Hi! I am so glad you're here. Because if you're here, that means you're interested in the process of making sourdough! I'm warning you though... it becomes addicting.
Before we begin... heads up, this will be a LOT of information to digest. If you're new to sourdough, I highly encourage you to read through this slowly - maybe even a couple of times - until things really start to click. And don't worry - the "ah hah!" moment WILL come. I promise.
Bread making has been around as far back as history goes and people have been leavening their bread for thousands of years with the most simple ingredients: flour, water and time. Add salt into the equation and bam - you have a nutritious and yummy loaf to dive into.
Bread making is an art. An art and science that feels therapeutic and calming, which is the total opposite of what life is like being a SAHM to two boys. So maybe that's why I like it so much... it's my little time of peacefulness in the kitchen. I also just love being able to provide a healthier option to my family than store bought bread. Bread that's not full of preservatives and additive ingredients.
But if you're like me and feeling overwhelmed by all the sourdough craze flooding social media, I get it. I was once in your shoes, too. But do not worry! That's what this sourdough guide is all about. Let me explain in full detail everything you need to know. Because let me tell you... when I started my sourdough journey, I went down the RABBIT HOLE. Badly. I stayed up way too late at night hiding my phone under the covers as I non-stopped researched what the heck a sourdough starter is, how to perfect a beautiful loaf, what tools I needed to accomplish it and spent hours decoding all the lingo while simultaneously trying to puzzle together too many people's methods.
Starting this journey feels intimidating. But I promise it's really quite easy. Once you get a few loaves under your belt, the process becomes an imminent rhythm. This guide will give you all the information you need to begin your sourdough journey!
Are you ready? Let's do this.
WHAT IS A SOURDOUGH STARTER?
A sourdough starter is a live fermented culture of flour and water that you mix, feed and maintain over time. In simple terms, a starter is the leavening agent in bread instead of using commercial bought yeast from the store. There's wild yeast floating around in our environment and also within the flour we use. The wild yeast gets activated when flour is mixed with water. Over time, the natural bacteria (good, friendly bacteria!) in the mixture gets "hungry" and needs more flour and water to "eat." So... you feed it more flour and water. Then over time, the bacteria needs to eat again. So you feed it more flour and water. It's a never ending cycle. Do you get where I'm going with this?
A sourdough starter consists of two ingredients: flour and water. Mix those two things in a jar and let time do all the work. That's all there is to it. Most of sourdough is hands-off... meaning, TIME is what drives your bread making. But the little hands-on time is important. All you need is 2-3 minutes of your time every day to attend to your starter. The rest of the day it just sits there.
So when you see people post pictures like the ones above, THAT'S a starter. And until you just read what a starter is, would you have believed me that it's truly just flour and water inside those jars? I know, crazy.
When properly fed and maintained, sourdough starters can live for many many years. The older a sourdough starter is, the more mature it is. Meaning, it'll give great rise to your bread and give a great "crumb", which is the sourdough lingo for what the inside of a loaf looks like.
Because it's a natural process, sourdough starters take longer to create bread rather than using something like an instant yeast packet from the store. The extended time it takes for the dough to rise enhances the overall flavor and texture... and is much more nutrient dense than store-bought bread.
If you already got a starter from someone else, GREAT! The hardest part is already done for you. You now have an active, mature starter ready to use and bake with right away!
SOURDOUGH STARTER 101
FEEDING YOUR STARTER:
You do not need to feed it every day unless you're wanting to bake with it often.
Rule of thumb: when you want to bake, keep it on the counter. When you aren’t wanting to bake or if you’re going out of town, feed it and put it in the fridge until you want to use it again. The cold temperature slows down how quickly it rises, thus leaving it totally hands-off for awhile.
So why do we need to feed a starter? Because like any living thing, it needs food to grow and be happy. When you feed a starter, the bacteria in the mixture will "eat" through the water and flour you feed it and in return, it doubles or triples in size because a gas gets released as it "eats." Once it's done expanding upward like that, it "peaks" ...and once it peaks, THAT'S when you use it to make bread. Or if you're following any recipe that says you need "active" starter, the word "active" means when a starter is at its peak.
So how long does it take for the starter to reach its peak? And how much do we feed it? Well... it depends on WHEN you want to use it and HOW MUCH of it you need. Let me explain...
