Thank you for purchasing The Village Sourdough’s starter, established in 2013.
1. Put the sourdough starter flakes into a jar. Add 20 grams of warm water and stir until dissolved. Then stir in 20 grams of flour (I like a blend of unbleached bread or AP flour and whole wheat flour). Cover the jar loosely with a lid (not screwed on). Leave it on your counter for 24 hours.
2. 24 hours later, your starter should be full of bubbles and grown in size. A warmer environment will ferment it faster and a colder one will slow it down. Your starter is now mature, ripe, and ready for another feed.
3. Daily maintenance feeds: a 1:2:2 feed (starter:water:flour). First, you must take out (into a separate “discard” starter jar) all but 10 grams of starter. Put this starter (we will now call it “discard” because it is unwanted starter)in a large discard jar which will go into the fridge, where you will continue to collect discard before you feed your starter each time. You cannot feed your starter (feeding=stirring in water and flour into a small amount of starter leftover in the jar) without taking some out first. You can use up your discard collection in discard recipes such as waffles, pancakes, banana bread, etc! This is why I do not take care of a large starter: I do not like throwing away a lot before each feed.
4. After you have discarded all but 10 grams of ripe starter from your jar, feed it: add 20 grams warm water and 20 grams flour. Stir well and keep on your counter until the next day.
5. Repeat this process of discard & feed once a day.
6. Note: If your starter is growing and peaking quicker than you can feed it, do bigger feeds/discard more starter before you feed. For example, a 1:5:5 will take longer to peak, giving you a bigger window between feedings. This could look like 5g starter:25g water:25g flour
These instructions are for caring for your starter (daily maintenance feeds). If you want to make bread, or a recipe that uses a large amount of starter, instead of discarding all but 10 grams, discard all but 50 grams. Add 100 grams water and 100 grams flour. The next day you will have 250 grams of starter ready to use in a recipe.
A starter is created when water and flour are combined, and the microorganisms (wild yeasts and bacteria found in the flour, in the air, and on the baker’s hands) produce lactic acid which will ferment the dough. Your starter, a living culture, is a personal reflection of the owner and where he/she lives. It should be cared for by being “fed” an amount of flour and water each day, or, it can stay dormant in the refrigerator until needed.
Maintaining your own sourdough starter may seem daunting, but it is in fact straightforward. It does require practice and patience. All you need to do is feed it flour and water and use your senses of sight and smell to get to know it at each of its stages. The starter itself will do all the hard work of creating a home for bacteria and yeast. It will rise, double in size, and establish a balance of yeast and bacteria. When it has reached that point, it is called leaven, and you are ready to start your bread dough recipe or use it in any sourdough recipe. You can mark the height of your starter after a feed, so you can see the increase in size and when it's at its peak. If the leaven is ready but you are not ready start, some of it needs to be discarded and fed flour/water again so the bacteria/yeast doesn’t over ferment and lose strength, or you can put it in the fridge for up to a day until you are ready to use it in your recipe. Different flours ferment at different rates. Using a 50/50 mixture of (unbleached!) white and whole wheat flours is optimal for starter health, producing a well rounded and vigorous starter. Always use a high quality organic all-purpose or bread white flour and an organic finely ground whole wheat to feed your starter with. Adding a touch of rye flour will give it a big boost!
The night before you want to mix your dough, (or at least 10 hours before), begin with your “mother” starter. If you have multiple starters, perhaps in the fridge, use the one that is the freshest. I try and always keep my starter on the counter and feed it once a dat, or if I take a few days off starter care, then I store my freshest starter jar on the side door of my fridge. Put 2 tablespoons of the mother starter into a new jar, then add 100 grams of warm water and 100 grams of 50/50 white/whole wheat flour. Stir until combined. Cover the jar with a tea towel and let the starter sit overnight on your counter. In the morning, it should smell sweet, milky and slightly sour. It is ready to be added to your recipe. If you are not ready, put it into the fridge until you are ready. Or, discard half of this mature starter and add 50 grams warm water and 50 grams whole wheat and white flour. In about 4 hours, this will be your leaven. If your house is cold, this will take longer, so move it into a warm spot (your oven or microwave, not turned on! Use ambient temp. Turning the oven light on helps) to speed it up. You can do a quick readiness check with the “float test.” Put a bit of the starter into a glass full of water. If it floats, it is ready to use. If not, place in a warmer spot and give it a little more time to ripen. Keep in mind, the more refreshments you give your starter, the healthier and active it will be. How to take care of your starter will depend on the person. Keep your starter on the counter and feed once a day, but if that is too much for you, you can store it in your refrigerator until ready to use to create leaven for bread (give it a few days of once a day feeding before using it in bread). Sourdough is a type of fermentation and considered a slow food. Flexibility is key when working with sourdough, and you can time your feedings based on your schedule and when you want fresh bread.