The Sourdough Starter – Where It All Begins

At some point in time a long time ago, someone must have accidentally left some flour and water in a jar, and then hours later found it bubbling away. And, instead of throwing it away, it must have got mixed up with some fresh flour and then some of this must have fallen into the fire, or near it and was cooked accidentally into bread. And, I guess, so started a new way of preparing and baking bread. Using a starter that keeps alive from week to week, so that the age of the starter also helps improves the flavour of the bread.

Roll forward a couple of thousand years, and you find yourself in the midst of a bread revolution, where everyone is happy to have a go at baking some bread at home. For those who manage to keep going, the weekly reward of eating freshly home-baked bread is a treat to behold.

So, what is a starter exactly. Well, it’s a mix of flour and water. The natural wild yeasts and bacteria that is in the atmosphere and on the wheat reacts, if its allowed to, and will begin to ferment. This fermentation creates millions of bubbles, which when used to make bread, causes it to rise the bread. This is where the magic will transform a dough that’s inedible before cooking, into a something wonderful, with a crunchy crust and aroma that can stop the traffic.

Keeping Your Starter Alive

Consistency is the key. Bake regularly is the answer, and this will help keep your starter fresh. I have a recipe that asks for 500g of starer in my weekly bake on a Friday.

My Sourdough Starter Feeding Routine

I bake every Saturday morning, which means I need to get things ready the day before. I live in Portugal now, so I can start on Fridays. Before, when I lived in the UK, I woudl have to begin this on Thursdays, as it’s much cooler and the fermentation takes longer.

• Friday morning: Remove the Kilner jar from the fridge and add to it 100g of water, and an equal amount of white flour, the same that I use to make my bread with
• Friday lunchtime: about 4 hours later, I will feed it once again, this time with 150g of water and 150g of flour. Now I’ve prepared 500g of new starter, which by 5PM will be full of bubbles and at the optimum time to make bread

I always leave the starter in a warm place, but out of direct sunlight. If you get into the habit of marking the level of your starter, you will be able to see easily how much it has grown. If you think it hasn’t risen much at all, then move to a warmer spot, or do a 3rd feed, of another 100g of both water/flour.

I use a Kilner jar to store my starter in, but recently I came across the book, Crumb, by Richard Bertinet, and in it, he strongly argues against using glass, in case you drop it on the floor, which of course would be the end of your starter. Too risky to ever use again, or try to salvage. Others have suggested keeping 2 x starters, in case one is ruined. I read on Reddit, that a lady was busy making bread unbeknown that her husband was busy washing up, and yes that included the starter jar!

Daily Feeding

Because I make bread every week, there’s no need to feed my starter every day. Just by following my weekly routine, listed above, I find that I can maintain my starter. It looks healthy, smells beery, and comes back to life with masses of bubbles after the first feed.

Tips for Sustaining Your Sourdough Starter

• Consistency is Key: Maintain regular feedings to keep your starter healthy. Even if you don’t bake weekly, aim to feed it at least once a week. Especially if you go away, feed it before you go, and then on return, and try to get back into your baking routine to use up the starter.
• Monitor the Temperature: Sensitive to temperature fluctuations, your starter may need a cooler place to store your starter or adjusted feeding times in warmer months to avoid over-fermentation.
• Use the Discard: Instead of discarding surplus starter, incorporate it into pancakes, waffles, and other recipes for a delightful tang and reduce waste. But, to be honest, I never discard. I’ve found that by baking regularly I can keep my starter in good condition.
• Don’t fear the starter: Sometimes we have friends over, or I gift a freshly baked loaf or two and find that we’ve run out of bread mid-week. So, out comes the starter and the process starts over again as I do a mid-week bake. The starter is flexible and can suffer some abuse, after all it has been found on the inside of clay pots from Egyptian pyramids used in baking, which when taken and mixed with fresh flour and water, and brought back to life, thousands of years later!

Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences! Have you tried making your own sourdough starter? Do you have any tips or tricks that work well for you? Leave a comment below to join the conversation and help others start or build on their sourdough journey!