LET'S TALK RATIOS:
A 1:1:1 ratio means equal parts starter, water and flour. For example: if I left 25g of starter in my jar, I’d feed it 25g water and 25g flour. So all equal parts. A 1:1:1 ratio will make your starter peak in about 4ish hours. Now remember... you use your starter when it's at its peak, right? So if you feed your starter a 1:1:1 ratio right before bed, it's going to reach its peak (double or triple in size) while you're sleeping, which you don't want.
Let's say I'm going to feed my starter before bed and I want it to be at its peak in the morning (so I can mix dough when I wake up). To time it out right, I need to feed it the right ratio before bed. If I go to bed at 8:30 PM and I know I won't wake up until 6:30 AM, that's 10 hours of time. If I feed it a 1:3:3 ratio (giving it more flour and water so it has more food to eat) I know it'll take more time for it to reach its peak. So before bed, I'll keep 15g of starter and feed it 45g flour + 45g water. This will give me the 1:3:3 ratio I'm wanting plus it'll give me a total of 105g of starter... enough to mix a loaf of dough + have a little extra to keep feeding again. You never want to use ALL of it up... then you'd never have any left to keep using indefinitely.
The bigger your ratio is, the longer it'll take for your starter to reach its peak. Keep that in mind when you're trying to plan out a baking schedule. Sourdough is SO much about planning and timing, which all begins with the starter.... feeding it the right ratio to get it ready for when you need it. Remember, you always use your starter when it's at its PEAK.
For me personally, I like feeding my starter 2x/day.... in the morning and again in the evening. Roughly 12 hours apart. The 1:3:3 ratio is great for 12 hour feeding increments because I mix my dough either in the morning or in the evening, which means my starter will always be at its peak on those 12 hour increments. Make sense???
So how do I know how MUCH to feed it???
This depends on how much you need. If you're only planning on baking one loaf, you don't need to feed your starter as much as if you were planning on baking two loaves. Keep in mind, ONE loaf requires 75g of starter.
examples to help you know how much to feed it using the 1:3:3 ratio:
PREPARING STARTER TO BAKE ONE LOAF:
15:45:45 = 105g total
(15 grams of starter will be kept in the jar + you'll feed it 45g water & 45g flour)
PREPARING STARTER TO BAKE TWO LOAVES:
25:75:75 = 175g total
(25 grams of starter will be kept in the jar + you'll feed it 75g water & 75g flour)
When you are feeding your starter and putting the jar on the scale, make sure you're factoring in the weight of the jar. For example: my jar weighs 480g. So when I put my jar of starter on the scale and it's showing me 505g, that does not mean I have 505g of STARTER. That actually means I have 25g of starter because 480 of that was the weight of the jar. So keep that in mind when you're feeding your starter and figuring out how much is in there.
DISCARDING YOUR STARTER:
Discarding = AFTER it peaks and after you use what you need for a recipe, you may still have more starter than you need for re-feeding, so you scoop out the extra amount from the jar and either throw it down the trash or keep it in the fridge to use for discard recipes. Most people just keep a container of it in the fridge at all times and you can keep adding more and more discard to it over time. But why? Why keep it? Because trust me - some of the best sourdough recipes call for sourdough DISCARD, which is basically the mixture that's still your starter but hasn't been fed at all. And it's been kept cold in the fridge over time.
If you maintain your starter just over what you need, you may only have enough leftover to re-feed again, which means you wouldn't necessarily have to discard any. But if there’s quite a bit left in the jar and feeding it will create too much mixture, you may want to discard so you’re not having to maintain so much in your jar.
Often people will purposely feed their starters more than they need just for the sake of collecting discard over time to use for certain discard recipes.
Never discard your starter down the kitchen drain (all the mixture will clog up your pipes over time). Keep your discard in a container in the fridge. It can be any container… Pyrex, Tupperware, plastic, whatever. Just keep a lid on it. And any time you have extra starter and want to discard, just keep adding it to the same container, which is always kept in the FRIDGE.
Discard = fridge
Active starter = counter
One of my absolute favorite, go-to discard recipes: sourdough chocolate chunk cookies! They're incredible. I always make a batch for my husband's crew at the fire station because they always want more! (link for this recipe is found at the bottom) Another favorite discard recipe my family is obsessed with is sourdough banana bread muffins! (recipe is also linked at the bottom)
HOW DO I USE MY DISCARD?
You can use your discard right from the fridge when it's cold. You do not need to feed it or let it come to room temperature before using it. Just follow whatever recipe you're wanting to make.
