Sourdough is what the first bakers made. If you feel intimidated, remember this: People have made it since long before we knew what yeasts were, since before we had today’s modern advantages of packaged organic flour, digital scales, and tap water. Yes, it’s a project. But it’s something you can totally do. It just takes a little time and patience—roughly half an hour of work spread over four to seven days. Bread is fermented, like wine, kombucha, or kefir. Yeast initiates this fermentation. Sourdough is bread that has been fermented using wild yeasts, meaning invisible yeasts naturally occurring in the environment: They’re floating in the air inside and outside, coating surfaces, and even existing naturally in flour. Yeast from the store-bought bag is different. This yeast contains just one strain. When you make sourdough starter, you’re calling on many wild yeasts, meaning many strains. Using many strains makes for a complex fermentation that can’t be attained with commercial yeasts. In short, employing a sourdough starter makes great bread possible.
Getting Started
To begin, you’ll need a scale, mason jar (or another loosely sealable container), water, and unbleached organic white flour. Some starter recipes call for other flours, like whole wheat or rye, but we’re going to keep things simple with white. It is very important to stick to unbleached organic white flour. This ensures that no unwanted chemicals will hamper the gentle development of our starter. Using your scale, measure 150 grams of flour and 150 grams of warm water. Add them to your jar. Mix with a spoon until you have a uniform beige concoction. Leave the jar uncovered for about an hour, then place a cloth over your jar and loosely cover. Now, wait until the same time tomorrow.
Feeding Your Starter
Over the first 24 hours, wild yeasts have been working. They are slower to act than commercial yeasts, but they’ve kicked into steady gear. Next, you will feed it, which allows it to grow stronger. This process begins by discarding well over half of the starter—all but about 80 grams. (To calculate the weight of your starter, subtract the mass of a clean mason jar from the mass of the one holding your starter.) Next, add 100 grams of water and 100 grams of flour to the starter. Mix well. Leave uncovered for about an hour. Set aside until the same time tomorrow. On day three, repeat this process and then again on day four. By then, you’ll notice the starter has developed a pungent tang. It will smell like putting your nose directly to a fresh slice Continue the daily discarding and adding until the starter is ready. There are many variables shaping when that will be, including temperature, environment, and flour type. Allow for some flexibility. If you dutifully feed your nascent starter every day for five to seven days, it should be ready. How will you know when? It will be gooey, bubbly, quicker to rise up your glass, and will develop a pungent smell just a handful of hours after feeding.
Storing Your Starter Properly
Congrats! You now have a homemade sourdough starter. You’ll probably notice that you’ve developed something of an understanding of your starter’s behavior: what it needs and how it changes over time. Stored in the fridge, your starter will still require the same feeding, only weekly rather than daily. And instead of discarding excess starter, you can now use it as the leavening agent to begin or “start,” a fresh loaf of sourdough bread (or sourdough stuffing).
