How To Make A Sourdough Starter

Posted on March 31st, 2020

how to make sourdough starter

In this video I will talk you through how to make a sourdough starter from scratch, using just flour and water.  I will explain why you don’t need to follow a strict recipe and how to tell when your starter is the right consistency.  Next, I’ll tell you how to maintain your starter for 7 days so it is ready to use.  Then, I’ll show you how to use your starter to create a sponge, which you can then use to bake a delicious loaf of sourdough.

There are three stages to making sourdough bread:

1. Making and maintaining the starter.  This takes 5-7 days initially and with care, can last for a long time.

2. Creating the sourdough sponge with starter.

3. Using the sourdough sponge to create bread.

Keeping It Simple

There are many different ways of making sourdough, but today I’m showing you one simple method.  I’ve made my starter with a mixture of white bread flour and rye flour, but you can use just one flour if you prefer.

Making sourdough is very sticky so don’t be afraid to get messy hands!

Many people use a ratio of 50% flour to 50% water – however I find you will get better results with a more gloopy mixture, so I usually add a bit more flour.  Every flour is slightly different so I don’t follow an exact recipe, I adjust the mixture by how it feels.

When you are creating your new starter, you need to feed it every day with more flour, until it is ‘ripe’ and active with bubbles.  Once it reaches this stage, you can keep it in the fridge and just feed it once a week.

You can view the recipe for making a sourdough starter below the video.

Sourdough Starter

Print Recipe
Prep Time 7 days
Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients
  

  • 75 g flour
  • 75 g water room temperature

Instructions
 

To create your starter

  • In a jar, add the flour and water and mix until it forms a gloopy paste similar to a pancake batter consistency.
  • Partially cover the jar and keep in the kitchen at room temperature.
  • Every day, add more flour and water and mix together, until it is 'ripe'. The mix will have a yeast like smell and will be covered in bubbles. This is an active starter.

To maintain your starter

  • Keep your starter in the fridge and 'feed' it once a week by adding more flour and water.
  • Never use up all your starter, otherwise you will have to start the entire process again.

This is one of the methods I teach on my sourdough workshops.

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