This post outlines how to build a sourdough starter from scratch simply and quickly. In less than a week, with minimal effort, you will have a bubbly, active starter on your hands to use in all your favorite sourdough recipes.
A sourdough starter is a fermented mixture of flour and water that contains wild yeast and bacteria . It both leavens and flavors sourdough bread.
How? It’s time for a science lesson.
Wild yeasts and bacteria exist everywhere, namely in flour, but also in the air and on your hands. When we mix flour and water and let it sit, wild yeasts begin searching for food, which they find in the flour: they convert the starch in the flour into sugar. As they digest this sugar, they produce two things: carbon dioxide, which makes the starter rise, and alcohol, which the wild bacteria drink up and in turn produce various types of lactic and acetic acids — these acids are what give the bread the sour flavor.
Cool, right? The wild yeasts and bacteria work symbiotically to both leaven and flavor our starter and ultimately our bread.
3 TipsFor Success
Because wild yeast and bacteria are the backbone of a sourdough starter, it is crucial that these microbes are happy for your starter to thrive: the happier they are, the more they multiply, the more powerful the starter you create.
Building up a colony of happy microbes takes time and care. Here are three tips for success:
Tip #1: Use Pineapple Juice : Using pineapple juice in place of water initially can shorten the overall timeline for building a sourdough starter from scratch. This is because wild yeast cells prefer a somewhat acidic pH (which pineapple juice is) in which to grow.
Tip #2: Keep Your Starter Cozy : Ideally, you’ll attempt this project while it’s hot outside — I find 80ºF (26ºC) to be ideal. If you’re building your starter when it’s cold outside, find a place to keep it warm. See recipe box for some ideas.
Tip #3: Use Good Flour : Use freshly milled, stone-milled flour because the added minerals and nutrients provide better food for the microbes (yeast and bacteria) to thrive. If you have a local source, use it! Health food markets, co-ops, and stores like Whole Foods often carry freshly milled flour. See recipe box for a few online sources I love.
How to Build a Sourdough Starter From Scratch, Step by Step
Day 1 : Gather your materials: flour and pineapple juice. (If possible, pick up a bag of freshly milled stone-milled flour; see the recipe box for sources.)
Pour the can of juice into a large bowl or ideally a straight-sided vessel on a tared scale.
Add an equal amount of flour by weight. It should be about 192-193 grams of juice and flour each.
Stir the flour and juice together until the flour is absorbed.
Cover the vessel. Record the date, time, and measurements — you will forget which day you started if you don’t. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
Day 2: Uncover the vessel and…
… give it a stir.
Re-cover the vessel, and record your work. Let it sit at room temperature for another 24 hours.
Day 3: Uncover the vessel.
Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water:
Add them to the vessel.
Stir to combine.
Cover the vessel and record your work again. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
Day 4: Uncover the vessel. You should see a little action (bubbles). Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water:
Add them to the container.
Stir to combine.
On this day, record your work again, and mark the height of your mixture with tape on the side of your vessel. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, keeping a closer watch this time around.
You will likely see some action…
The mixture might even double in volume.
And you should see lots of bubbles on the surface.
If your mixture is in fact rising, let it rise until it nearly doubles in volume; then drop a spoonful of it in water. If it floats, you’re in business. Note: Your starter might rise (and maybe fall) while you are sleeping — don’t worry if you don’t “catch” it at its peak. Continue on with the process that follows.
Spoon 128 grams of the starter into a new vessel.
Measure another 128 grams of flour and water each.
Add the flour and water to the starter.
Stir to combine.
Mark the height with a rubber band.
This original vat of sourdough starter is now your discard bucket. Transfer it to the fridge or use it in one of your favorite sourdough discard recipes: tortillas , crackers , pancakes , soda bread .
Day 5: When your starter doubles…
… and floats…
…you can do one of three things:
- Repeat this process: spoon 128 grams of starter into a new vessel and add 128 grams each flour and water. (Transfer the remaining starter to your bucket of discard.) Let the new starter rise until it doubles. Your starter will get stronger with every feeding.
- Transfer it to the fridge if you need to take a break from the process. You can pick up where you let off when you are ready.
- Test it out…
… in a sourdough bread recipe . I recommend starting with…
… focaccia , one of the easiest breads to make.
Description
This post outlines how to build a sourdough starter from scratch simply and quickly. In less than a week, with minimal effort, you will have a bubbly, active starter on your hands to use in all your favorite sourdough recipes.
Notes:
Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s method, outlined in Perfect Pan Pizza (and many of his other books as well).
If you are looking for guidance on how to feed, maintain, and store your already strong starter, see this post: How to Feed, Maintain, and Store a Sourdough Starter.
5 Tips for Success
- Use a scale to measure. It is the only way to measure accurately.
- Use a straight-sided vessel , which will help you more accurately see how much your starter is growing.
- Attempt this project while it’s hot outside or create a cozy place for your starter to rise: Find a warm place in your kitchen (like on top of your refrigerator) to let it rest. Invest in the Brod and Taylor Sourdough Home : I do not own this, but it gets good reviews should you have the space for it Build your own “sourdough home “: one of you ingeniously made a homemade proofing box by placing a seed heating pad in a box and covering it with a towel. Try the warm oven trick: turn your oven on for 1 minute (at any temperature) and then turn it off. It likely won’t get above 100ºF — it will just create a cozy spot for your dough to rise. Consider sticking a post-it note to the oven to remind you that you have a starter in there so that you don’t accidentally preheat your oven and kill your starter. (Note: I do not recommend using the oven with the oven light on, because I discovered the hard way that the oven light can actually be too hot and cause your starter or sourdough bread to overferment.)
