Wild Yeast

Notes from my kitchen, in which I bake bread and raise a few other matters

Flour + Water = Starter

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Ah, summer… corn on the cob, lazy reading in the hammock, and… sourdough starter, of course!

Mature sourdough starter

I’ve been taking advantage of this warm weather to try raising some starters from scratch. I had done it before in a week-long class (in fact, that’s the starter I’ve been using for months), but we were able to keep our cultures at a constant 80 degrees F, and we added extra malt to jump-start the process. I wanted to see how it worked with just flour and water, in the warm but fluctuating room temperatures of my non-air-conditioned house in these beautiful early summer weeks in northern California.

Success! Raising a starter seems to be something that is perceived as mysterious, complicated, or hard. But in my experience, it’s not; it just requires attention and patience.

I did this a couple of times, once with rye and once with whole wheat flour. Both worked, but the rye worked better, so that’s the one I’m summarizing. (Note: this ends up as a white starter. The rye is just in the beginning, to get things going.)

Ready to try it?

Sourdough Starter from Scratch

Ingredients:

  • White flour (bread or all-purpose), preferably one that contains malted barley flour. Most white flours do, but some do not, especially if they are organic. Check the label.
  • Rye flour.
  • Water. I use bottled (not distilled) water because I don’t want the chlorine in tap water, and I do want the minerals that are removed by my water softener. If your tap water is not softened, you could let some sit out for a few hours to allow the chlorine to dissipate. All the water should be at about 85F; the yeast you want to nurture likes warmish water. I heat a small amount of water in the microwave and mix it with room temperature water, checking it with an instant-read thermometer. If you don’t have one, the water should feel about neutral to the touch.

Equipment:

  • A 1-quart or larger container with a lid, preferably transparent and with straight vertical sides (this makes it easier to gauge the activity of the culture).
  • A kitchen scale. If you don’t have one, get one. In the meantime, I’ll give the approximate volume measurements. But just this once; really, weigh your ingredients! (I never said I wasn’t opinionated.)
  • An instant-read thermometer is useful for checking water temperature.
  • A rubber spatula or plastic dough scraper.
  • Transparent tape.
  • A way to heat water.
  • A warm(ish) place, preferably around 80F. The room I used fluctuated from low 70’s to mid 80’s. A room thermometer is helpful.

General process:

  • The stuff you’re growing is a “culture” before it is mature and stable enough to bake with, at which point it becomes a “starter.”
  • The volume measurements I’ve given do not corresponding exactly to the weight measurements, but the proportions are the same. Don’t mix weight and volume measurements.
  • You will initially leave the culture alone for 24 hours, after which you will “feed” it at 12-hour intervals; choose your starting time accordingly. I arbitrarily assume you’re starting in the morning.
  • Feeding involves removing and discarding a portion of the culture, and adding water and flour to what remains: first mix the culture and water together thoroughly, then add the flour and mix until thoroughly blended.
  • Before you begin, it’s helpful to mark the weight of the container on the bottom with a Sharpie, or note it elsewhere. Then when it’s time to discard some of the culture, you can just keep taking some out and weighing the container until you know that the remaining culture is the right amount. I do not wash my container between every feeding.
  • Contrary to a somewhat popular belief, it is OK to use a stainless steel spoon for mixing.
  • After mixing, use a spatula or dough scraper to squeegee the sides of the container so they’re nice and clean. This helps you see how much the culture has risen, and keeps things tidy.
  • When you’re done mixing, smooth the top of the culture flat as much as possible. Place a piece of tape running straight up the outside of the container, and mark the level of the culture. This is how you will know how much it has risen.
  • Replace the container lid when you’re done mixing. If it’s a screw on lid or mason-jar type, you may want to leave it a little loose to give accumulated gas an escape route. If it is a plastic snap-on lid, you can snap it tight; the lid will pop off if the pressure inside gets too high.

Day 1 AM:

  • Make sure your container is clean, well-rinsed, and dry.
  • Mix 100 g water, 50 g rye flour, and 50 g white flour (or 1/2 c. water and 3/8 c. of each flour.)
  • Leave the culture in its warm spot for 24 hours.

Day 2 AM:

  • Hopefully you will see signs of life. Has the culture risen a little? Are there any bubbles in it, even one or two? (These are sometimes best seen by picking it up and looking at it through the bottom of the container.)

