Caring for your sourdough starter is the most important part of baking sourdough bread. If you want to have a loaf that rises, holds shape, and taste delicious then it all starts with your sourdough starter and maintaining and feeding it!
Caring for your Sourdough Starter
Thank you so much for purchasing this sourdough starter! I made her from scratch and it’s been so much fun sharing and teaching other! If you didn’t notice, her name is Gertrude, Gerdie for short!
I know sometimes its easier to follow along with instructions and seeing it in a video. I have my whole sourdough baking process saved on my Instagram highlights under Sourdough.
I highly recommend having a scale for sourdough baking, or and bread baking. It’s more precise measuring your ingredients by weight instead of volume is the most accurate method since it ensures you use the same amount of flour each time you bake. This is the scale I use and its cordless!
•As soon as you get your starter, you’ll need move it to a bigger jar (she will rise and over flow in the jar she comes in) and feed it with organic flour (I use king Arthur organic bread flour) and room temperature filtered water. She will rise and double in size. If you are using a scale, feed her 50 grams flour and 50 grams water. If you do not have a scale, do 1/4 cup organic flour, and 1/4 cup filtered water.
•If your starter was shipped, she might be a little sleepy. I recommend doing a double feed to get her really active. Feed once and then four hours later discard half and do another feed. (50 grams flour & 50 grams water)
•You can store her on your kitchen counter in a draft free spot with a tea saucer or tea towel over top. Don’t use an air tight lid or container because it could explode. Sourdough starters need room to rise and grow.
• The next day, discard half of your starter and feed it another 50 grams flour and 50 grams water. You’ll want to feed her everyday. This is the important part of maintaining and having a healthy sourdough starter.
• There’s a ton of discard recipes out there if you don’t like the thought of throwing the discard away.
•If you aren’t planning on baking everyday or every other day, you can also store it in the fridge. When storing it in the fridge you’ll need to feed it at least once a week. It may take a couple feedings to wake her back up before baking. So if you are planning on baking soon, I would keep her on the counter until you bake and continue to feed daily.
Beginners Guide for your first Sourdough loaf
• Feed your starter and wait 2-4 hours for it to fully rise and be active. I recommend feeding her first thing in the morning. Between 6-8 am. It’ll give her plenty of time to fully rise and become active.
•Once she’s active, pour 100 grams into a bowl and add 350 grams of room temperature filtered water. Mix together with your hand until there’s no clumps.
• Next add 500 grams of organic bread flour and 10 grams of salt.
• Mix it all together with clean hands. It’ll be wet and sticky! Cover with a tea towel and let it sit for 30 minutes in a draft free spot.
•Once it’s rested for 30 minutes, it’s time for stretch and folds. You’ll do this for two hours for every 30 minutes. Stretch and folds help active gluten which will make it easier to work with and shape.
• Stretching and folding is taking one end of the loaf and stretching it and folding it over, turning your loaf and doing it about 10-20 times. I also wet my fingers to help with it sticking to them. In between stretching and folding make sure you put your dough back In your bowl with a tea towel over it. If you’re confused on exactly how to stretch and fold, I suggest looking on Youtube. There’s tons of videos showing how to do it.
• After two hours of stretching and folding, its time for bulk fermentation. You’re gonna let your dough sit in a warm area for 4-8 hours for it to double in size. My oven has a bread proofing setting but if yours doesn’t, preheat your oven for 175 for just a couple minutes and turn it off just so it’s gets warm in there. Put your bowl with your dough and a wet tea towel over the bowl in the oven and wait for it to rise. Make sure you get your tea towel damp before draping it over your bowel. It’ll help keep your dough from becoming hard on top. The ideal temp for bread proofing is between 80-90 degrees.
After Bulk Fermentation
• After 4-8 hours you’ll notice your dough doubled in size. Next it’s time for the pre-shaping. You’re going to flour a surface on your counter and have a basket and towel ready. Some people use banneton proofing baskets. I have a ton of baskets at my house and I’ll put a tea towel (these are the ones I use.) in it and it works perfectly!