- Start with pineapple juice.
- Use freshly milled stone-milled flour. If you have a source local to you, use it! Health food markets, co-ops, or markets such as Whole Foods often carry freshly milled flour. Here are a few mail-order options: Cairnspring Mills Anson Mills Community Grains Red Tail Grains
Pineapple Juice: My small cans of pineapple juice are labeled as 6 ounces (177 ml), but when I actually weigh the juice inside, it always weighs around 192 grams. The important thing is to use an equal amount by weight of flour and pineapple juice.
Pineapple Juice Alternatives : Orange Juice or Water
Water: I have no trouble using tap water when building a sourdough starter or when making a sourdough bread recipe. If you have concerns about your water, you can:
- Use water that you’ve left out overnight to ensure any chlorine has evaporated.
- Buy spring water. In some places, letting water sit out overnight will not be effective, and your tap water may kill your starter.
Discard: At the end of the first four days of the process, you’ll be left with a decent amount of sourdough discard, which you can use in countless recipes. Here are a few of my favorites:
Simple Sourdough Discard Waffles
Simple Sourdough Discard Crackers
Sourdough Tortillas
Favorite Pancakes
Irish Soda Bread
1 small can (192 grams) pineapple juice, see notes above for alternatives
stone-milled flour, see notes above
Room temperature water, see notes above
- Day 1: Pour the can of juice (roughly 192 grams) into a large bowl or ideally a straight-sided vessel on a tared scale. (A straight-sided vessel allows you to truly see how much your starter is growing. I’m using this Cambro .) Add an equal amount of flour (roughly 192 grams) by weight. Stir the flour and juice together until the flour is absorbed. Cover the vessel. Record the date, time, and measurements — you will forget which day you started if you don’t. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Day 2 : Uncover the vessel. Stir the mixture. Re-cover the vessel, and record your work. Let it sit at room temperature for another 24 hours.
- Day 3: Uncover the vessel. Add 128 grams (1 cup) flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) water. Stir to combine. Cover the vessel and record your work again. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
- Day 4: Uncover the vessel. You should see a little action (bubbles) and it should smell pleasant, not unlike a fruity yogurt. Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water. Add them to the container. Stir to combine. Cover the vessel. On this day, record your work again, and mark the height of your mixture with tape on the side of your vessel. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, keeping a closer watch this time around. You may see action — rising and bubble formation — within a few hours. If your mixture is in fact rising, let it rise until it nearly doubles in volume; then drop a spoonful of it in water. If it floats, you’re in business. Note: Your starter might rise (and possibly fall) while you are sleeping — don’t worry if you don’t “catch” it at its peak. Continue on with the process.
- Day 5 : At this point, you should be observing some activity in your starter, meaning the starter should have risen slightly (perhaps doubled but perhaps not) and fallen with bubbles transforming from big to small. You’ll now take a small portion of this mixture and build a new starter: Transfer 128 grams of the starter to a new jar or vessel, and add 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water. Stir well to combine, then cover the jar. Mark the height with a rubber band. Let sit at room temperature. Transfer the remaining starter to the fridge — this original mixture is now your sourdough discard and can be used in all sorts of recipes, see notes above. When your new starter doubles in volume, you can do one of three things: Repeat this process: spoon 128 grams of starter into a new vessel and add 128 grams each flour and water. (Transfer the remaining starter to your bucket of discard.) Let the new starter rise until it doubles. Your starter will get stronger with every feeding. Transfer it to the fridge if you need to take a break from the process. You can pick up where you let off when you are ready. Test it out in a sourdough bread recipe .
- Maintaining your starter: Once you have a strong, active starter on your hands, follow the steps in this post: How to Feed, Store, and Maintain a Sourdough Starter.
- Category: Bread
- Method: Stir
- Cuisine: American
This post outlines how to build a sourdough starter from scratch simply and quickly. In less than a week, with minimal effort, you will have a bubbly, active starter on your hands to use in all your favorite sourdough recipes.
A sourdough starter is a fermented mixture of flour and water that contains wild yeast and bacteria . It both leavens and flavors sourdough bread.
How? It’s time for a science lesson.
Wild yeasts and bacteria exist everywhere, namely in flour, but also in the air and on your hands. When we mix flour and water and let it sit, wild yeasts begin searching for food, which they find in the flour: they convert the starch in the flour into sugar. As they digest this sugar, they produce two things: carbon dioxide, which makes the starter rise, and alcohol, which the wild bacteria drink up and in turn produce various types of lactic and acetic acids — these acids are what give the bread the sour flavor.
Cool, right? The wild yeasts and bacteria work symbiotically to both leaven and flavor our starter and ultimately our bread.
3 TipsFor Success
Because wild yeast and bacteria are the backbone of a sourdough starter, it is crucial that these microbes are happy for your starter to thrive: the happier they are, the more they multiply, the more powerful the starter you create.
Building up a colony of happy microbes takes time and care. Here are three tips for success:
Tip #1: Use Pineapple Juice : Using pineapple juice in place of water initially can shorten the overall timeline for building a sourdough starter from scratch. This is because wild yeast cells prefer a somewhat acidic pH (which pineapple juice is) in which to grow.
Tip #2: Keep Your Starter Cozy : Ideally, you’ll attempt this project while it’s hot outside — I find 80ºF (26ºC) to be ideal. If you’re building your starter when it’s cold outside, find a place to keep it warm. See recipe box for some ideas.
Tip #3: Use Good Flour : Use freshly milled, stone-milled flour because the added minerals and nutrients provide better food for the microbes (yeast and bacteria) to thrive. If you have a local source, use it! Health food markets, co-ops, and stores like Whole Foods often carry freshly milled flour. See recipe box for a few online sources I love.
