Have you wanted to get into sourdough baking but it sounds too complicated? If so, this article will show you just how easy it is to make a simple sourdough starter and how to adjust the ingredient ratio. All you need is two ingredients and a couple of simple kitchen tools.
What is sourdough?
In case you have missed it sourdough became a craze during the pandemic. Simply put sourdough is dough made out of fermented grains. Instead of using traditional yeast, you are using the naturally occurring yeast produced when grains ferment. In order to use the naturally occurring yeast you need to make this simple and easy sourdough starter.
Health Benefits of sourdough
It is believed that sourdough has many health benefits. Our gut uses bacteria to help the digestive process. Having a balanced biome where good gut bacteria can thrive is beneficial to our health. Sourdough and other fermented foods have been used for many centuries and are believed to be part of a healthy diet.
How to make a simple and easy sourdough starter?
Making a sourdough is super simple! I have been making it for the past six years. For the first two years on and off because while you can keep it alive forever I went through seasons when I just didn’t use it enough to keep it going. That’s okay because you can always make a new one! My current starter has been with us for 4 years.
So after making it different ways several times and following different recipes here is what has always worked for me.
First, you will need
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour to jump-start the starter.
- 5 lbs bag of all-purpose flour
- Filtered water
- Mason jar or another glass container with a lid
- Measuring cups
Steps by Day
Day 1
Add 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup of filtered water to a quart-size mason jar. Mix well, loosely cover, and let it sit.
Day 2
Just observe. Depending on how warm your kitchen is and how humid or dry the climate you live in is you will be able to see bubble pockets forming. There also should be a sweet smell starting to come from your starter. Simple and easy starter coming right up!
Day 3
On the third day, you will add another 1/2 cup of flour and another 1/4 cup of water. You can switch to the all-purpose flour at this point or just keep a whole wheat starter if you wish. Mix it and let it sit for another day.
Day 4
Here is where it can get tricky if you are not paying attention. You always want to match the amount of fresh flour and water to the amount of starter you have. So on day four, you want to discard half of the starter and add 1/2 cup of fresh flour and a 1/4 cup of water. This is why a lot of people prefer to weigh everything. Let me tell you I tried but I soon got burnt out! I’m a busy mom here I need quick and easy! I quickly switched back to just using measuring cups and honestly, now I just use my eyeballs. The more you use your starter the quicker you will learn what it needs. Think of it as a beloved pet.
Day 5-7
Repeat the same process as day 4 for the next three days or so.
Day 8
This simple and easy sourdough starter should be ready to be used! It should be sweet-smelling and have plenty of bubbles. Congratulations you are now the proud owner of a simple and easy-to-keep sourdough starter.
Maintaining your starter is simple and easy
In order to avoid growing your starter exponentially you need to discard half of it before you feed it to keep the amount the same. This is also how you adjust how much starter you have at any given time depending on your baking needs.
While this may sound wasteful you can always use the discard in pancakes, muffins, and more. I you do not bake often enough for this, you can always put it in the fridge and feed it once a week instead of every day.
How long can I keep my starter for?
You can keep your sourdough starter for years! I have had mine for about 4 years now I even moved from Florida to Missouri with no problems.
Humidity and Ratios
Learning how to adjust your starter ratio is simple and easy.
I lived in Florida when I first started baking sourdough and almost all the recipes start you off with a 50% ratio of flour to water. While I think that is a good start I found that it was just too wet for the extremely humid South Florida climate. My sourdough also turned very fast due to the heat. Instead of the sweet-smelling sourdough starter, I was looking for, mine smelled like vinegar. That being said learning to adjust your sourdough to your climate was a game changer for me.
If a 50% ratio is not working for you take note of why. Is it too dry? Too runny? Does it smell bad? Is it not bubbling up? Depending on how you answered these questions how you will adjust. For example, in Florida, I ended up with a 75% flour to a 25% water starter and that served me well for years. Now that I live in the Midwest the 50% ratio is working well.
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Favorite Tools for Sourdough
How to use a simple sourdough starter?
Here is a super easy Artisan Sourdough Boule recipe for you to try!
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