I maintain two starts, one for wheat and one for rye. I use lower hydration for both, which makes them stiffer than other starts that use more water.
In the world of baking, my starter is most like a ‘biga,’ a type of preferment that usually uses baker’s yeast, but mine does not. Other sourdough starters are called poolish, culture, Pâte Fermentée (Chef or Old Dough), levain, sponge, Madre Bianca, or mother, to name a few of the many things preferments are called.
In sourdough baking, these words seem primarily interchangeable with the ‘starter.’ For ease in this post (and most others in this blog), I will refer to my preferment as a ‘start’ or ‘starter.’
My rye starter is made from a “Sourdough Goldrush Greeting Envelope” from Alaskan Wild Teas and Cocoa. I use it so rarely to make German Rye Bread that I freeze it between uses.
My wheat starter is from Abigail’s Oven, which usually comes dehydrated. However, mine was live from a class that Martha Levie taught. In that class, Martha told us how to dehydrate some of these starters by spreading a thin layer on plastic sheets or in plastic bowls to dry.
It was also good since I neglected my starter twice and had it spoil. I lost it once to black mold; the second time, it got watery and would not activate with flour and water. However, I was back in business using the dehydrated starter in just a few days.
I’m sure the two times my start got in trouble were simply because I was not using it enough and didn’t put it in the fridge between uses. It is in the fridge and stays for a week or more, just fine. But these days, I use it often enough that it seldom finds its way into cold storage to hibernate.
The Basics of Starter Care
Usually, caring for a starter requires little time, but it must be ‘fed’ daily to stay alive. This, of course, will lead to far too much sourdough starter being made unless you are baking every day. For that reason, many bakers discard half of their active start before freshening it.
This is an unnecessary waste since the discarded start is an excuse for making waffles or pancakes nearly any day. I cannot think of a thing I make with flour that could not use a cup of this discarded start.
But if it is too much for you to feed it daily, you can store it in the fridge. It will be suitable for up to two months. Longer than that, it needs to be in the freezer. You can even dehydrate some for long-term storage.
Feeding Your Starter
There are two ways to feed your sourdough starter: weigh or measure ingredients. Since most Americans have measuring cups, I will explain this method first.
“The goal of activation,” says Cultures for Health, “is to have a starter that peaks in activity and volume within 6-8 hours, indicating a high level of rise power for use as leavening.”
Activating Dry Starters
To begin, you will need a clean container to rehydrate and wake up dehydrated starters. Ensure the jar you select can hold at least twice the volume you plan to grow. A quart mason jar is excellent in most cases.
Begin with a dehydrated starter, like one from Abigail’s Oven, Cultures for Health, or King Arthur Flour. A dehydrated sourdough starter reactivates the microorganisms that create the dough’s leavening.
Select a jar or croc to grow your start, but remember it will double whenever you feed it after it is fully active.
Combine dry starter with a tablespoon each of flour and water in a glass quart jar and stir. Cover the jar with a cloth, a coffee filter, or some other breathable material, and set it in a warm place for a day.
The next day, feed the starter again, increasing the flour and water by two additional tablespoons each. Mix well to combine all ingredients into the consistency of pancake batter and cover again.
On days 3–7, feed the starter with an additional 1/3 cup [95 g] of flour and 1/4 cup [95 g] of water (or equal weights of each). Stir until all the flour is moist. Beginning day 4, discard 1/2 cup of starter and then feed the starter with 1/3 cup of flour and 1/4 cup water each of the next three days.
Activating Wet Starters
Once your starter is bubbling regularly within a few hours of feeding, you have an active start, which you may use anytime.
From now on, it must be fed with 1/3 cup [95 g] of flour and 1/4 cup [95 g] of water daily and anytime you use it. Otherwise, it can be put in the fridge, but even then, it needs weekly feeding.
Always remember that your starter needs at least four hours at room temperature before use. Also, please keep it in a spot free from contamination (e.g., bugs, other cultures, food, etc.).
Weighing Ingredients for Your Culture
If weighing your ingredients, begin with a tare weight for your container on your scale. Then, working with the scale, add one part of the sourdough starter to two parts: water and flour. For example, if you have 25 grams of sourdough starter, add 50 grams of water and 50 grams of flour.
Maintaining a Healthy Start
For a good start, make sure the sourdough is fully incorporated into the flour and the water. As you mix, make sure there isn’t any flour stuck to the bottom of the container. That is why I use clear glass or plastic containers. Just lift them up and look at the bottom to see if there is extra flour sitting there. If so, stir some more until it is all well incorporated.
Remember to cover the jar, but not tightly. During fermentation, the sourdough starter creates carbon dioxide gas as it feeds on the flour and water. This gas needs to go somewhere, and a tight lid is not helpful to the process at all. So lightly set a lid on the container or throw a tea towel over the top to protect the content.
Sourdough likes temperatures generally between 70 and 85 degrees. It can do okay in a 65-degree range, but it slows fermentation. I like it on top and to the back of our refrigerator, which is a bit warmer in my home than the rest of the kitchen. Let the starter proof for eight to 12 hours or overnight.
The length of time needed depends on how active your starter is and how warm your home is. My starter is extremely active. In fact, if you look at the picture at the top of this post, this is a bulk start that took only four hours to ripen, and then it had to be fed again. So this is not a timed science but a bit of an art form that you learn in time.
To keep sourdough starter healthy, feed it regularly. Mine needs two feedings a day; otherwise, it is in the fridge. If the starter sits too long and a brown liquid layer forms on top, don’t panic. This liquid, known as hooch, can be poured off, but it needs to be fed as soon as possible.
If you use a sourdough starter daily or every few days during the week, it might be best to keep it on a counter where you can see it, reminding you to feed it. But remember, you do not have to be a slave to your starter. If you use it only once a week or once every few weeks, keep it in the refrigerator. Even there, feed it at least once a week with 1/3 cup of flour and 1/4 cup water.
When ready to use again, warm it to room temperature and feed it with 1/3 cup [95 g] of flour and 1/4 cup [95 g] water. This may sound more complicated than it is, but after a few feedings and uses, it will just be a simple routine. I promise.
Using a Pâte Fermentée, Chef, or Old Dough
One easy way to leaven bread is to use “old dough.” When I bake daily, I use this method. I start by leaving some dough in the bowl from the last batch, not cleaning it out.
Chef Jacob Burton explains:
“The basic concept is simple; up to 1/3 of bread dough is reserved after the bulk fermentation to levin the next batch of bread…After the bulk fermentation is complete, the dough is punched down, one third is reserved to levin the next batch of bread, while the rest of the dough… is baked.”
He says that old dough “can be stored for about 8-12 hours at room temperature or retarded in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.”
Summary
Remember, sourdough starter can be kept on the counter or in the fridge, but it needs to be fed regularly. It needs to be in a warm spot when not in the fridge. If it’s kept in the refrigerator, ensure you feed it at least once a week.
Tell us about your starter and how you keep it in the comment section below.
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