How to Build a Sourdough Starter From Scratch, Step by Step
Day 1 : Gather your materials: flour and pineapple juice. (If possible, pick up a bag of freshly milled stone-milled flour; see the recipe box for sources.)
Pour the can of juice into a large bowl or ideally a straight-sided vessel on a tared scale.
Add an equal amount of flour by weight. It should be about 192-193 grams of juice and flour each.
Stir the flour and juice together until the flour is absorbed.
Cover the vessel. Record the date, time, and measurements — you will forget which day you started if you don’t. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
Day 2: Uncover the vessel and…
… give it a stir.
Re-cover the vessel, and record your work. Let it sit at room temperature for another 24 hours.
Day 3: Uncover the vessel.
Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water:
Add them to the vessel.
Stir to combine.
Cover the vessel and record your work again. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
Day 4: Uncover the vessel. You should see a little action (bubbles). Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water:
Add them to the container.
Stir to combine.
On this day, record your work again, and mark the height of your mixture with tape on the side of your vessel. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, keeping a closer watch this time around.
You will likely see some action…
The mixture might even double in volume.
And you should see lots of bubbles on the surface.
If your mixture is in fact rising, let it rise until it nearly doubles in volume; then drop a spoonful of it in water. If it floats, you’re in business. Note: Your starter might rise (and maybe fall) while you are sleeping — don’t worry if you don’t “catch” it at its peak. Continue on with the process that follows.
Spoon 128 grams of the starter into a new vessel.
Measure another 128 grams of flour and water each.
Add the flour and water to the starter.
Stir to combine.
Mark the height with a rubber band.
This original vat of sourdough starter is now your discard bucket. Transfer it to the fridge or use it in one of your favorite sourdough discard recipes: tortillas , crackers , pancakes , soda bread .
Day 5: When your starter doubles…
… and floats…
…you can do one of three things:
- Repeat this process: spoon 128 grams of starter into a new vessel and add 128 grams each flour and water. (Transfer the remaining starter to your bucket of discard.) Let the new starter rise until it doubles. Your starter will get stronger with every feeding.
- Transfer it to the fridge if you need to take a break from the process. You can pick up where you let off when you are ready.
- Test it out…
… in a sourdough bread recipe . I recommend starting with…
… focaccia , one of the easiest breads to make.
Description
This post outlines how to build a sourdough starter from scratch simply and quickly. In less than a week, with minimal effort, you will have a bubbly, active starter on your hands to use in all your favorite sourdough recipes.
Notes:
Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s method, outlined in Perfect Pan Pizza (and many of his other books as well).
If you are looking for guidance on how to feed, maintain, and store your already strong starter, see this post: How to Feed, Maintain, and Store a Sourdough Starter.
5 Tips for Success
- Use a scale to measure. It is the only way to measure accurately.
- Use a straight-sided vessel , which will help you more accurately see how much your starter is growing.
- Attempt this project while it’s hot outside or create a cozy place for your starter to rise: Find a warm place in your kitchen (like on top of your refrigerator) to let it rest. Invest in the Brod and Taylor Sourdough Home : I do not own this, but it gets good reviews should you have the space for it Build your own “sourdough home “: one of you ingeniously made a homemade proofing box by placing a seed heating pad in a box and covering it with a towel. Try the warm oven trick: turn your oven on for 1 minute (at any temperature) and then turn it off. It likely won’t get above 100ºF — it will just create a cozy spot for your dough to rise. Consider sticking a post-it note to the oven to remind you that you have a starter in there so that you don’t accidentally preheat your oven and kill your starter. (Note: I do not recommend using the oven with the oven light on, because I discovered the hard way that the oven light can actually be too hot and cause your starter or sourdough bread to overferment.)
- Start with pineapple juice.
- Use freshly milled stone-milled flour. If you have a source local to you, use it! Health food markets, co-ops, or markets such as Whole Foods often carry freshly milled flour. Here are a few mail-order options: Cairnspring Mills Anson Mills Community Grains Red Tail Grains
Pineapple Juice: My small cans of pineapple juice are labeled as 6 ounces (177 ml), but when I actually weigh the juice inside, it always weighs around 192 grams. The important thing is to use an equal amount by weight of flour and pineapple juice.
Pineapple Juice Alternatives : Orange Juice or Water
Water: I have no trouble using tap water when building a sourdough starter or when making a sourdough bread recipe. If you have concerns about your water, you can:
- Use water that you’ve left out overnight to ensure any chlorine has evaporated.
- Buy spring water. In some places, letting water sit out overnight will not be effective, and your tap water may kill your starter.
Discard: At the end of the first four days of the process, you’ll be left with a decent amount of sourdough discard, which you can use in countless recipes. Here are a few of my favorites:
Simple Sourdough Discard Waffles
Simple Sourdough Discard Crackers
Sourdough Tortillas
Favorite Pancakes
Irish Soda Bread
1 small can (192 grams) pineapple juice, see notes above for alternatives
stone-milled flour, see notes above
Room temperature water, see notes above
- Day 1: Pour the can of juice (roughly 192 grams) into a large bowl or ideally a straight-sided vessel on a tared scale. (A straight-sided vessel allows you to truly see how much your starter is growing. I’m using this Cambro .) Add an equal amount of flour (roughly 192 grams) by weight. Stir the flour and juice together until the flour is absorbed. Cover the vessel. Record the date, time, and measurements — you will forget which day you started if you don’t. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Day 2 : Uncover the vessel. Stir the mixture. Re-cover the vessel, and record your work. Let it sit at room temperature for another 24 hours.
