Your Sourdough Questions Answered

In each of Martha’s live beginners sourdough classes, she answers questions about sourdough starter, fermenting bread to make your first perfect sourdough loaf, and how to manage the ins and outs of working with sourdough. At the end of each class, she answers questions. Here a few from the last few weeks:

How much flour and water should you feed a start to keep it active?

Equal parts weights or measures of water and flour, ie. a scant cup (120g) whole wheat white flour and ½ cup (120g) water make just the right mixture for a starter to grow. Its consistency should be like pancake batter. To use the starter, mix ¼ cup (56.5g) start with ½ cup (120g) water and ¾ cup (96 g) flour. Let it sit, covered, until it is bubbly and thick and smells sweet (approximately six hours). Your start is ready when a tablespoon of it floats in water.

How do we get rid of phytic acid in whole wheat?

A long (8–12 hour) ferment of the dough can remove the phytic acid from whole wheat
You can also sprout the wheat, then dehydrate it, and finally ground it into flour; or you might just purchase sprouted wheat flour.

Where can I buy white whole wheat flour?

Abigail’s Oven in Spanish Fork, UT carries Premium Whole-Wheat White Flour in 50 lb. bags
In the West, Krogers carries Wheat Montana Prairie Gold Flour in 5 lb. bags
- both of these “white” flours have a creamy color and a bit golden to the eye
King Arthur Flour sells 5 lb. at many grocery stores
- Though not bleached, this flour looks quite white, but all three bake up very white.
You can also buy Einkorn Flour from Ancient Grains in Teton, ID

Where can I buy non-dwarf wheat?

West Mountain Grain http://westmountaingrains.com/, they sell 100% non-hybridized wheat and a full selection of ancient and modern grains
Palouse Brand is available on-line with free shipping or even through Walmart
You can also buy Einkorn berries in various bag sizes from Ancient Grains in Teton, ID

Where can I buy a dehydrated starter?

Abigail’s Oven in Spanish Fork, UT ships dehydrated starters every Tuesday. Order at https://abigails-oven.myshopify.com/products/dehydrated
Cultures for Health carries: San Francisco Style, Whole Wheat, Rye, and Gluten-Free. Order at https://shop.culturesforhealth.com/collections/sourdough
Amazon carries several brands (search “Sourdough Dehydrated Starter”)

How do I rehydrate a dried starter?

Pour the flakes into a shallow bowl and barely cover them with water. Let it sit 24 hours or so, occasionally breaking it up with your fingers to help hydrate the larger flakes. Once it is reconstituted, your start is ready to feed with ¼ cup (60g) water with ⅔ cup (60g) of flour. Cover it loosely with a lid for 8–12 hours. Then, four to eight hours before you want to make the dough, activate the start.

More about rehydrating a dehydrated start here:

Instead of buying one, how do I make my own starter?

Growing a sourdough starter from scratch is as simple as adding filtered water to flour every day for a week, stirring, and waiting for nature’s magic. Whole grains, the air in our environment, and even our hands all contribute wild yeast and lactobacilli (LAB) that work together to create a natural product that makes bread rise.

Here is our 7 Day Countdown to Starting a Sourdough Starter

Also there are many helpful YouTube videos showing you how to grow your own starter and check out @simplelifebykels on Instagram on growing a starter as well.

Is there are problem with using freshly ground wheat?

Freshly milled wheat is a great food for a sourdough start. Wheat is covered with its own bacteria that work well with the other friendly bacteria in sourdough. Because of this, however, it may speed up fermenting times.

However, there is also a problem with fresh wheat as it covered with phytic acid which makes the nutrients very hard to digest and may also upset some people’s digestion. This can all be overcome with a longer a longer ferment, even as long as 18-36 hours.

To get a long ferment, you can add ice water to the dough when making it. You can also chill it in the fridge overnight to mitigate problems with gluten and phytic acid.

What brand of container do you prefer for fermenting dough and start?

I like the 6 Quart Cambro Containers, which you can buy online from Amazon. Many restaurant suppliers also have these containers in stock, but be sure to buy them with lids.

Does a longer ferment reduce the negative side effects of wheat gluten?

At Abigail’s Oven Bakery all our sourdough bread is processed 8–12 hours to diminish the effects of both gluten and phytic acid. At home, you want to do your long, or bulk ferment 8–12 hours too. That way all of the gluten gets processed enough to be digestible but not so much that you don’t have enough tension left in the dough. You still need some stretchiness to trap the bubbles and so it will rise raise.

When you have done your bulk ferment and you dump the dough out onto the counter, one of the ways that you can see if it’s ready to use is if you pick it up and it should be really easy to stretch and feel floppy. If there was too much gluten still, it would be really stiff. If it is tense and really tight, you need a few more hours of fermentation before it’s ready to shape and be most digestible.

Can you do a bulk ferment longer than 8–12 hours?

Yes, sourdough bread can be cold fermented anywhere from 24-48 hours in the fridge, which may reduce negative side effects even more and gives the bread a more tangy flavor. Just keep it well below room temperatures and covered until you are ready to tension and shape the bread for baking.

Just to clarify, if I want to do the cold extended fermenting in the fridge, using less starter will make it more sour? and using more starter will make the bread less sour?

Generally speaking this is true. However, people who use a cup or more starter in baked goods seldom cold ferment them, they just want the flavor and are in hurry to bake.

If I don’t want to bake every day, how long can I keep a starter in the fridge.

Starter in the fridge can keep for months, but most people take it out one day a week and feed it. Often a refrigerator start develops a brown layer of liquid on top. You can pour this off and fed it like normal for a sweeter start, but if you like a real tangy flavor you can stir it back in before feeding.

Cold starter from the fridge makes great pancakes, albeit TANGY! With just a tablespoon of a refrigerator start and a 1 cup four and ¾ cup water stirred together, and left at room temperature for 12 hours, you’ll have a fresh sweet starter in the morning.

Which start is fastest to activate?

A counter start will usually be ready to use 2–4 hours after feeding. A refrigerator start will take 6–8 hours after feeding to be ready to use. A dehydrated starter has to be rehydrated and then fed. This will usually take a day more than one that has been in the fridge or counter?