though. Thanks!
Are there bubbles at all? And if you smell it, do you smell that sour dough scent?
I have some faint bubbles – I’m not giving up the ghost yet! It still smells like pineapple at this point. It doesn’t seem funky, just not quite there yet.
You’ll get there! It sounds like it looks exactly how it should.
Yim, there is nothing better then warm soft home made bread!
I absolutely LOVE your blog and read every post. I am not sure why I have never commented before…maybe because I am normally reading from my cell phone with my google reader, during my train rides to work.
I moved to the Netherlands two years ago and absolutely miss things like this, especially sourdough bread, chocolate chips (they only have the chunks here), and real vanilla for baking. Your blog has inspired and reminded me that it’s not so hard to have the things you love. Who would’ve thought that I would be making my own vanilla and start baking my own bread!
Thanks for sharing a piece of yourself!
Thanks for saying hello, Tess. I’m sure the Netherlands are beautiful…even if you have to settle for chocolate chunks. Thanks again for reading.
I absolutely love that you adapted your recipe from Breadtopia.com – Eric & Denyce are my aunt & uncle! If you ever find yourself in Iowa, you’ll have to try & visit them – I can only imagine the delicious foods that would come out of that collaboration.
They’ll be coming through Pittsburgh (where I live) in March… maybe I’ll surprise them & have some sourdough here waiting for them!
Very cool! They have a really great site with tons of bread baking info. I bet you eat good when you visit.
Hi Mama Pea,
My starter is ready, can’t wait to try the bread tomorrow. I’m sorry, I seem to be the only one confused about this, but I don’t want to kill my jar now that I’ve put all my hard work into it! When you say you remove your starter 24 hours before you want to bak a loaf, do you mean the entire jar or just the one cup that you are going to use to bake the bread? I am reading this as I take out my whole jar, put it on the counter, add 1/2 cup of flour and 1/3 a cup of water 2 or 3 times (every 8 hours), remove one cup to bake my bread, and put the lid back on and put it back in the refrigerator where I will repeat the process the next time I want to bake. Am I following you correctly??? Thanks for the great recipe!
I do exactly what you said! I’m not even going to repeat it because I might confuse you more, but yes, you have it exactly right!
Thank you!
My sourdough starter is 17 years old. I first made it when my oldest daughter was 2 and I’ve kept it alive longer than anything else (not including my children). Sourdough is good in everything, especially waffles and pancakes. I had no idea you could use pineapple juice to make starter, and I LOVE that idea.
I hope to be able to pass some of my sourdough starter on to all three of my kids when they move into places of their own. That probably sounds weird…
No, that’s not weird! That is so very cool. I hope mine makes it to my next birthday. Which is in a month
I put in my 1/2 cup of flour and 2 tablespoons of water. I waited 6 hours and it is not bubbling. What did I do wrong? It smells like bread but it didn’t do anything.
Hmmm…maybe your house doesn’t have a ton of yeast? I wouldn’t give up yet! Make sure to leave it at room temperature and see if it takes off.
Should I leave the lid off until then?
Nope, you can put the lid on.
My Andy sounds like Jenn’s… I’m on Day Six (but it’s still early in the day) and it smells like bread, but not really sour or bubbly yet. Should I feed it again tonight anyway or dump it and start over? Also, if I don’t have a lot of yeast in my air, does that mean I’ll never get it to take off?
Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t think it could hurt to feed it again and see if it’ll take off. You may have to end up buying a starter
Do you think I could use fresh pineapple juice? I have a juicer…then I could eat the rest of it!
Yes, of course! I love fresh pineapple…especially gnawing on that core.
I’m on Day 4, and I just found mold (white fuzzy stuff) on the inside of my jar…not on the starter itself. After some reading, I hesitantly tried to scrape the mold off the jar and poured the starter into a new, clean container. We shall see…. (Also, not really noticing any bubbling yet, but I fully expect that I will probably have to dump it out and start over if this new jar grows mold).
Bummer! I hope it turns around for you!
I decided to start over. It just didn’t smell yeasty to me…more like sour juice. The first time I used the fresh pineapple juice from Trader Joes (the stuff in the refrigerated section in the carton). This time, I’m trying it with the canned pineapple juice. We’ll see if that makes any difference. (I’ve also got a flour and water starter next to it, just to compare, since I’m pretty inexperienced with sour dough).
My starter got moldy too! I am on Day 5, and last night I found fuzzy white mold on the inside of the jar just above the starter. I scraped it off and kept the starter in the same jar. We’ll see! Fingers crossed!
I’ve read that if it gets moldy, it’s fine to scrape and keep going!
When I re-started mine, I was using a jar with a canning lid (lid and screw-top seal). Anyway, I just placed the lid on, but did not tighten the seal at all. The starter needs to be able to get the yeast from the air to break down without molding. Anyway, so far, so good. I’ve made 2 batches of bread (4 loaves total + a batch of pancakes), and it’s still going strong.
Thank you for this info on the jar! I was wondering what was the best kind of container to use. Right now I am using a glass jar with a canning lid, but I will try your tip about not screwing on the lid. I’m glad to know there is hope for my moldy starter yet!