- Day 3: Uncover the vessel. Add 128 grams (1 cup) flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) water. Stir to combine. Cover the vessel and record your work again. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
- Day 4: Uncover the vessel. You should see a little action (bubbles) and it should smell pleasant, not unlike a fruity yogurt. Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water. Add them to the container. Stir to combine. Cover the vessel. On this day, record your work again, and mark the height of your mixture with tape on the side of your vessel. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, keeping a closer watch this time around. You may see action — rising and bubble formation — within a few hours. If your mixture is in fact rising, let it rise until it nearly doubles in volume; then drop a spoonful of it in water. If it floats, you’re in business. Note: Your starter might rise (and possibly fall) while you are sleeping — don’t worry if you don’t “catch” it at its peak. Continue on with the process.
- Day 5 : At this point, you should be observing some activity in your starter, meaning the starter should have risen slightly (perhaps doubled but perhaps not) and fallen with bubbles transforming from big to small. You’ll now take a small portion of this mixture and build a new starter: Transfer 128 grams of the starter to a new jar or vessel, and add 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water. Stir well to combine, then cover the jar. Mark the height with a rubber band. Let sit at room temperature. Transfer the remaining starter to the fridge — this original mixture is now your sourdough discard and can be used in all sorts of recipes, see notes above. When your new starter doubles in volume, you can do one of three things: Repeat this process: spoon 128 grams of starter into a new vessel and add 128 grams each flour and water. (Transfer the remaining starter to your bucket of discard.) Let the new starter rise until it doubles. Your starter will get stronger with every feeding. Transfer it to the fridge if you need to take a break from the process. You can pick up where you let off when you are ready. Test it out in a sourdough bread recipe .
- Maintaining your starter: Once you have a strong, active starter on your hands, follow the steps in this post: How to Feed, Store, and Maintain a Sourdough Starter.
- Category: Bread
- Method: Stir
- Cuisine: American
This post outlines how to build a sourdough starter from scratch simply and quickly. In less than a week, with minimal effort, you will have a bubbly, active starter on your hands to use in all your favorite sourdough recipes.
A sourdough starter is a fermented mixture of flour and water that contains wild yeast and bacteria . It both leavens and flavors sourdough bread.
How? It’s time for a science lesson.
Wild yeasts and bacteria exist everywhere, namely in flour, but also in the air and on your hands. When we mix flour and water and let it sit, wild yeasts begin searching for food, which they find in the flour: they convert the starch in the flour into sugar. As they digest this sugar, they produce two things: carbon dioxide, which makes the starter rise, and alcohol, which the wild bacteria drink up and in turn produce various types of lactic and acetic acids — these acids are what give the bread the sour flavor.
Cool, right? The wild yeasts and bacteria work symbiotically to both leaven and flavor our starter and ultimately our bread.
3 TipsFor Success
Because wild yeast and bacteria are the backbone of a sourdough starter, it is crucial that these microbes are happy for your starter to thrive: the happier they are, the more they multiply, the more powerful the starter you create.
Building up a colony of happy microbes takes time and care. Here are three tips for success:
Tip #1: Use Pineapple Juice : Using pineapple juice in place of water initially can shorten the overall timeline for building a sourdough starter from scratch. This is because wild yeast cells prefer a somewhat acidic pH (which pineapple juice is) in which to grow.
Tip #2: Keep Your Starter Cozy : Ideally, you’ll attempt this project while it’s hot outside — I find 80ºF (26ºC) to be ideal. If you’re building your starter when it’s cold outside, find a place to keep it warm. See recipe box for some ideas.
Tip #3: Use Good Flour : Use freshly milled, stone-milled flour because the added minerals and nutrients provide better food for the microbes (yeast and bacteria) to thrive. If you have a local source, use it! Health food markets, co-ops, and stores like Whole Foods often carry freshly milled flour. See recipe box for a few online sources I love.
How to Build a Sourdough Starter From Scratch, Step by Step
Day 1 : Gather your materials: flour and pineapple juice. (If possible, pick up a bag of freshly milled stone-milled flour; see the recipe box for sources.)
Pour the can of juice into a large bowl or ideally a straight-sided vessel on a tared scale.
Add an equal amount of flour by weight. It should be about 192-193 grams of juice and flour each.
Stir the flour and juice together until the flour is absorbed.
Cover the vessel. Record the date, time, and measurements — you will forget which day you started if you don’t. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
Day 2: Uncover the vessel and…
… give it a stir.
Re-cover the vessel, and record your work. Let it sit at room temperature for another 24 hours.
Day 3: Uncover the vessel.
Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water:
Add them to the vessel.
Stir to combine.
Cover the vessel and record your work again. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
Day 4: Uncover the vessel. You should see a little action (bubbles). Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water:
Add them to the container.
Stir to combine.
On this day, record your work again, and mark the height of your mixture with tape on the side of your vessel. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, keeping a closer watch this time around.
You will likely see some action…
The mixture might even double in volume.
And you should see lots of bubbles on the surface.
If your mixture is in fact rising, let it rise until it nearly doubles in volume; then drop a spoonful of it in water. If it floats, you’re in business. Note: Your starter might rise (and maybe fall) while you are sleeping — don’t worry if you don’t “catch” it at its peak. Continue on with the process that follows.
Spoon 128 grams of the starter into a new vessel.
Measure another 128 grams of flour and water each.
Add the flour and water to the starter.
Stir to combine.
Mark the height with a rubber band.
This original vat of sourdough starter is now your discard bucket. Transfer it to the fridge or use it in one of your favorite sourdough discard recipes: tortillas , crackers , pancakes , soda bread .
