How to Make a Simple Wheat Sourdough Starter | The Perfect Basic or Beginners recipe

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Equipment:

Challenger bread pan:

Bench scraper / dough cutter:

Bread lame:

Baking basket

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Notes:

Quantity:

You can reduce the amount of starter that you make to suit your requirements. For example you could reduce the feeding schedule to 100g starter, 100g water, 100g flour. Or 75g of each, it really depends how much starter you want to keep on hand.

Discard:

You can use your discarded sourdough to make things like sourdough biscuits, pancakes, crumpets etc. Just remember that in the early days the discarded sourdough stater that you have left over, may not be active, and may not provide any rise to the products you make. After day 7 the discard will be more active and may produce better results.

Type of flour:

I am using a good quality non organic wholewheat flour that has a protein content of 14%. The white flour I use towards the end of the feeding schedule is a non organic all purpose flour with a protein content of 13%. Try not to get too caught up on what flour you are using, just try to pick a good quality flour. As you continue your journey with your starter you will notice the changes to its characteristics depending on the flour you use to feed it. It’s all part of the process.

What to expect:

Everyone will experience different results during this process. Try to be patient and understand that the fermentation may not happen immediately. As you will see during the video I have a very active fermentation on day 1 that goes into a pretty dormant state during day 2 and 3.

Failure:

There may be times, when for one reason or another, the stater just doesn’t get going. If you don’t see any real signs of fermentation by day 3 or 4 I would suggest starting the process again. I have, on occasions experienced this, and while frustrating it does happen.

Feeding:

Once the starter is well established you can use just white flour for the feeds. When my starter looks a bit tired I may give it a bit of a nutritional boost by adding some wholewheat flour for a couple of feeds.

I generally feed my starter before I bake. I keep it in the fridge until I need it, bring it out about 8-12 hours before I bake and give it a feed. Generally I feed in one of two ways:

1:1:1 - one part starter, to one part water to one part flour
1:2:2 - If I want to slow down the time it takes for the starter to ferment I may feed: one part starter to 2 parts water to 2 parts flour

When I am not baking my stater lives happily in my fridge which prolongs its life and the duration between feeds. If you are going to leave the starter for a long time, a couple of weeks or so, without feeding. Make sure you give it a good feed before putting it in the fridge.

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My kitchen temp is: 22c

Schedule & weights:

Day 1: 50g flour & 50g water

Day 2: 100g starter, 50g water, 50g wholewheat flour

Day 3: 200g starter, 100g water, 100g wholewheat flour

Day 4: 150g starter, 130g water, 150g wholewheat flour

Day 5: 150g starter, 130g water, 150g wholewheat flour

Day 6: 150g starter, 125g water, 150g wholewheat flour

Day 7: 150g starter, 150g water, 150g wholewheat flour

Day 8: 150g starter, 150g water, 150g flour (75g wholewheat & 75g white wheat flour)

[rodrigo.gibson]

DAY 625... "now grab a clean petrol barrel and add half a ton of water, and 600kg of wholemeal flour and mix with a concrete mixer.... let it rest and we'll check again tomorrow..."

[lawrencekellie]

I'm on day 13 of the process. The mix has an incredibly sour taste. The process has been simple and easy to follow. I've tried other processes for a sourdough starter to only lead to stinky concoctions! I look forward to Monday when I can start making bread with the starter.

[WaqasAhmed-qcwy]

This has completely changed by bread game (and life). Thanks, subscribed!

[nicolowyrk]

From my understand this is the best method hands down, and the only channel I've seen that covers it right. Your videos are on point and love how you vindicate the description using notes. Bravo! 👌🏻

[hineko_]

Love your vids. They helped me a lot!
My dough story: mixed, had nothing going on for 24h. Added some more water and it doubled in size in the next 10 hours. Maybe it will help somebody too

[davecentner]

Microbiologist Debra Wink studied the succession of microbe activity in a sourdough starter. She found that the starter goes through stages as different microbes become dominant and progressively acidify the starter until the stable symbiosis of yeast and lactic aid bacteria can become established. She found that by beginning with pineapple juice as the hydration medium at the start, you automatically set up a favorable pH that also crowds out noxious microbes. Full instructions can be found on a number of website, including Breadtopia and New York Times. I developed my most recent starter from scratch this way in five days. I also began with very little flour and juice, about 30 grams each. With flour so hard to get now, why use more than you need to?

[ivychin]

The best video to learn about the sourdough starter. The key takeaways is how to manage the consistency of water ratio for the starter. Very clear & precise guide!

[judegoldstein]

i'm here, joining the many people who have thanked you for this video and brilliant instructions. you have saved the day! produced a lovely loaf of bread.

[maryjohannaespera]

Thanks for this! I only have whole wheat flour and it is behaving differently than other flours, I've almost given up on my 4th attempt at making a starter until this video. THANK YOU!

[maryjohannaespera]

0:05 Day 1
0:57 Day 2
1:34 Day 3
2:15 Day 4
3:08 Day 5
4:03 Day 6
4:44 Day 7
5:22 Day 7 5th hour post -feeding
5:32 Day 8

[jamesdarby]

Wish I had seen this when I started on my/our sourdough I ended up doing this but, only by trial and plenty of errors. I understand the daily signals now; experience is worth so much. Really enjoyed the video and I will be baking today following your tutorial

[mahima]

Amazing explanation!! With no fuss. I learnt so much !!

[bettyboyett]

Merry Christmas all:). I really appreciate your time and detailed directions! I’m on day 5 today and have doubled in size! I’m looking forward to a loaf soon. I do wish questions were replied to in the comments. It would be so helpful for us beginners

[wholeNwon]

There's a well-known flour co. in the US that publishes a technique for growing starter that uses huge volumes of their product. Surprise there, I know. Obviously one can grow starter from any amounts of flour at all. I have used a variety and they all worked. The consistency should be kept at about that of a thick pancake batter. When you start to have good growth, keep an eye on it during the day because sometimes it's so active that the batter actually has collapsed without your knowing it. A layer of "hooch" is a clue. I store mine in a cold (33-34 deg F) fridge and feed it when I think about it, sometimes as infrequently an once every 6 wks. Of course, then several days of feeding will be needed to restore baking activity. If you fail on your first attempt or 2, remember that the containers must be absolutely clean and free of detergent residue. If mold development caused spoilage, next time try adding a couple of drops of vinegar. When you're very successful don't forget to offer starter to your friends. You can also spread a thin layer out on something like parchment paper, let it dry completely so that the yeast sporulates and store the flakes in your freezer forever, mail to family, etc.
You can obtain starter that is very old from Friends of Carl Griffith...free.

[pnwRC.]

After watching a few videos I just HAD to subscribe to this channel. You've got some great content here!

[reginalddelaere]

It worked wonder well for me. Thank You.

[SVisionario]

Hey! I'm trying to make my first starter these days, on day 5 now! Thanks for a great way of explaining.
I'm still a bit confused as to how I can use the discard? What do I do with it? Do I use the leftovers of todays feed instantly to make a bread, pancakes or whatever, or do I leave it in the fridge to wait?

Any tips are very welcome. Thanks

[scottward]

I like this video, as you recorded all the processes; even the ugly days. Good job. Realistic!

[Crushenator]

been waiting for this one!!


Love this channel, you're the best!

[BrianaVillarreal-kdyj]

I’m very new to the sourdough journey and this is the best explanation video I’ve seen so far. I do have a question though. With the remaining discards in the jars can you combine those and have one jar of discard?