Hey Mama Pea,
How much starter does this make? In other words, can I made two loafs of your bread recipe with it and still have starter remaining? Could I make half the starter and have enough to make one loaf?
Thanks!
I think it makes about a cup of starter…but what I would do is take it out of the fridge 24 hours before you are going to bake with it and feed it (1/2 c. flour + 1/3 c. water) every 8 hours. That’ll give you an extra 1 1/2 c. of starter by the time you are ready to bake. Hope that helps!
I have a question about the starter- After the morning Day 6 feeding of 1/2 c. flour + 2 T. water my starter got pretty dry, almost the consistency of bread dough. Your starter looks beautifully bubbly and more liquid-y. I have fed it twice more (1/2 c. flour + 1/3 c. water) and it’s still very dough-like. I’m an experienced bread maker, but this is my first experience with making a sourdough starter. Any advice? Should I add more water to return it to the pre-day 6 consistency? Thanks!
I’ve found that the more precise I am with my measurements, the more bubbly/liquidy my starter gets. I would perhaps make your next 1/2 c. of flour a little scant and be a little more generous with the 1/3 c. of water, but nothing crazy. Make sure to stir really well and maybe even find a warmer spot to store it, like near a heater vent or a warm oven? Hope that helps!
Thanks for your response. My first loaf is in the oven right now!
I’ve had the link to this post sitting in my inbox for 2 weeks. The title captured my attention but I was only able to read it now. I’m SO glad I did. I may have to go stock up on some whole wheat flour and pineapple juice. Though my question is if you think a combo of ap flour and barley flour may work? Mostly because I’m way too lazy to buy more flour.. =)
I’ve actually heard of barley working for a starter before, so I say give it a try!
Great! Thanks for letting me know!
Today was the long awaited post day 6 bread day, with . . . a fail:( My bread didn’t rise up hardly at all!! I am not sure if it was my starter or otherwise, but I noticed on the final add-in when I put in more flour and water that it was not as liquidy as yours (more like a wet dough than a liquidy mixture) and only exhibited minimal bubbling. Do you think my starter may have failed and if so any suggestions to bring it back . . . I still have some in my fridge. Thanks so much!
Noooooo! Did you add yeast to your bread? I would bring your starter to room temperature and try feeding it again, every 8 hours for 24 hours. Then in your next loaf, I’d try adding a whole teaspoon of yeast. That should do the trick!
I was going to try looking through the comments to see if this was already asked, but there were far too many.
After day 6, my sourdough starter is extremely thick in consistency. Is that normal? What is the ‘thickness’ supposed to be like?
Hmm…mine is not terribly thick. I would say it’s about the consistency of cake batter, perhaps a bit thicker. Next feeding I would be a little more generous with the water and a little more scant with the flour!
Thanks! I think its getting to a better consistency now. I think that I am going to make my first loaves tonight and let it rise over night and bake in the morning!
Another question: Do you have any idea how using raw honey might effect it? I have real maple syrup, so I will probably just use that. But I have raw honey (for tea) and was wondering if you knew anything about using it in place of regular honey.
I think the honey would be fine to swap in interchangeably! I hope your loaves turn out great.
We just posted about sourdough starters and pancakes! Check it out! : )
http://dinnerintervention.com/?p=75
I have made this twice now and each time I get to day 6 I add the 1/2 cup and 2 tbsp water and my starter basically turns into dough. Its not liquid at all. What am I
Doing wrong?
It’s not supposed to be liquid…it is supposed to be dough! You probably have it just right.
I keep forgetting to stir it in the morning before I go to work. Will it still get there eventually?
I hope so…but you still need to stir
I HAVE remembered it every evening, so I’ll just cross my fingers (and maybe set myself an a.m. ALARM)
Good news… when I stirred my starter tonight, it was getting some small bubbles in it.
Update… I think because of the 2 or 3 days where I forgot to stir it in the morning, I’m going to have to give it a little extra time. Maybe an extra day or two. But it’s getting there.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!
Gahh–bread mold. Is it all over?
Okay, so it’s up to you…but I’ve read that it’s fine to scrape the mold off and keep going. That being said, my old starter was smelling kind of funky so I dumped her a week ago, started a new one and baked another loaf up today. Your call!
I scraped out the mold… did the last feeding where you put it in a bigger jar… next morning it was all bubbled up and smelled perfect! Yay!
Now it’s in the frig… planning to get it out Friday so I can bake Saturday.
Wonderful! I knew it would work out
I am on day 3 of my starter and I am ridiculously excited about this project. This is my first attempt at any type of yeast breads at home and since the stuff at the store scares me I am determined to make it work. Thank you for sharing!
I’m on Day 6 PM and just made a recipe using the sourdough starter. Do I feed it immediately after removing the starter or do I wait?
You can feed it right away. Good luck!
I followed your instructions to the letter, great results so far, but yesterday at day 5, to add 5 T flour and 3 T of water made it soooo very thick. Is that correct? Thanks.
It should be fine. As the air bubbles form, it “lightens” up the starter. But it is supposed to be fairly thick regardless.
I don’t know how I missed this post when it first came out. I had sourdough starter a few years ago but went out of town for a month and it died. I am doing it again. I use the River Cottage method.
There is no yeast in the recipe???