• I will put a little bit of rice flour down on a clean counter surface and scoop my dough onto it and shape it into a ball (doesn’t have to be perfect, we’ll be shaping it again after it rest.) I let my dough rest with a bowl covering it for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes I’ll remove the bowl and let it rest for another 10 minutes. I will also use my dusting wand to sprinkle a little rice flour on top of the dough so its easier to shape after it rest.
• After its rested for another 10 minutes, you’ll want to take your bench scrape and lift the edges all around and turn it upside down. This is where I’ll reshape my dough. Ill bring one end to the middle, then take the left side of the dough to the right side and the right side to the left, then I’ll bring the bottom end up and tuck it to the top. You want to keep pushing the dough towards you with your scraper to create a tight ball. The top will become smooth. I suggest watching a video on preshaping if you aren’t 100% sure.
• Once preshaping is done, I lay a tea towel in my basket and make sure it is floured so the dough doesn’t stick. You want to put your dough in the floured basket upside down. The smooth part of your dough, the top part, should be upside down in your basket. Cover and set in a safe place in the fridge for overnight for your dough to proof. Proofing is what helps your dough get the sourdough flavor. Your dough can proof up to 48 hours. I usually aim for 12-17 hours.
Baking your Sourdough Loaf
• The next morning you’ll want to preheat your oven for 500 degrees. Put your loaf on parchment paper and score your bread before putting it into your Dutch Oven. This is the lame I use for scoring my bread.
• Preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit WITH Dutch oven inside the oven. You want your Dutch oven to be nice and hot before your loaf goes in.
• Place your dough into your Dutch oven and add about 4-5 ice cubes, or if you don’t have ice pour about 3 tbsp of water into your Dutch oven. This helps with the bottom becoming to hard and helps with steam for your loaf to rise. Bake for 20 minutes with the lid on. After 20 minutes, drop the temp down to 425 and take lid off and bake another 15-20 minutes. I always watch my loaf closely after dropping the temp down to make sure it doesn’t get to dark on top. After that, turn the oven off and pull your bread out. Let your loaf cool down for at least 30-45 minutes before cutting into it!
If you ever have any questions please feel free to reach out to me!
Here is the link to my amazon store front to all the things I use for making my loaves! HERE
Common Questions
My sourdough starter isn’t rising or bubbling, What do I do?
It could take a few feedings for your starter to rise. It just went through several days of traveling and hasn’t been fed. I highly recommend doing double feeds until you notice changes. Sourdough starters thrive when they are being fed often. My sourdough starter has big bubbles and rises a lot because I’m feeding it often and baking with it often. Make sure you are using an unbleached organic flour and start by feeding your starter 50 grams unbleached organic flour and 50 grams water. Wait 4-6 hours and discard half of your starter and feed it another 50 grams water and 50 grams flour. I promise you’ll notice changes soon!
What kind of flour do you use?
I use to use King Arthur Organic bread Flour alll the time! But then I saw several people on a sourdough group I’m in raved about Trader Joes Organic All Purpose Flour and once I tried it, I haven’t gone back! For one, its half the price of King Arthur, it has a higher protein content than King Arthur, and it makes the SOFTEST and most yummiest bread!
How old is your starter and did you make it?
I created my Sourdough starter two years ago! I became really intrigued with making homemade bread for my family and wanting to learn everything I could about sourdough. I’ve had MANYYY failed loaves. I’ve checked out countless books at the library to learn everything I could about sourdough starters and bread. It’s been the best hobby learning and sharing what I’ve learned!
Is my house to cold for my starter?
One thing I’ve learned about sourdough starters and making sourdough bread is temperature is a huge key with getting your dough and starter to rise! If you live in a colder climate I highly recommend letting your starter or dough rise in the oven. My oven has a bread proofing setting. And time I’m baking I use my oven to keep my starter warm, and while my dough is rising. If your oven doesn’t have a bread proofing setting then just preheat your oven a for a couple minutes and turn it off. Just so its warm inside. Sourdough starters thrive best in temperatures of 78-85 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, make sure you put a note on your stove so no one accidently starts to preheat your oven with your starter inside. Your starter will rise faster in a warmer area.