DO I REALLY NEED TO FEED MY STARTER EVERY DAY?
WHAT IF I HAVE TO GO OUT OF TOWN? OR DON'T WANT TO BAKE?
You don't need to put your life on hold just because you have a jar of living organisms sitting on your kitchen counter. You also don't have to keep it on the counter every day if you're not wanting to bake anything. So if you're going out of town or want to take a break on it for a little while... just feed it a bigger ratio (like a 1:5:5 or whatever) put the lid on tight, place it in the fridge and feed it again whenever you're ready to bake again.
It can stay in your fridge for a solid 10-14 days before you need to take it out and feed it again. Technically you can keep it in for longer but then you're risking your starter to develop something on top called "hooch," which is a brown icky liquid. And if you reallyyyy neglect it for a long time and don't feed it for months, it'll develop mold on top.
HOW DO I USE MY STARTER AFTER ITS BEEN SITTING IN THE FRIDGE FOR AWHILE?
Let's say your starter has been in the fridge for a week and now you want to bake again. You'll maybe notice it has risen a bit since sitting in the cooler temperature. Set it out on the counter and allow it to come to room temp for a few hours. You may see it continue to rise even more as it warms up. It may even completely double or triple in size. If it does, by all means mix up some dough when you feel like it's at its peak. Otherwise, proceed with a normal discard/feeding like you typically do.
WHEN IS MY STARTER READY TO BAKE BREAD?
- When it doubles (or even triples) in size
- Bubbly all throughout, especially on the surface
- Should sound bubbly and stringy as you start to move it around with a spoon or spatula and should feel airy, stringy, web-like and sticky
Sourdough starters are very forgiving. It takes a lot to actually "kill" one. Some people will forget to feed their starter for weeks as it sits in the fridge getting pushed further and further back as new groceries are being replenished around it. So give yourself grace if "life" happens and you forget to feed your starter. It'll be just fine! Go on your week or two- week vacation. Your starter won't hate you, I promise :) They're very resilient.
OTHER TIPS/TRICKS:
Use a rubber band to mark where the top of the starter is after feeding it... this will help you see how much it grows before you feed it again.
Keep your starter in a warm place of your house (ideally between 70-76 degrees).
You don't have to change jars every day but you may want to periodically change jars at some point (I usually change jars about once every couple of weeks) because the top of your jar will get crusty after awhile. It’s nice to have a second jar on-hand. While you transfer your starter to a new jar, you can have the crusty jar soaking in water!
SAVE your discard for recipes! There's an endless list of sourdough discard recipes online. Some of my favorite recipes use discard - so build up on that!
Knowing ahead of time WHAT you want to bake and WHEN you want to bake is what will drive the overall maintenance of your starter.
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SOURDOUGH LOAF
Sourdough bread is more than just a recipe... it's an understanding. It's more about being able to "read" the dough correctly rather than sticking to a certain timeframe a recipe says. The more practice you have, the more you'll develop your own routine/method for what works best for you.
MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED:
- Big bowl (I personally like using my large Pyrex bowl)
- Kitchen scale
- Dough whisk
- Spoon
- Clean kitchen towel or tea towel
- Bench scraper
- Banneton
- Plastic bag (a Target bag or something like that)
- Scoring razor
- Cast iron Dutch oven
- 1/4 cup uncooked rice
- Parchment paper
INGREDIENTS:
- 75g active, bubbly sourdough starter
- 340g water (I always use filtered spring water)
- 500g bread flour
- 10g salt
DOUBLE THE INGREDIENTS FOR A DOUBLE BATCH OF DOUGH IF YOU WANT TO MAKE TWO LOAVES!
STEP-BY-STEP:
In a large glass bowl, add 75g of starter.
Add 330g of water (the extra 10g of water will be used later on). Use the dough whisk to thoroughly mix. It should look like a very creamy/milky/frothy liquid.
Add 500g of bread flour. Use the dough whisk again to mix until well combined while scraping the sides of the bowl to get any remaining dry flour. This mixture will be very sticky and "shaggy" and may seem difficult to mix but keep at it. Cover with a clean dry towel or tea towel and let it sit for about 45 minutes.
Add in the remaining 10g of water and 10g of salt. Pinch it all into the dough fiercely and just keep pinching, poking and folding the dough over itself as you mix everything together. This will take a couple of minutes. You will notice the dough strengthening and becoming smoother during this process. Cover with the towel again and let it sit for 20-30 minutes.
