How to create and maintain a sourdough starter

As I shared in this post, the first step toward living a simple life is not purging your closets or getting chickens or even starting a garden, but to start in the kitchen. Read the other posts in this series here.

On February 20, 2020 — BEFORE covid made it cool — I mixed together flour and water in a quart sized mason jar and began my very first sourdough starter.

For the next 8 days I wondered if I was doing it right. Shouldn’t it be bubbling? Growing? Is pouring some of it down the drain really what I’m supposed to do? Shoot I forgot to feed it at the right time today, did I kill it?

Then finally, after over a week of dumping and feeding, dumping and feeding, I came into the kitchen to find this:

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I was so excited to see it finally “worked”! Using the beginner sourdough bread recipe from The Prairie Homestead, I mixed up my first loaf that morning. After the day-long process, I ended up with… a very flat loaf of bread (I realize now I should have continued the dumping and feeding for at least a few more days). I thought it tasted delicious, but my kids thought otherwise.

(To this day whenever I bake bread, one of them asks “Is it sourdough?” and if I say yes she refuses to eat it. If I lie and tell her no, she’ll eat it and say it’s the best bread she’s ever tasted. #facepalm)

Since then I have managed to keep my sourdough starter going for a whole year, and have found a nice routine of using it. I’m going to share some of the tips I’ve learned along the way, and also how to start and maintain your own starter. I have yet to create any recipes myself, but I’ve found The Prairie Homestead, Melissa K Norris, and Farmhouse on Boone have some great ones.

My most important tip is this: Sourdough starter is MUCH easier than you might think, and it’s actually VERY forgiving. 

First up: the easy starter recipe.

Once your starter is established, it’s a versatile kitchen workhorse that’s actually very easy to maintain. Some people even give it a name, like Fred, Sally, Trouble, Doughlene, Vincent VanDough… 🙂 

Sourdough Tip 1: You don’t need to weigh it.

Most starter recipes will remind you when you’re feeding your starter each day to mix equal parts — by weight, not volume — of starter, flour, and water. The perfectionist in me wants to be precise, but the reality is I just estimate it. 

Most of the time I keep roughly 2-3 cups of starter in my 1/2 gallon mason jar (so less than half full). If I know I’ll be making a recipe with it that day, I’ll leave it at that level, if I’m just maintaining it until baking day I’ll dump some out until I’m left with 1-2 cups of starter. 

I’ll then measure into it 1/2—1 cup of flour and 1/4–1/2 cup of water. Whatever keeps the consistency like thick pancake batter. 

Sourdough Tip 2: If you forget to feed it for a day (even two) you probably won’t kill it.

I like the routine of feeding my starter in the mornings, so it will be ready to use in the afternoon/evening, but let’s face it — mornings can be very chaotic. I’ll head out to bring the kids to school then off to my job, and realize I never touched the jar of starter. 

No worries. As soon as you remember, give it some love. Maybe an extra tablespoon of flour or water because… 

Sourdough Tip 3: Liquid or a crust on top just means its hungry.

Unless the top of the starter has turned black or pink, you’re still good to go. Pour off the liquid, scrape off the crust, or just mix it all in and the microorganisms will deal with it (that’s what I do). 

Sourdough Tip 4: It doesn’t have to double.

This is one of those ways recipes say you’ll know when your starter is ready to use — when it’s doubled in size a few hours after feeding it. I honestly don’t know that I’ve ever seen mine fully double other than that very first week.

Maybe my house is too cold, maybe my ratio of starter/flour/water is off, maybe my starter doesn’t like my choice of flour or the makeup of our water. Sure my breads don’t rise explosively, but I’m not making them to sell, and they sure do still taste great.

Sourdough Tip 5: Utilize the fridge.

I only bake with sourdough for a couple of days once a month. In the meantime, my jar stays sealed in the back of the bottom shelf of the fridge, asleep until I need it again.

I like to bake 2 loaves of regular sourdough bread at a time, which I slice and freeze. I like to eat a slice every day, I’m trying to see if it helps my digestive system.

I’ll also do some other recipes, like crackers and brownies (from The Prairie Homestead Cookbook), cinnamon rolls and pizza crust (I haven’t had a ton of luck with these, but I keep trying), pumpkin bread, and other recipes I happen to come across.

When I’m ready to be done with it, I’ll pour my 2-3 cups of starter into a clean 1/2 gallon mason jar, seal it tightly with a clean lid (the only time it gets twisted on tight), and put it in the fridge.

When I want to wake it up again in a month or two, I’ll take it out of the fridge and immediately mix in 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of warm water (not hot, just enough to wake it up). I won’t use it until at least the next day, after it’s had at least 24 hours to come back up to room temperature and create some bubbles.

As you can hopefully see, sourdough starter really shouldn’t be that intimidating. Some people make it out to be a creature that needs constant babying and care and will easily die. But I’ve found the opposite to be true — once established, as long as it gets some flour and water each day or two and goes in the fridge when you need a break, it’s very low maintenance!

Are you a sourdough fan? Have you tried making your own? What other questions do you have about it?