    • Bubbles in culture after 12 hours

  • It is possible that you will see a large rise (50% or more) at this point. Don’t be fooled; this does not mean you’ve birthed a miracle baby. In the initial stages of a culture, a type of bacteria called leuconostoc may predominate; it produces a lot of gas and causes the rapid rise. This bacteria is not desirable, but not harmful either, and it will eventually die out as the beneficial critters settle in and the culture becomes more acidic. You may also notice that the culture has a rather unpleasant odor; don’t worry, this too shall pass.
  • (If you see absolutely no sign of life whatsoever, I suggest leaving it alone for another 12 hours before proceeding. If there is still nothing, why not forge ahead anyway and see what happens?)
  • Discard all but 75 g of the culture. Feed this with 75 g water, 25 g rye flour, and 50 g white flour (1/3 c. starter, 1/3 c. water, 5 teaspoons rye flour, and 1/3 c. white flour).
  • Set it back in its warm spot for 12 hours.

Day 2 PM:

  • You may see signs of activity, but the culture may be either more or less lively than what you saw this morning. Anything from a single bubble to a 100% rise is good.

    • Sourdough culture at 36 hours

  • Again, feed 75 g of culture with 75 g water, 25 g rye flour, and 50 g white flour, and return it to the warm spot.

Day 3 AM:

  • Your culture may appear dead, but it’s probably not. Don’t worry, just go ahead and feed as before.

Day 3 PM and every 12 hours thereafter:

  • Continue to feed as you’ve been doing. At some point things should pick up steam, and you will notice that the culture gets a little more vigorous with each feeding.
  • When the culture at least doubles itself in 12 hours and is looking nice and bubbly, start feeding with only white flour (75 g culture / 75 g water / 75 g flour). This happened for me around the end of Day 4.

    • Sourdough culture at 4 days

  • After about 5 – 7 days, hopefully you will observe that the culture can double itself in 8 hours or less, smells pleasantly sour, and is full of bubbles. Congratulations, you have raised a 100% hydration starter that’s ready to bake with! If you’re looking for a recipe, how about this Norwich Sourdough?

    • Norwich sourdough

  • At this point you can also start decreasing the amount of culture in relation to the feeding flour and water, and use room-temperature instead of 85-degree water. You have been mixing 1:1:1 culture:water:flour at each feeding. Now try 1:2:2 and see if the starter can still double in 8 hours or less.

I’ll say more about the care and feeding of my starter in a near-future post.

CommentsLeave a comment

  1. Just wanted to respond to an old discussion about making starter with rye flour that had been frozen – I’m here to tell you that it works fine. After five days, using flour that had been frozen and room temp bottled water, I have a lively, clean-smelling starter.

    Thanks for your clear description of the process, Susan -tomorrow I bake sourdough bread!

  2. Hi,

    I had been looking for a good starter recipe for some time and after reading through your instructions, I gave it a go. Two days in and things are looking good. I just have one question. Do I remove all but 75 grams of the culture every time I feed or only for the first two feeds?

    Thanks!

  4. So, I have been playing around with a new sourdough culture for a few weeks, however, when I started it(and to this day) I just kind of eyeballed the amounts of flour and water used at feedings. Now in my readings here and elsewhere, I have found some recipes that call for a 100% hydration. Is there a way to change my unknown starter hydration to a known quantity?

    Thanks,
    Greg

  5. Greg, just start feeding your starter with equal amounts of flour and water (by weight) from now on. After a few feedings, it will be a 100%-hydration starter.

  6. I have lost my old starter not to long ago and will start a new one with your method tonight. My question is we travel quite a bit at times. Sometimes just on the weekends but sometimes also longer. How long can I refrigerate the starter and do i bring it back by simply feeding it like usual? thanks so much for your wonderful website and all that information.

  7. Hello! I’m fairly new to baking bread, in that I’ve only ever helped my mom make friendship bread from scratch every winter. I’ve just started making the starter, and am just completed the AM part of day 3 (I started in the evening) and accidentally forgot to take all but the 75 grams of starter out… what do I do? Start over?

  9. I have had a starter going for a week but it is still not strong enough to make bread.I have visited other sites that suggest it can take months.The longer the better it gets.