Day 5: When your starter doubles…
… and floats…
…you can do one of three things:
- Repeat this process: spoon 128 grams of starter into a new vessel and add 128 grams each flour and water. (Transfer the remaining starter to your bucket of discard.) Let the new starter rise until it doubles. Your starter will get stronger with every feeding.
- Transfer it to the fridge if you need to take a break from the process. You can pick up where you let off when you are ready.
- Test it out…
… in a sourdough bread recipe . I recommend starting with…
… focaccia , one of the easiest breads to make.
Description
This post outlines how to build a sourdough starter from scratch simply and quickly. In less than a week, with minimal effort, you will have a bubbly, active starter on your hands to use in all your favorite sourdough recipes.
Notes:
Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s method, outlined in Perfect Pan Pizza (and many of his other books as well).
If you are looking for guidance on how to feed, maintain, and store your already strong starter, see this post: How to Feed, Maintain, and Store a Sourdough Starter.
5 Tips for Success
- Use a scale to measure. It is the only way to measure accurately.
- Use a straight-sided vessel , which will help you more accurately see how much your starter is growing.
- Attempt this project while it’s hot outside or create a cozy place for your starter to rise: Find a warm place in your kitchen (like on top of your refrigerator) to let it rest. Invest in the Brod and Taylor Sourdough Home : I do not own this, but it gets good reviews should you have the space for it Build your own “sourdough home “: one of you ingeniously made a homemade proofing box by placing a seed heating pad in a box and covering it with a towel. Try the warm oven trick: turn your oven on for 1 minute (at any temperature) and then turn it off. It likely won’t get above 100ºF — it will just create a cozy spot for your dough to rise. Consider sticking a post-it note to the oven to remind you that you have a starter in there so that you don’t accidentally preheat your oven and kill your starter. (Note: I do not recommend using the oven with the oven light on, because I discovered the hard way that the oven light can actually be too hot and cause your starter or sourdough bread to overferment.)
- Start with pineapple juice.
- Use freshly milled stone-milled flour. If you have a source local to you, use it! Health food markets, co-ops, or markets such as Whole Foods often carry freshly milled flour. Here are a few mail-order options: Cairnspring Mills Anson Mills Community Grains Red Tail Grains
Pineapple Juice: My small cans of pineapple juice are labeled as 6 ounces (177 ml), but when I actually weigh the juice inside, it always weighs around 192 grams. The important thing is to use an equal amount by weight of flour and pineapple juice.
Pineapple Juice Alternatives : Orange Juice or Water
Water: I have no trouble using tap water when building a sourdough starter or when making a sourdough bread recipe. If you have concerns about your water, you can:
- Use water that you’ve left out overnight to ensure any chlorine has evaporated.
- Buy spring water. In some places, letting water sit out overnight will not be effective, and your tap water may kill your starter.
Discard: At the end of the first four days of the process, you’ll be left with a decent amount of sourdough discard, which you can use in countless recipes. Here are a few of my favorites:
Simple Sourdough Discard Waffles
Simple Sourdough Discard Crackers
Sourdough Tortillas
Favorite Pancakes
Irish Soda Bread
1 small can (192 grams) pineapple juice, see notes above for alternatives
stone-milled flour, see notes above
Room temperature water, see notes above
- Day 1: Pour the can of juice (roughly 192 grams) into a large bowl or ideally a straight-sided vessel on a tared scale. (A straight-sided vessel allows you to truly see how much your starter is growing. I’m using this Cambro .) Add an equal amount of flour (roughly 192 grams) by weight. Stir the flour and juice together until the flour is absorbed. Cover the vessel. Record the date, time, and measurements — you will forget which day you started if you don’t. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Day 2 : Uncover the vessel. Stir the mixture. Re-cover the vessel, and record your work. Let it sit at room temperature for another 24 hours.
- Day 3: Uncover the vessel. Add 128 grams (1 cup) flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) water. Stir to combine. Cover the vessel and record your work again. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
- Day 4: Uncover the vessel. You should see a little action (bubbles) and it should smell pleasant, not unlike a fruity yogurt. Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water. Add them to the container. Stir to combine. Cover the vessel. On this day, record your work again, and mark the height of your mixture with tape on the side of your vessel. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, keeping a closer watch this time around. You may see action — rising and bubble formation — within a few hours. If your mixture is in fact rising, let it rise until it nearly doubles in volume; then drop a spoonful of it in water. If it floats, you’re in business. Note: Your starter might rise (and possibly fall) while you are sleeping — don’t worry if you don’t “catch” it at its peak. Continue on with the process.
- Day 5 : At this point, you should be observing some activity in your starter, meaning the starter should have risen slightly (perhaps doubled but perhaps not) and fallen with bubbles transforming from big to small. You’ll now take a small portion of this mixture and build a new starter: Transfer 128 grams of the starter to a new jar or vessel, and add 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water. Stir well to combine, then cover the jar. Mark the height with a rubber band. Let sit at room temperature. Transfer the remaining starter to the fridge — this original mixture is now your sourdough discard and can be used in all sorts of recipes, see notes above. When your new starter doubles in volume, you can do one of three things: Repeat this process: spoon 128 grams of starter into a new vessel and add 128 grams each flour and water. (Transfer the remaining starter to your bucket of discard.) Let the new starter rise until it doubles. Your starter will get stronger with every feeding. Transfer it to the fridge if you need to take a break from the process. You can pick up where you let off when you are ready. Test it out in a sourdough bread recipe .
