Sourdough Bread Starter Recipe: Starting a Starter

The smell of fresh bread right out of the oven is one of the most comforting aromas around. It draws people to the kitchen like no other scent, and is the demise of many a homebaked loaf which never makes it to the dinner table.

My absolute favorite breads are all made with a sourdough starter, which is a bit different than using baking yeast for a leavening (rising) agent, and it lends the bread a unique 'sour' taste. The sourness of the finished loaf isn't always pronounced, as it depends on several things, such as the age of the starter, the age of the 'proof', and the strain of the sourdough culture.

Sourdough baking is one of the traditional breadmaking techniques which is disappearing from our kitchens, perhaps due to the aura of mystery surrounding it. Baking with a sourdough starter takes a bit more time and attention than baking with a commercial baking yeast, but once you get the rhythm of it, it's not any more difficult. A great homemade sourdough bread really rounds out a fall harvest meal, especially when paired with vegetable soup.

While the baking of sourdough bread is a bit beyond the scope of this article (but fodder for a future one), the very first step you need to take in your journey to learning sourdough bread baking is to start a starter (or if you've got a sourdough-baking friend, have them give you one the next time they feed theirs).

On the next page, discover how to make a sourdough bread starter.

How to start a sourdough bread starter

Begin with freshly milled flour (or as fresh as you can get). In a glass, ceramic, or steel container, combine one part water with one and a half parts whole wheat flour, mixing thoroughly. The start will be thick, not runny, and more like a paste than a liquid.

Cover the container with a plastic bag or plastic wrap, or cover it with a plate. Don't put an air-tight lid on it, or you might be in for a surprise. Place out of direct sunlight, at room temperature.

After 12 hours, check the start to see if it's begun to have bubbles in it. If not, stir well and recover and let sit for another 12 hours. If no activity is seen in the start after 48 hours, you may need to begin again.

When you see bubbles, and the start has risen a bit, then it's time to feed it by adding another part water and another one and a half parts flour, stir and cover again. When the starter has risen to twice its volume, discard half (in the compost, right?) and feed again using the same proportions of flour and water.

It's important to wait to feed the start until it has doubled its size, so you need to check it every 12 hours and either stir it or feed it. After the first five feedings, you can begin using white flour to feed it, which will help to build a strong culture.

Once your starter is active, it will be bubbly and smell yeasty, doubling its size after each feeding (which is why we discard half of it each time, or use it to bake with). After a week of activity, your sourdough starter is ready for use, and if you aren't going to bake right away, storing it in the refrigerator will slow down the culture.

The starter grows from bacteria and yeast already present in the flour, not usually from outside sources (though some are), so 'collecting' a culture from the wild isn't really necessary or desirable. The following sourdough starter method has worked well for me when I have neglected mine or moved and needed a new start. I learned all that I know about it from Sourdough Home and S. John Ross, who both have comprehensive sourdough resources available on their sites.