  10. Hi Susan; I found your site while reading the comments on the Chews Wise baguette page; thanks for all the info.

    A question: I’m nearing the end of my fourth day, and after the first two days of big growth (due to the leuconostoc, I guess), the starter has been pretty quiet, only rising at most 1/4″ (and that’s being generous; more likely 1/8″). Is it possible that I’ve already killed it and should start over? Could I have possibly overheated the water that I use when feeding? I only heated if for a few moments in a microwave, but I didn’t actually measure the temp. There are some small bubbles at the end of each 12 hour rest, but they’re pretty minimal. I’m just wondering if I should keep at this batch or start over. Thanks.

  11. Hello
    I’ve only just found your blog and I really like it. Can’t wait to try a bit of everything. I have a question about the flour. Were I live (Sweden) there is no flour with malted barley to be found. This is used in various food industries, but not really available to the public. I understand that it’s beneficial to the fermentation process. Could I use something else to get the same boost/effect? Thanks. Madelene

  12. Hello Susan,

    I live in Alabama, it is December here. I am using a cylincer glass tube for my starter. I just put the flour and water in it. I have never done this before and i’ve never baked fresh bread. The only thing i have ever baked from scrach is pecan pie. So i’m very new to all of this. I have a few questions.
    #1. Do i keep my “pet” on the counter without a lid till it becomes a starter?
    #2. I heard when the starter is used it is sweet tasting. Is this true?
    #3. I only had all purpose flour and I used bottled water. One cup of each. I blended with a wire whisk. Is all this ok to start off with?

    Thanks, Cathy

  13. Hi Cathy,

    It’s December here in California too 🙂

    My method is not the only one for raising a starter, but it is the only one I’ve tried.

    1. I recommend a lid so things don’t dry out and you don’t catch flies.

    2. My starter tastes sour.

    3. I recommend a portion of rye or whole wheat flour because it gets things fermenting faster and better. Also, I recommend equal parts flour and water by weight, not volume. If you don’t have a scale, figure 230 grams per cup of water and 130 grams per cup of flour, so you need more flour than water by volume.

  14. I guess i meant its cold in Alabama when i said December. Cold to me anyway. lol

    Ok well i guess i need to restart right? And is this starter good for making sweet breads and cinnamon rolls too?

    Thank you very much for all your help! It is greatly appriciated

  15. I’ve got a question for you. I would need a 50% hydration starter for the panettone recipe you have. Do I just add half of the water an fall this recipe??

  17. I couldn’t wait until the warm summer months to make starter, and I didn’t want to heat a whole room to 80 degrees–so I came upon a solution that may be of interest.

    I put my starter in my Sanyo fuzzy logic rice cooker set on the “Hold Warm” function. It is exactly 80 degrees. I’ve also used my rice cooker on it’s pre-soak setting to rise bread at 74 degrees.

    I’m sure every rice cooker varies a bit but it’s worth experimenting with.

  19. Hello Susan, I just stumbled across your blog and all i have to say is WOW, Everything here looks so amaaazing! , I actually just started some dough for a traditional russian sourdough, ive been raising my yeast for a few weeks now and looks excellent, i just mixed up my dough and its resting in the fridge untill tomorrow morning to bake them off. Im a horticulturalist at heart but ive been a baker for a few years and i just cant go long without crafting some bread, there doesnt seem to be anything more satisfying! anyways im rambling! just wanted to say hello, and let you know how envious i am of your baking wish i was a neighbor! hahaha, anyways thanks susan!

  20. Hi,

    Your info is very informative to me – a newbie at the seed culture thing. I’ve posted questions under Seed Culture Gone A-Rye. I think the temperature in the house is not warm enough. I’ll have to wait until summer to try again. Otherwise I’d have to crank up the heater and that would make my rye loaf the most expensive bread!

    Cheers,

    Kathleen

  21. Dear Susan,

    I just made my first starter after looking up various ways on Youtube. I mixed 1 cup of flour with 2 cups of water and let sit. Seemed simple enough but when I looked at it a few minutes after the flour had settled at the bottom leaving a clear layer of water on top!!! I figure it must be something to do with the flour I use. It’s basic all purpose white. Please help.

