Sourdough Starter

A sourdough starter cultivate wild yeast and bacteria that can be used for baking bread.

Ingredients

• ½ cup whole wheat flour (plus additional ½ cups of four for feeding the starter 3-4 times over the following week).
• ¼ cup filtered warm water (plus additional water for feeding the starter over the following week)

Equipment

• 1 litre glass jar
• Measuring jug
• Measuring spoons
• Fork or small whisk

Method

1. Mix flour and warm water in a jar. Mix until smooth and thick like pancake batter.
2. Cover with a lid and allow to rest in a warm place (such as in your oven with the pilot light on).  Stir the mixture every 12 hours for the next 2 days.
3. During this time, bubbles should appear which indicate your starter is 'alive'.
4. At the beginning of day 3 ‘feed the starter’.  Add another ½ cup flour and ¼ cup warm water and mix until smooth.  Before feeding the starter, you can remove half of it to keep the starter reasonably small, or you can just add the flour and allow the starter to grow to a larger quantity each time you feed it.  The choice will depend on how much starter you wish to use or build up.  I generally allow the starter to build up and then use in a recipe (such as sourdough flatbreads). Starter that is removed is known as the 'sourdough starter discard - and can be used in recipes).

5.     Cover again with a lid and allow to sit for another 24 hrs.

6.     Feed the starter each day for the next 3 days. 

7.     After a week the starter should be bubbly and spongy, and is now ready to use or store on the bench or in the fridge.  Storing in the fridge will slow down the fermentation and you won’t need to feed it as often (just once every week or two).  If you leave it on the bench, then feed it when the bubbles start to disappear (every day or two).

Photos of the process: