MAKING YOUR OWN SOURDOUGH STARTER

This is an exerpt from my book "Discovering Sourdough"- publishing is pending

You can try your hand at making your own sourdough starter. You will need a clean 32-48 oz non-metallic container, pineapple juice or apple cider, good water and flour. To optimize your chances of activating a vigorous starter, use either part whole grain flour or some rye flour in your mixture. Whole grains have 200 times the amount of organisms as white flours*.

After the mixture has started to ferment, begin to feed the mixture water and white flour (either All Purpose or Bread flour), if you desire a white sourdough starter. Or keep feeding the mixture with whole grain flours to have a wholegrain starter.

  • You might try something like this,
    Day One: Add: " ¼ cup organic rye flour " ¼ cup bread flour " ½ cup pineapple or apple cider (you can use pure water, but it takes a few days longer to get going) Stir well to incorporate plenty of oxygen and let the container of the flour/juice mixture set, lightly covered, at room temperature. There is a tendency in those just starting out in sourdough baking to keep their starters and doughs at very warm temperatures to hurry things up. This is not always desirable, especially for a sourdough starter. Try to keep the new starter in a place that is between 68-80F (20-26C) degrees. A higher temperature encourages undesirable bacteria in a new starter that isn't yet stable enough to fend off invaders. Organic flours produced without chemicals are more likely to get a good sourdough starter going. The pineapple or apple cider is used for the acid conditions they provide which encourage the desired bacteria and yeasts and discourage the undesired bacteria/yeasts. This was researched by Debra Wink and written about in her article "The Pineapple Juice Solution". This article is available at BBGA.org for registered members. This starter procedure was developed in collaboration with Debra Wink and I am grateful for her expertise.
  • Day Two: Stir, nothing else is needed on day two.
  • Day Three:
    Whether you see bubbles or not, pour out half of your starter mixture and feed the starter with:
    " ½ cup of pineapple juice or apple cider (or water)
    " ¼ cup of rye or whole wheat flour
    " ¼ cup of bread flour
    Pouring out half of the starter will give any yeasts or bacteria that are present, a larger ratio of food and will dilute of any undesirable bacteria.
  • Day Four: Follow the same feeding as in Day Three.
  • Day Five through day Fourteen: Now each day for the next ten days, pour off half of your starter mixture and feed with 1/2 cup water (juice is no longer necessary after day four) and 1/2 cup flour mix. If you wish to have a white flour starter, now is the time to begin feeding the starter white flour instead of rye or whole wheat flours (using more white flour at each feeding and less wholegrain flour is easier on the starter, as you are switching flours, after a couple of days, use only white flour).

If you wish to have a rye or whole wheat starter, instead of feeding by volume(using cup measures), weigh the water and rye or whole wheat flour and use equal weights of each ingredient to produce a 100% hydration starter. An example would be to possibly feed the starter with 2 oz of water and 2 oz of rye flour (or wheat flour if you desire a whole wheat starter). It takes about two weeks for your new sourdough starter to become stable and have the power necessary to bake up good bread. During these two weeks, you will be working towards a stable starter and encouraging the establishment of a symbiotic relationship between desirable bacteria (Lactobacilli) and yeasts.

The above method will help you avoid some of the pitfalls of just adding water and flour together and then feeding each day - hoping for the best. However, you can try the plain flour and water mixture and see what results are produced. Some really great starters are obtained this way.

Some of the things that can cause problems when trying to culture a new starter are:

After your starter is established and mature, which takes about two weeks, you can feed it any hydration you please. Two common hydration feedings are the 166% and the 100% hydration.

For 166% hydration, you feed your starter using a ratio of volume of 1:1. This means for instance, one cup of water to one cup of flour or half cup of water to half cup of flour.

For 100% hydration you feed your starter using a ratio of weight 1:1. This can be maybe 6 oz water to 6 oz flour or perhaps 4 oz of water to 4 oz of flour.

Some of the things that can cause problems when trying to culture a new starter are:

  • Old Flour - obtain high quality, unbleached flours which are not too old or rancid, preferably organic.
  • Water - the chemicals in city water can be a problem for starters, use fresh, filtered water or good well water.
  • Time and Temperature - be patient; do not try to hurry the process by keeping the starter in a very warm place (over 80 F) because a culture which is too warm can encourage bad bacteria to take over.

(*According to Debra Wink)