    Georges

  22. “Feeding involves removing and discarding a portion of the culture, and adding water and flour to what remains:”

    I have been bothered by this for some time: Why do you remove part of the culture? What not simply add fresh ingredients in the same proportion? What is the science here?

    Thanks

  23. Eric, it’s not so much science as math. Every time you feed, you triple (or more) the amount of starter you begin with. If you didn’t remove any, you’d soon run out of space to put it all.

  24. Love all the great info on your site! I was wondering…is it possible for a culture to go bad/become unsafe? Say, if a well-meaning but somewhat forgetful amateur was to have begun the process on Sat morning, but left for work this (Mon, day 3) morning without feeding it? Yesterday the star….culture had a yeasty smell. Today it smelled not so nice, and looked like it had separated some. The smell isn’t too strong, and perhaps is a good sour smell, but with the forgotten feeding it makes me nervous. Thanks!

  25. I’m very excited – I’ve been growing my first sourdough starter over the past few weeks, and today I baked my first loaves of sourdough! I’m so amazed that it worked out so well, everything seemed to go to plan!

    Your website is fantastic and has reassured me I’m on the right path… Congrats on a great site!

  26. Hi there,
    Really need some help with my starter. I am getting the acetone smell that some people encounter. I’ve tried feeding twice a day, but it’s not really making much difference. I empty most out, refresh (upon which it smells fine, obv), and then in a few hours it’s giving off the smell again. It is growing, however, with no problems at all, doubling in 8 hours maybe, so all nice and active. But more feeding doesn’t change the smell. Should I be feeding more than twice a day? It feels like wasting good flour after bad at the moment. It’s been about two weeks smelling like this, by the way. I had read that if this is the strain of yeast that is dominant (the one producing the smell), then no amount of feeding will help. Should I try baking with it? Or will the smell transfer itself into the taste?

    Thanks!

  28. thanks Susan. at the moment, I’m adding 30g of rye and 70g of white flour (plus 100g of water) with each feeding. so more than that?! On the verge of canning it and starting again, but the fact that it’s doubling in size so well (if giving off this smell) is keeping it out of the bin. would it be unwise to to try baking a loaf with it do you think?

  29. It’s somewhat discouraging.
    I’m on day three, it seems to have petered out (no bubbles or activity) and smells horrible.(Like cheese)

    But looking at the previous comments, Susan seems to encourage people to preserver through it.

    I’m just curious, what would be a legitimate reason to toss the culture out? What would be some warning signs of failure in this endeavor?

  31. Found this site through a magazine; I’ve had a starter going for about a week now from potato water, multi grain flour and a couple teaspoons sugar. It smells like beer? And it separates somewhat; after I stir it, it goes crazy again. I hadn’t been feeding it but somehow it raises about 4-6 inches every afternoon when kitchen gets the sun. I fed it today but used white flour & little sugar.

    I will follow your advice and feed twice daily but my question is: why do you discard most of the starter daily only to build more? Wouldn’t it be better just to add to it? I don’t understand the theory behind this.

    Thanks.

  32. Just curious, is it necessary to discard the unused portions at the various stages or can they be used to make additional starters?

  33. Hi Joe, yes, I suppose the excess portion of culture could be split off and fed with, say, rye or whole wheat flour to make those starters.

  34. Hi Susan!
    i made a starter before and it smelled TERRIBLE!! it smelled like vomit! so i threw it away. i started another and i let it out fore 2 days and i feed it today but before i fed it it had a lingering smell of vomit also. i use unbleached flower and water from my brita filter. is there anything im doing werong or is it normal?

  35. I have a question about what to do with the starter once you think it is done. Do you keep it in the icebox and how long will it be good in there. Can you freeze it?
    Love your site!! Thanks!!
    Gisela

  38. Hi Susan,
    Day 5 and not much is happening, there are small bubbles on top, but it smells quite unpleasant and it often separates with murky water settling on top. Should I continue or start again? I’m in the UK so it’s never too warm! but my kitchen is not drafty or cold.

    Thanks

  39. Hello I am new to making a sour dough starter and I notice that when the starter is ready to use it consists of 75 gr of starter, 75 gr of water and 75 gr of flour for a total of 225 gr of sourdough starter. The article then goes on to say you are ready to make bread.The Norwich sourdough requires 360 gr of starter, how does this add up?

  41. Thanks for the quick reply Susan. I went to the link provided and now everything makes sense. I am excited to get going on making some sourdough bread.
    Thanks Again
    Stephen

  42. Hi Susan,

    I’ve been attempting to make a starter for about 5 days now. Initially I think I had some leuconostoc (it was super bubbly and smelled pretty bad). After about Day 3, that went away, but nothing is really happening anymore, just a few small bubbles and not doubling itself in any way. Should I scratch it and start over? Feed it more? Switch to all white flour? Help!

    Courtney

  43. My mom has always told me that warm water equals rising for yeast.. but it cant’ be too hot and that you have to beat it with a wisk. I never believed her until I couldn’t get my yeast to rise and tried it, and it turned out great. Thanks for the confirmation!
    -Amy
    Elements Papers

  44. After 2 complete failures trying to create Dan Leader’s liquid levain I followed your instructions and 5 days later have a lovely levain. This makes me so happy! Using Dakota-Prairie rye and white flours. Thank you.

  45. Susan, I have been making a spelt bread with 100% spelt flour, 100% hydration starter, 25% rye, 75% white with mixed results. In the successful loaves I take the starter at 12 hours after it has leveled off, unsuccessful loaves starter at 8 eights or less and still quite bubbly. I am finding spelt dough to be an enjoyable workout but needing 15 – 20 minutes of kneeding for proper gluten development. (I am not an olympic kneeder). Any thoughts?
    Thank you.
    Sam

  46. Hi susan
    Thanks a lot for your excellent Recipes .please guide me how can I make a good pizza dough?
    thanks in advance

  47. Hi Susan. I started toying with cultivating yeast abaout a year and a half ago. It took three attempts at 5-7 days each to achieve success.I used that starter all year, but neglected it in the end and discarded. I mixed almost 1 cup of bread flour, one cup of water and about an eighth of a cup of whole wheat flour, on Saturday afternoon, at about 2:30, and on Sunday at about 6:00 pm this new starter was full of bubbles, frothy and doubled in size. Not knowing how to proceed, I refridgerated it this, (Mon) AM. Won’t get home till about 5. What should I do? Take out and feed? I was amazed at the immediate results.

  48. Kim, I don’t recommend refrigerating a culture (starter-in-progress). Early bubbles are a sign of bacterial activity, not of a mature starter. I recommend the method above, where you keep the culture in a warm location and feed twice a day with equal parts water and flour by weight.

  49. Susan, great site. Quick question. I live over in Pleasant Hill and was wondering if it ever gets too cold to start the starter? Is there anything special I should do with the starter this time of year? Thanks again.

  50. Hello, I have been reading this for a couple days now and am quite interested. I do have one question. I understand how to make the starter but what I dont understand is how to keep the starter. Do people use half the starter for bread and then put more ingredients in the starter to keep it going. Like the one person said “I have a starter for 3 years” how is tht possible? Please be detailed as possible and ANYONE can answer. My goal is to make bread everyday.

  52. Thank you Susan! I follow your instructions with 1 exception, I used Wheat instead of Rye. So far, Day 1 is a total success! It was bubbly and grown just a little. I’m onto stage 2(1st feeding) now and we’ll see how it goes! So far I’m please with the results.
    I leave my starter in a room that is 78-80 degrees perfectly.

  53. I’m an English rose just starting my adventure into wild yeast sourdough bread. Last week I mixed 50% white bread flour with 50% whole wheat bread flour and some water, walked round my kitchen mixing ’till it looked like thick paint. I left it by my Aga in a Kilner jar for 24hrs and little bubbles appeared. Just a few. After a week of throwing 50% and adding 50/50 plus water every day I now have a lovely bubbly mixture. I had ups and downs all week but now it smells divine. I think I will keep going for another week to increase the activity and bake my first loaf then. Wish me luck my doughy friends!!

  54. Dear Susan,

    I missed the “24 hour” rest period at the beginning and started feeding after the first 12 hours. Is this OK?

    Thanks!

  55. Hello Susan,
    Thank you for your blog, it helps me. I learn from it, I’m inspired by it and I enjoy the beautiful breads you make.
    My questions is: when (in days) do I feed my sourdough. I have a good sourdough. But since a few days there is a little bit of moist on top, it smells fresh and sour. I stirred it and it looks ok. But this morning it still has a bit of moist. What do you think I sould do?