Perform your first "stretch and fold." I encourage you to watch a YouTube video (click here!) on how to do this although it really is quite simple. You take the edge of the dough and pull upward and then fold it back over the top of the dough. Then do a quarter turn of the bowl and do it again. Repeat until you finish all quarter turns of the bowl. As you go through each stretch and fold, you'll notice the dough strengthening and resisting back at you as the gluten develops, making it tougher to pull upward and over. Cover again with the towel for another 15-30 minutes.
Continue to do stretch and folds every 20-30 minutes 2-3 more times. I actually prefer doing "coil folds" for the last two. YouTube this one as well (click here!) to see how it's performed. As the dough strengthens, it becomes hard to "stretch" it and fold it... so coil folds become easier and more gentle on the dough.
Now it's time for bulk fermentation. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter for 7-10 hours (depending on the temperature of your home and how your dough responds). You know bulk fermentation is complete when: the dough has doubled in size, is super jiggly, looks puffy and dome-shaped on top, lots of active bubbles going on if you can see through the sides of your bowl... and the edges of the dough around the top should be rounded off from the sides of the bowl. Personally, my dough does best at being done with bulk fermentation around the 8 hour mark.
Once your dough is looking like I described in the last step, you'll want to tip the bowl upside down and use your hand to get the dough to plop down on your counter. You do not need to flour the surface... you actually want a little friction between the dough and the counter. Now you're going to shape the dough. This can be done in multiple different ways and everyone seems to have their own little method, so definitely search on YouTube and see which way interests you the most. Play around with different methods each time you make a loaf so you can see what you like best! My method: after flipping the dough out onto the counter, I gently pat down and spread the dough into a round-ish circle. Then I take the dough edges and bring them into the middle.Then I flip it around so the smooth side is now facing upward. Then apply pressure through a push/pull method as you round the dough into a tight ball. Make sure not to overwork your dough... you don't want to tear open the "skin" by doing this far longer than you need to.
Take the bench scraper and quickly scrape it underneath your ball of dough, flip it upside down and place it into your lightly floured banneton (so the seam side/bottom of your dough is facing up). I often "stitch" it closed by pulling the outter edges over each other toward the middle to help keep it from spreading out. Place a plastic bag around the whole banneton and stick it in the fridge.
Let your dough sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 48 hours. This is what gives you a little flexibility on when you'd like to bake it.
Once you have time to bake it, start your oven. Preheat to 475 degrees WITH your Dutch oven inside so that can heat up as well. Once your oven is at 475 degrees, let your Dutch oven sit in there for a little longer to ensure it's nice and hot.
Now take your dough out of the fridge and turn the banneton upside down for your boule to fall onto a piece of parchment paper (now the smooth top side is facing up again). Use a sharp razor blade to "score" the dough. This allows the gases inside to escape during baking. Search google images for all sorts of ways you can score your loaves... this is where you can make it as artistic as you want! I personally love the simple look of what one big slash in the dough does to the end result... it makes a big "ear" and helps give height to the loaf. Some people like the look of gently flouring the top of their loaves. I do this when I really want a design to pop! Again, this step is your own personal touch and truly makes every loaf of sourdough unique.
Take the Dutch oven out of the regular oven and add 1/4 cup of uncooked rice to the bottom. This will prevent the bottom of your bread from burning or getting too dark.
Grab the sides of the parchment paper and carefully place your loaf of dough (with the paper too) inside the Dutch oven. Put the top back on and place in the center of your oven.
Bake for 25 minutes with the lid ON.
Take the lid OFF, decrease the oven temp to 420 degrees and now bake for an additional 12-15 minutes, or until the golden brown color you desire. No need to take your loaf out while your oven temp is going down.
Carefully grab the sides of the parchment paper and pull upward to get your loaf out of the Dutch oven. Let the loaf cool for at least 3-4 hours before cutting into it.
STEPS 1-3: mix together the starter, water & flour
STEP 4: mix in the salt & another 10g of water
STEP 5-6: stretch & folds
STEP 7-9: bulk fermentation, then shaping
STEP 12-14: scoring & placing in the Dutch oven
STEP 17: the final result
TWO EXAMPLES OF TIMELINES:
• feed your starter in the morning with a 1:3:3 ratio
• 8:00 PM: mix the ingredients to make your dough and let it sit for about 45 min
• 8:45 PM: add salt and a splash of water and really mix the dough together well
• 9:00-10:00 PM: do 3-4 stretch and folds about 20 min apart
• Let it sit on the counter to rise for about 8 hours while you sleep
• 6:00 AM: shape the dough into a ball and place in the fridge to bake later that day whenever you have time. Bam, done!
