60 g wholemeal flour (this is around ⅓ cup heaped)
60 ml water
60 g plain flour (this is around ⅓ cup heaped; use unbleached flour, also called all-purpose)
60 ml water
Categories
Staples
Steps
Make sure to read the notes section below so you’re ready for any troubleshooting.
Firstly establish when your feeding schedule will be. You are going to want to feed your sourdough every 24 hours so pick a time of day you can commit to doing that, for us that is first thing in the morning.
On DAY 1 add the initial starter flour and water to a large jar and mix with a fork until combined to a thick paste. Cover and leave in a warm place (around 22-25c/70-75f).
On DAY 2 simply observe your starter, have a look to see if there are any bubbles, have a sniff, and stir it, then leave until day 3 before feeding.
On DAY 3-14 (until it begins doubling in size, this could be 7 days or it could be 11 days like ours was, it’s all temperature and culture-dependent), stir your starter, then discard around half (you can measure the weight of your jar, subtract that and do this exactly, or just eyeball it, which is the method we prefer). Then feed it with the 60g of plain flour and water, stir, place an elastic band around the jar in line with where the starter is once fed so you can measure how much it rises, then cover it with the lid (keeping it sealed but slightly loose enough so if it needs to release any gas it can), place in a warm spot and repeat every 24 hours until it doubles in size. If you notice things like excess water separation on top in the morning or a brownish liquid (known as “hooch”) this indicates your starter needs to be fed, simply pour it off (scrape out any discoloured starter if you notice this) and resume the discard and feed process.
If your starter doesn’t seem like it has many bubbles or activity by day 10 you can consider doing a BOOSTER feed like we did. What this means is using half wholemeal flour (30g of wholemeal to 30g of plain) at the feed to give the starter a boost of enzymes that the wholemeal flour has, which in our case caused our starter to be fully active the next day.
Once your starter is active, meaning it is bubbly, has a spongey texture, a pleasant smell, and doubles in size compared to where it starts (using the rubber band as a guide; the doubling of your starter usually occurs around 3-12 hours after feeding) you are ready to start baking (recipe below). Note, your starter will not stay doubled continuously, it has a peak and stays doubled in size for around 1-2 hours and this is when you want to use your starter for baking before it starts to deflate again.