  58. Hello Susan,
    I have a few starters, but I have had one of them for about 1 year and it makes excellent sourdough. I keep it in the refrigerator most of the time since it started showing signs of blue.
    This is my process..after I retrieve the starter from the refrigerator, I feed it and let it peak before I use it and it is white and smells wonderful. However, if I continue to feed the starter and leave it out at room temperature, portions of the starter will turn blue. I then throw away as much of the blue tinted starter as I can, feed it, and place it back in the refrigerator where it will turn white again (no blue).
    Do you know what is causing the blue in my starter? Is it mold?
    Regards,
    Brent

  59. Wow, this is an oldie but goodie! Stumbled upon this thread as I’m getting into the art of baking bread. I started my starter on Friday night so I’m on day 3… it was rising nicely on Sunday morning but in the afternoon, i followed the usual feeding and this morning it looked dead, I fed it again in the morning and in the afternoon still looks dead. It smells sour so I’m assuming i’m on the right track but it’s no longer growing. Should I give it one more day and if it doesn’t grow do I restart?

  60. Hi Susan,
    I just discovered your blog through a friend of mine–I am delighted! I have a starter I’ve been cultivating for about 8 months (original recipe from James Beard’s ‘American Cookery’). I’ve made bread (at least) weekly or fed the starter if I wasn’t able to make bread, and now I have A LOT of starter (I’m guessing a little over a gallon)…I am wondering if there is a way of dividing or reducing a starter? Perhaps you’ve written of this elsewhere? Can you point me in a direction? Thank you so much–I look forward to further exploring and following your blog!
    -Sarah

  63. Sarah – Does your bread turn out to be quite sour? I would imagine that a lot of acid has built up in your starter the way you are keeping it.

  64. Susan,

    I just started a new starter after my first one went bad. I am one week into it, got distrcted for a day, and now it has a strong acetone smell. As I have seen you instruct others, I have been feeding more often, at least every 12 hours, with 1 cup AP flour and 1/2 cup water added to about 1/2 cup starter after I dump the rest. How long should I expect before some turnaround? I am seeing lots of bubbles and a good rise that lasts for several hours.

  65. Hi Susan, is it normal for there to be very little rise after the switch from the 30% rye flour diet to the all white flour diet? It was easily doubling itself easily and was quite bubbly before the switch, but now it only rises about 20% and it doesn’t seem to be picking up steam. I have checked and confirmed that my white flour contains malted barley flour and I am using spring water so chlorine is not the issue. Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

  66. Hello!

    Would you by any chance know how on earth did the early pioneers learn that there was yeast in the air? I would love to know the answer!

    Thank you in advance! 🙂

  67. @Caitlin The yeast you culture comes from the grain not from the air. People had been culturing yeast long before the early pioneers, certainly in ancient Egypt and perhaps even prior to that.

  68. Dear Susan
    I am totally green about all this so please bear with me.
    1.The first thing I would like to understand is why do I need to remove a portion of the starter and then feed it. Why cannot I feed it as is?

    2. I have read “raising a starter” and the ‘maintenance’ articles and again I cannot grasp the reasons or science behind the fact that you had 1:1:1 ratio and ended up with 1:6:6 but normally you maintain 1:4:4, why do this what is wrong with 1:1:1?

    3. What is behind ‘doubling in size in 8 hours’, what is achieved by this? What is wrong with 12 hours?

    4. If the starter is doing so well why end up throwing most of it away and reducing it to only 10g!!!

  70. Susan I thank you for your reply. Tell me is it possible for me to control how sour the culture is that is can I make it more sour or less sour, how?

    Also your concern with your home made
    Thanks
    Emanuel

  71. Continuing with the last sentence your concerns with lead presence from your home made LA Cloche Brick Oven, was that from the eye bolt, nuts and washers?

  72. Susan, you refer to your starter as 100% hydration: if a recipe requires 80% hydration how do I change your starter to reflect this?
    Thanks
    Emanuel

  73. I’ve been making sourdough in a machine for some time now (Panasonic) and my starter stays in the fridge for a week since I only make 1 loaf. I add 125gm rye to 250ml of warm water + 1 tbsp of sugar to the fridge starter, mix and leave covered for 24-36 hours with a bit of stirring in between at normal room temperature. The bread is made with 300ml of starter, 450gm (white 200/malted 200/rye 50) flour, 150ml water, 1.5 tsp salt, 1.5 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 x 7gm sachet instant yeast. It is pretty much foolproof and tastes mildly sour with a crisp crust.