- Maintaining your starter: Once you have a strong, active starter on your hands, follow the steps in this post: How to Feed, Store, and Maintain a Sourdough Starter.
- Category: Bread
- Method: Stir
- Cuisine: American
This post outlines how to build a sourdough starter from scratch simply and quickly. In less than a week, with minimal effort, you will have a bubbly, active starter on your hands to use in all your favorite sourdough recipes.
A sourdough starter is a fermented mixture of flour and water that contains wild yeast and bacteria . It both leavens and flavors sourdough bread.
How? It’s time for a science lesson.
Wild yeasts and bacteria exist everywhere, namely in flour, but also in the air and on your hands. When we mix flour and water and let it sit, wild yeasts begin searching for food, which they find in the flour: they convert the starch in the flour into sugar. As they digest this sugar, they produce two things: carbon dioxide, which makes the starter rise, and alcohol, which the wild bacteria drink up and in turn produce various types of lactic and acetic acids — these acids are what give the bread the sour flavor.
Cool, right? The wild yeasts and bacteria work symbiotically to both leaven and flavor our starter and ultimately our bread.
3 TipsFor Success
Because wild yeast and bacteria are the backbone of a sourdough starter, it is crucial that these microbes are happy for your starter to thrive: the happier they are, the more they multiply, the more powerful the starter you create.
Building up a colony of happy microbes takes time and care. Here are three tips for success:
Tip #1: Use Pineapple Juice : Using pineapple juice in place of water initially can shorten the overall timeline for building a sourdough starter from scratch. This is because wild yeast cells prefer a somewhat acidic pH (which pineapple juice is) in which to grow.
Tip #2: Keep Your Starter Cozy : Ideally, you’ll attempt this project while it’s hot outside — I find 80ºF (26ºC) to be ideal. If you’re building your starter when it’s cold outside, find a place to keep it warm. See recipe box for some ideas.
Tip #3: Use Good Flour : Use freshly milled, stone-milled flour because the added minerals and nutrients provide better food for the microbes (yeast and bacteria) to thrive. If you have a local source, use it! Health food markets, co-ops, and stores like Whole Foods often carry freshly milled flour. See recipe box for a few online sources I love.
How to Build a Sourdough Starter From Scratch, Step by Step
Day 1 : Gather your materials: flour and pineapple juice. (If possible, pick up a bag of freshly milled stone-milled flour; see the recipe box for sources.)
Pour the can of juice into a large bowl or ideally a straight-sided vessel on a tared scale.
Add an equal amount of flour by weight. It should be about 192-193 grams of juice and flour each.
Stir the flour and juice together until the flour is absorbed.
Cover the vessel. Record the date, time, and measurements — you will forget which day you started if you don’t. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
Day 2: Uncover the vessel and…
… give it a stir.
Re-cover the vessel, and record your work. Let it sit at room temperature for another 24 hours.
Day 3: Uncover the vessel.
Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water:
Add them to the vessel.
Stir to combine.
Cover the vessel and record your work again. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
Day 4: Uncover the vessel. You should see a little action (bubbles). Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water:
Add them to the container.
Stir to combine.
On this day, record your work again, and mark the height of your mixture with tape on the side of your vessel. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, keeping a closer watch this time around.
You will likely see some action…
The mixture might even double in volume.
And you should see lots of bubbles on the surface.
If your mixture is in fact rising, let it rise until it nearly doubles in volume; then drop a spoonful of it in water. If it floats, you’re in business. Note: Your starter might rise (and maybe fall) while you are sleeping — don’t worry if you don’t “catch” it at its peak. Continue on with the process that follows.
Spoon 128 grams of the starter into a new vessel.
Measure another 128 grams of flour and water each.
Add the flour and water to the starter.
Stir to combine.
Mark the height with a rubber band.
This original vat of sourdough starter is now your discard bucket. Transfer it to the fridge or use it in one of your favorite sourdough discard recipes: tortillas , crackers , pancakes , soda bread .
Day 5: When your starter doubles…
… and floats…
…you can do one of three things:
- Repeat this process: spoon 128 grams of starter into a new vessel and add 128 grams each flour and water. (Transfer the remaining starter to your bucket of discard.) Let the new starter rise until it doubles. Your starter will get stronger with every feeding.
- Transfer it to the fridge if you need to take a break from the process. You can pick up where you let off when you are ready.
- Test it out…
… in a sourdough bread recipe . I recommend starting with…
… focaccia , one of the easiest breads to make.
Description
This post outlines how to build a sourdough starter from scratch simply and quickly. In less than a week, with minimal effort, you will have a bubbly, active starter on your hands to use in all your favorite sourdough recipes.
Notes:
Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s method, outlined in Perfect Pan Pizza (and many of his other books as well).
If you are looking for guidance on how to feed, maintain, and store your already strong starter, see this post: How to Feed, Maintain, and Store a Sourdough Starter.
5 Tips for Success
- Use a scale to measure. It is the only way to measure accurately.
- Use a straight-sided vessel , which will help you more accurately see how much your starter is growing.
- Attempt this project while it’s hot outside or create a cozy place for your starter to rise: Find a warm place in your kitchen (like on top of your refrigerator) to let it rest. Invest in the Brod and Taylor Sourdough Home : I do not own this, but it gets good reviews should you have the space for it Build your own “sourdough home “: one of you ingeniously made a homemade proofing box by placing a seed heating pad in a box and covering it with a towel. Try the warm oven trick: turn your oven on for 1 minute (at any temperature) and then turn it off. It likely won’t get above 100ºF — it will just create a cozy spot for your dough to rise. Consider sticking a post-it note to the oven to remind you that you have a starter in there so that you don’t accidentally preheat your oven and kill your starter. (Note: I do not recommend using the oven with the oven light on, because I discovered the hard way that the oven light can actually be too hot and cause your starter or sourdough bread to overferment.)
