Sourdough Starter
Make your own sourdough starter with millions of yeast pets! There are hundreds of sourdough discard recipes out there, and you can make all of them with this starter.
Ingredients
- All purpose unbleached flour
- Water
- Honey
Instructions
Day One
- In a glass jar, add ½ cup of flour, ½ cup of water and 1 teaspoon of honey to the jar.
- Mix thoroughly until you’ve formed a thick pancake batter consistency.
- Loosely cover the jar and leave in the warmest part of your kitchen, between 70 and 75 degrees.
Day Two
- Discard half of the mixture in the jar.
- Add ½ cup of flour, ½ cup of water and 1 teaspoon of honey to the jar
- Stir the mixture.
- Loosely cover the jar and return to the warmest part of your kitchen.
Day Three
- You should see a few bubbles in your mixture today.
- Discard half of the mixture in the jar.
- Add ½ cup of flour, ½ cup of water and 1 teaspoon of honey to the jar
- Stir the mixture.
- Loosely cover the jar and return to the warmest part of your kitchen.
Day Four and Beyond
- Discard half of the mixture in the jar.
- Add ½ cup of flour, and ½ cup of water.
- Stir the mixture.
- Loosely cover the jar and return to the warmest part of your kitchen.
Notes
Note: When your starter doubles in size within 12 hours of feeding, it is ready to bake with and be used as active starter in recipes that do not require yeast.
Maintenance:
Feed your sourdough starter every single day with ½ cup flour and ½ cup water. Keep it in the warmest part of your kitchen if you plan to bake with it several times a week. Keeping your starter on the counter will lead to a lot of sourdough discard, which you can dump into a large jar and keep in your fridge, and pull from it as needed for recipes. If you want to keep your starter in the fridge and bake with it only once a week or every two weeks, take it out of the fridge the day before you want to bake, feed it, and then you may need a second feeding. After using your active starter, feed it again and then put it into the fridge. Once your starter is built up and feels strong, spread some of it out onto parchment paper and let it air dry for 24 hours. Crumble it up and add to an airtight container. In case your starter ever dies or molds, you have a backup that can be rehydrated.
Feed your sourdough starter every single day with ½ cup flour and ½ cup water. Keep it in the warmest part of your kitchen if you plan to bake with it several times a week. Keeping your starter on the counter will lead to a lot of sourdough discard, which you can dump into a large jar and keep in your fridge, and pull from it as needed for recipes. If you want to keep your starter in the fridge and bake with it only once a week or every two weeks, take it out of the fridge the day before you want to bake, feed it, and then you may need a second feeding. After using your active starter, feed it again and then put it into the fridge. Once your starter is built up and feels strong, spread some of it out onto parchment paper and let it air dry for 24 hours. Crumble it up and add to an airtight container. In case your starter ever dies or molds, you have a backup that can be rehydrated.