  74. Hi Susan. I have been on a starter mission, partly because I miss home (I’m from SF too), and mostly because I miss Tartine bread, so, I’m trying to recreate Chad’s loaf down here in L.A. (I moved here a year ago).

    Anyway, I’m perplexed. I followed Chad’s instructions to a T, and I still get no rise and fall. Plenty of bubble action, and the starter tastes really sour. It smelled sour the second day, really sour, and now it only ever smells mildly sour.

    I began my starter Tuesday April 12th, still no rise and fall. Just today, as an experiment (I’m actually feeding two starters just so I can experiment), I fed one of my starters with 100% AP, the other I am still feeding with a 50/50 mix of wheat and white flour per Tartine bread books instructions. Both are bubbling nicely, but none of this swell!

    I use room temperature water (which is around 85 degrees, it’s been warm in L.A.), and I am using bottled water now (I used tap a couple of times, but lost activity, then read that chlorine can kill a starter). My flour is good quality. At first I covered the starters with a towel, but today I decided to experiment with covering and am using plastic wrap. Still great bubbling, but no swell! What gives?

    Also, I just started the culture you outlined on your website using rye. It’s only day two, but so far I have great bubbling action, no swell. Using all the ‘rules’ that you set out, so no mysteries. I am hoping to get a good swell by at least the 4th day, and I’m going to follow your direction. I may have to seek your advice again in another 5 days if I get no swelling from the culture/starter.

    Please advise about the other two that I have, if you could.

    Thank you!

    Francis-Olive

  75. TIP:

    For people in colder climates, like the UK for instance, I tend to keep my starter in the oven with the light on. The light generates enough heat to keep the oven at a nice temperature for making starter.

    I sometimes heat the oven a its lowest setting (remove the starter first) for a couple of minutes, then place the starter back inside…

  76. Dear Susan,

    I have been using my starter for the past 14 months with great success. It’s simply a champ lifting all your breads with ease. Last week I forgot to feed it for four days. And I forgot to refrigerate it too. The smell is eye popping. I have tried to re-feed a small quantity into a larger amount of new water and flour but no luck. I’m assuming a certain type of yeast or bacteria took hold and its time to start over. Or should I just keep feeding and holding my nose?

  77. Sam, you could probably keep feeding it to bring it back eventually, but it’s probably faster to just start a new one. Good luck!

  78. Strange to see someone mix rye and wheat in one sourdough.

    Here in Norway, the perception of many excellent bakers, is that these are two separate forms of sourdough. So we only make pure wheat sourdough, and pure rye sourdough.

    The first is used for light breads, and the second for dark breads.

  79. Hi, great tutorial, but I have mine that has been going for about 4-5 days (I kinda forgot…) and it smells absolutely AWFUL! I spiked it with some lemon juice, straight out of the lemon, on the last feeding hoping that it would help boost acidity and kick start the yeast. However now it smells like a acrid sweat and decay. There is yeast since there are bubbles coming. How long, if ever, will it take to fix this?

  80. Brady, I’m guessing you killed the yeast with the lemon juice. (Bubbles do not necessarily indicate yeast; bacteria produce gas, too.) I’d start over, following the instructions here. Depending on your flours and environmental conditions, it may take longer than 5 days.

Trackbacks

  13. […] get started than with a sourdough?  I did some research online, and found a great resource over at Wild Yeast.  This is step 1 of my bread journey, and I’ve been faithfully feeding the starter every 12 […]

  17. […] At first I aspired to make sourdough bread using only wild leavening – meaning, instead of prepackaged yeast, I would use a starter built up from just flour and water, left to ferment and “bloom” over a series of days and weeks.  I’m proud to say that I’ve built a rather ripe and potent starter over the past few weeks, and encourage you to do so as well.  How does one do that, you may ask?  The short answer is: mix 1 part flour to 1 part filtered water in a wide-mouth jar, let it sit out at room temp until bubbles form, and BLAM-O, you’ve got a starter.  The long answer can be found here. […]

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