Sourdough! Something that’s just about everywhere on social media right now (no? Just my algorithms then? Darn)
I decided to try my hand at sourdough. I make bread and rolls, but sourdough was completely foreign to me. I’ve had it but never have made it in my life.
Well, I started my sourdough starter for the first time! I’ll share a link to my video from each day until I got to the point where my starter was ready for bread.
What is sourdough?
A starter is basically the yeast. It’s from naturally occurring yeast and bacteria from flour.
A starter is just flour and water. Nothing else. It’s quite amazing watching it transform. Some people will add salt to their starter, but I don’t. I just use flour and water. I currently have 2 starters going. One that is strictly bread flour and the other is bread flour with whole wheat flour.
You’re wanting the flour to ferment which is what makes your starter ready to make some bread.
I’ve been told that true sourdough can help with inflammation.
Day 1
Ok. On day 1 of my starter, I took 1/2 cup of bread flour and 1/4 cup of bottled water and mixed them together in a glass jar.
I use bottled water because I have extremely hard water where I live (yes, I have a water softener) and I don’t want anything extra in my starter. I use bottled natural spring water. I think some people even use distilled water.
After I mixed it I placed my lid on top without tightening it down with the ring. I like to use my mason jars because it’s what I have in my house. You want the gases in the jar to be able to release so I just place the lid on top.
Day 2
I didn’t discard, I just added 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup bottled spring water.
Day 3
I had some bubbles this day and I was so excited! I discarded half, fed the starter with 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup bottled water. This time I did warm up my water before adding it to my sourdough starter. It’s wintertime right now and my house is a bit cold. So, why not?
I also changed my jar to a wide mouth jar. It makes it so much easier to get the discard out and also to feed her. (Yes, I call my starter a “her”. . . maybe I need to name her?)
Day 4
I had more bubbles with my starter today. She looked good and smelled what I assume is a normal smell for a starter.
I discarded half and fed her with 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup warm bottled water.
Day 5
Lots more bubbles today! It was looking so good.
I discarded half and fed her with what I’ve been doing: 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup warm bottled water.
Day 6
Looked about the same as day 5 so I just discarded half and fed her with 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup warm bottled water.
Day 7
Kind of a bummer day. There were some bubbles but not as many as I had been seeing.
I still discarded half and fed her the usual: 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 warm bottled water.
Day 8
I had a bit more bubbles than I did with day 7. It did have a strange smell and from what I’ve heard, when it smells funny or bad, it just means it’s hungry. So, I discarded half and fed her 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup warm bottled water.
I also put a rubber band on my jar after I fed her to mark where the starter was to see if it would grow or rise.
Day 9
It barely grew at all. Like, hardly anything. I started to feel a little defeated with sourdough. I know it takes time, but man, I felt like it wasn’t really progressing. I almost wanted to quit.
Instead, I just discarded half and fed her with her usual: 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup warm bottled water.
Day 10
It looked much better today! I had a lot more bubbles than yesterday and it did rise slightly more than previously.
Discarded half and fed with 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup warm bottled water.
Day 11
Looked like day 10. Same amount of bubbles.
Discarded half and fed her with 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup warm bottled water.
Day 12
Repeat of day 11. Insert the feeling of defeat again. I kept thinking I was doing something wrong or that I wasn’t doing enough.
I discarded half and then added 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 warm bottled water.
However, with my discard, instead of just discarding it I added it to an empty jar. And then I fed that one with 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup warm bottled water.
Then I just hoped for the best on both of my starters. HA.
Day 13
EEK! I was so excited when I went into my kitchen. My starter, well both of my starters, had doubled in size!! *Insert squeal.
I wasn’t sure if it was really ready, so I discarded half of both and then fed my original starter with 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup warm bottled water. With my second starter I added another 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup warm bottled water.
Day 14
My started finally, FINALLY more than doubled in size! Meaning it’s ready. I can start making bread and using the discard for other things. I don’t know what I’m most excited for, the bread or what I can make using the discard.
I discarded half, fed her the usual 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup warm bottled water. My 2nd starter I also fed her with the same, using the bread flour again. Because, why not. It’s kind of an experiment anyways.
In the evening I discarded half again and fed her once more with 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup warm bottled water.
My plan is to make bread in the morning!! Wish me luck!
Thanks!
Thanks for stopping by!
For more frequent updates on my sourdough progress (and so I can also see yours!) follow me over on Instagram and Tik Tok. I’ve got a story highlight from each day of my sourdough starter, how it looks and what I did over on Insta.