- Start with pineapple juice.
- Use freshly milled stone-milled flour. If you have a source local to you, use it! Health food markets, co-ops, or markets such as Whole Foods often carry freshly milled flour. Here are a few mail-order options: Cairnspring Mills Anson Mills Community Grains Red Tail Grains
Pineapple Juice: My small cans of pineapple juice are labeled as 6 ounces (177 ml), but when I actually weigh the juice inside, it always weighs around 192 grams. The important thing is to use an equal amount by weight of flour and pineapple juice.
Pineapple Juice Alternatives : Orange Juice or Water
Water: I have no trouble using tap water when building a sourdough starter or when making a sourdough bread recipe. If you have concerns about your water, you can:
- Use water that you’ve left out overnight to ensure any chlorine has evaporated.
- Buy spring water. In some places, letting water sit out overnight will not be effective, and your tap water may kill your starter.
Discard: At the end of the first four days of the process, you’ll be left with a decent amount of sourdough discard, which you can use in countless recipes. Here are a few of my favorites:
Simple Sourdough Discard Waffles
Simple Sourdough Discard Crackers
Sourdough Tortillas
Favorite Pancakes
Irish Soda Bread
1 small can (192 grams) pineapple juice, see notes above for alternatives
stone-milled flour, see notes above
Room temperature water, see notes above
- Day 1: Pour the can of juice (roughly 192 grams) into a large bowl or ideally a straight-sided vessel on a tared scale. (A straight-sided vessel allows you to truly see how much your starter is growing. I’m using this Cambro .) Add an equal amount of flour (roughly 192 grams) by weight. Stir the flour and juice together until the flour is absorbed. Cover the vessel. Record the date, time, and measurements — you will forget which day you started if you don’t. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Day 2 : Uncover the vessel. Stir the mixture. Re-cover the vessel, and record your work. Let it sit at room temperature for another 24 hours.
- Day 3: Uncover the vessel. Add 128 grams (1 cup) flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) water. Stir to combine. Cover the vessel and record your work again. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
- Day 4: Uncover the vessel. You should see a little action (bubbles) and it should smell pleasant, not unlike a fruity yogurt. Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water. Add them to the container. Stir to combine. Cover the vessel. On this day, record your work again, and mark the height of your mixture with tape on the side of your vessel. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, keeping a closer watch this time around. You may see action — rising and bubble formation — within a few hours. If your mixture is in fact rising, let it rise until it nearly doubles in volume; then drop a spoonful of it in water. If it floats, you’re in business. Note: Your starter might rise (and possibly fall) while you are sleeping — don’t worry if you don’t “catch” it at its peak. Continue on with the process.
- Day 5 : At this point, you should be observing some activity in your starter, meaning the starter should have risen slightly (perhaps doubled but perhaps not) and fallen with bubbles transforming from big to small. You’ll now take a small portion of this mixture and build a new starter: Transfer 128 grams of the starter to a new jar or vessel, and add 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water. Stir well to combine, then cover the jar. Mark the height with a rubber band. Let sit at room temperature. Transfer the remaining starter to the fridge — this original mixture is now your sourdough discard and can be used in all sorts of recipes, see notes above. When your new starter doubles in volume, you can do one of three things: Repeat this process: spoon 128 grams of starter into a new vessel and add 128 grams each flour and water. (Transfer the remaining starter to your bucket of discard.) Let the new starter rise until it doubles. Your starter will get stronger with every feeding. Transfer it to the fridge if you need to take a break from the process. You can pick up where you let off when you are ready. Test it out in a sourdough bread recipe .
- Maintaining your starter: Once you have a strong, active starter on your hands, follow the steps in this post: How to Feed, Store, and Maintain a Sourdough Starter.
- Category: Bread
- Method: Stir
- Cuisine: American
Description
This post outlines how to build a sourdough starter from scratch simply and quickly. In less than a week, with minimal effort, you will have a bubbly, active starter on your hands to use in all your favorite sourdough recipes.
Notes:
Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s method, outlined in Perfect Pan Pizza (and many of his other books as well).
If you are looking for guidance on how to feed, maintain, and store your already strong starter, see this post: How to Feed, Maintain, and Store a Sourdough Starter.
5 Tips for Success
- Use a scale to measure. It is the only way to measure accurately.
- Use a straight-sided vessel , which will help you more accurately see how much your starter is growing.
- Attempt this project while it’s hot outside or create a cozy place for your starter to rise: Find a warm place in your kitchen (like on top of your refrigerator) to let it rest. Invest in the Brod and Taylor Sourdough Home : I do not own this, but it gets good reviews should you have the space for it Build your own “sourdough home “: one of you ingeniously made a homemade proofing box by placing a seed heating pad in a box and covering it with a towel. Try the warm oven trick: turn your oven on for 1 minute (at any temperature) and then turn it off. It likely won’t get above 100ºF — it will just create a cozy spot for your dough to rise. Consider sticking a post-it note to the oven to remind you that you have a starter in there so that you don’t accidentally preheat your oven and kill your starter. (Note: I do not recommend using the oven with the oven light on, because I discovered the hard way that the oven light can actually be too hot and cause your starter or sourdough bread to overferment.)
- Start with pineapple juice.