• feed your starter before bed with a 1:3:3 ratio
• 7:00 AM: mix the ingredients to make your dough and let it sit for about 45 min
• 7:45 AM: add salt and a splash of water and really mix the dough together well
• 8:00-9:00 AM: do 3-4 stretch and folds about 20 min apart
• Let it sit on the counter to rise for about 8 hours while you go about your normal day
• 5:00 PM: shape the dough into a ball and place in the fridge to bake later that night before bed or whenever you have time the next morning/day. Bam, done!
FLAVORED SOURDOUGH LOAVES,
AKA INCLUSIONS:
For MOST of my flavored sourdough loaves, I follow my normal recipe (above) and include the add-ins on step 8 during the shaping part of the process OR during stretch and folds, depending on what inclusion I do. For example, if I'm wanting to do a chocolate chip loaf, I'll sprinkle a generous handful of mini chocolate chips into the dough as I do the stretch and folds.
Some of my favorite add-ins (although the ideas are endless):
- chocolate chip (I prefer using mini chocolate chips and I like adding these to the stretch and folds)
- lemon blueberry (lots of blueberries and fresh lemon zest and I like adding these during the shaping step)
- cinnamon sugar (a mix of cinnamon & brown sugar... make sure to wait and do this during the shaping step because the sugar will add a lot of moisture to your dough and it'll make it difficult to shape if you don't work fast!)
- jalepeno cheddar (I like adding these to the stretch and folds and I also prefer doing shredded cheddar cheese instead of cubed)
- pesto mozzarella (I go 50g less in water and sub with 50g of pesto right at the beginning when I mix the dough! Then I add shredded mozzarella to the shaping step) - EBTB
If you're wanting to do an all over flavored loaf like a chocolate loaf or pumpkin, the recipe is different from the very beginning since ingredients like cocoa powder or pumpkin puree are initially added. Same with pesto mozzarella (see notes above ^)
HOW DOES THE WEATHER/SEASON AFFECT MY DOUGH?
You'll notice throughout the year that your sourdough starter and your dough will respond differently depending on the season. In the summer months, you may notice your dough rising quicker than it does in the winter months. This is due to the temperature and humidity outside affecting the inside of your home. Keep this in mind... you'll want to keep a better eye on your dough as you don't want it to bulk ferment past the time it needs. It'll make it hard to shape (or keep its shape) because the dough will become too floppy and sticky, thus resulting in a more flatter loaf after it's baked.
FAVORITE SOURDOUGH RECIPE LINKS:
Sourdough Chocolate Chunk Cookies (see comment below on tips for making these PERFECT)
Chocolate Chunk Cookies TIPS: Ok... these are the ones I post about and rave about all the time. I cannot even tell you how many people compliment these cookies and can't get enough of them! And how many people I've gotten hooked on making these too. The recipe says to let the dough refrigerate for 24 hours but HAH! I don't have the patience for that. I just put the dough in the fridge for about 3 hours before I make them! I also only bake them for about 14 minutes. The key to cookies is to take them out when they're borderline done/gooey... because they "set" and cook slightly more even after you take them out. Then I sprinkle a LITTLE bit of course sea salt on top, but just a little! I also weigh every single ball of dough before placing it on the pan... 70g each. I do 6 cookies per baking sheet and keep the dough in the fridge between batches going on in the oven.
Sourdough Christmas Star Bread
filling: cinnamon sugar
Sourdough loaf: Pumpkin (not pumpkin flavored, just the shape of a pumpkin perfect for Fall)
Sourdough loaf: "Christmas Trees"
Sourdough loaf: "Thanksgiving Turkey"
Mini Turkeys
Christmas Gnomes
LINKS TO MY GO-TO MATERIALS:
LINKS TO OTHER GREAT RESOURCES:
Thank you for sharing your journey of Sourdough and much more ❤️
I love it!! I have just started my sourdough journey and I have learned so much from so many wonderful people but you are above and beyond ✨💫very grateful🙏 feel blessed 😇
I befriended you on instagram 🍞
Belinda Leisure from CA.