- Use freshly milled stone-milled flour. If you have a source local to you, use it! Health food markets, co-ops, or markets such as Whole Foods often carry freshly milled flour. Here are a few mail-order options: Cairnspring Mills Anson Mills Community Grains Red Tail Grains
Pineapple Juice: My small cans of pineapple juice are labeled as 6 ounces (177 ml), but when I actually weigh the juice inside, it always weighs around 192 grams. The important thing is to use an equal amount by weight of flour and pineapple juice.
Pineapple Juice Alternatives : Orange Juice or Water
Water: I have no trouble using tap water when building a sourdough starter or when making a sourdough bread recipe. If you have concerns about your water, you can:
- Use water that you’ve left out overnight to ensure any chlorine has evaporated.
- Buy spring water. In some places, letting water sit out overnight will not be effective, and your tap water may kill your starter.
Discard: At the end of the first four days of the process, you’ll be left with a decent amount of sourdough discard, which you can use in countless recipes. Here are a few of my favorites:
Simple Sourdough Discard Waffles
Simple Sourdough Discard Crackers
Sourdough Tortillas
Favorite Pancakes
Irish Soda Bread
1 small can (192 grams) pineapple juice, see notes above for alternatives
stone-milled flour, see notes above
Room temperature water, see notes above
- Day 1: Pour the can of juice (roughly 192 grams) into a large bowl or ideally a straight-sided vessel on a tared scale. (A straight-sided vessel allows you to truly see how much your starter is growing. I’m using this Cambro .) Add an equal amount of flour (roughly 192 grams) by weight. Stir the flour and juice together until the flour is absorbed. Cover the vessel. Record the date, time, and measurements — you will forget which day you started if you don’t. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Day 2 : Uncover the vessel. Stir the mixture. Re-cover the vessel, and record your work. Let it sit at room temperature for another 24 hours.
- Day 3: Uncover the vessel. Add 128 grams (1 cup) flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) water. Stir to combine. Cover the vessel and record your work again. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
- Day 4: Uncover the vessel. You should see a little action (bubbles) and it should smell pleasant, not unlike a fruity yogurt. Measure out 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water. Add them to the container. Stir to combine. Cover the vessel. On this day, record your work again, and mark the height of your mixture with tape on the side of your vessel. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours, keeping a closer watch this time around. You may see action — rising and bubble formation — within a few hours. If your mixture is in fact rising, let it rise until it nearly doubles in volume; then drop a spoonful of it in water. If it floats, you’re in business. Note: Your starter might rise (and possibly fall) while you are sleeping — don’t worry if you don’t “catch” it at its peak. Continue on with the process.
- Day 5 : At this point, you should be observing some activity in your starter, meaning the starter should have risen slightly (perhaps doubled but perhaps not) and fallen with bubbles transforming from big to small. You’ll now take a small portion of this mixture and build a new starter: Transfer 128 grams of the starter to a new jar or vessel, and add 128 grams (about 1 cup) of flour and 128 grams (about 1/2 cup) of water. Stir well to combine, then cover the jar. Mark the height with a rubber band. Let sit at room temperature. Transfer the remaining starter to the fridge — this original mixture is now your sourdough discard and can be used in all sorts of recipes, see notes above. When your new starter doubles in volume, you can do one of three things: Repeat this process: spoon 128 grams of starter into a new vessel and add 128 grams each flour and water. (Transfer the remaining starter to your bucket of discard.) Let the new starter rise until it doubles. Your starter will get stronger with every feeding. Transfer it to the fridge if you need to take a break from the process. You can pick up where you let off when you are ready. Test it out in a sourdough bread recipe .
- Maintaining your starter: Once you have a strong, active starter on your hands, follow the steps in this post: How to Feed, Store, and Maintain a Sourdough Starter.
- Category: Bread
- Method: Stir
- Cuisine: American
Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2023/09/10/how-to-build-a-sourdough-starter-from-scratch/
These overnight oats are loaded with fiber and protein, and I find them irresistible. They take no time to assemble and the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for make-ahead breakfasts for the week.
In May, en route home from the Pizza Night photoshoot in Northern California, I grabbed a cup of the overnight oats from the Dolores Park Cafe stand at SFO. I typically don’t love overnight oats from these places for a few reasons — they tend to be too sweet and the fruit included often is on its last legs — but I was short on time and craving something healthy-ish.
Once settled in my seat on the plane, I tucked in, and immediately wished I had bought two, because they were so tasty: not too sweet, loaded with fresh berries, and garnished with toasted coconut. These oats had a higher ratio of chia seeds than others I had tried, and I loved the creaminess they provided.
I vowed to re-create the recipe upon returning home, thinking it would be so nice to have a stash of overnight oats in the fridge to wake up to each morning. I saved the lid, which listed the ingredients on a sticker, for weeks — months — but finally tossed it when I never got around to making them.
I mostly forgot about the oats until a few weeks ago, when my friend Serena Wolf posted a reel of her favorite breakfast of late — overnight coconut chia oats! — noting her creation was “heavier on the chia seeds than normal overnight oats, but too oat-y to be a true chia pudding.”
Serena’s oats looked exactly like those DPC oats I so loved, and I made her recipe immediately, subbing in oat milk for the coconut milk. Friends! These oats are irresistible, perfectly sweet, vanilla- and cinnamon-spiced, and oh so satisfying.
The beauty of this recipe is that it can be tailored to your liking by using the milk, sweetener, and flavorings of your choice. It takes no time to stir together and yields enough for two servings, but can be doubled or tripled for make-ahead breakfasts for the week. And while I loved the toasted coconut garnish at DPC, I skip it at home, opting for fresh fruit instead.
How to Make Overnight Chia Oats, Step by Step
Gather your ingredients: chia seeds, oatmeal, oat milk or milk of choice, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, flaky sea salt.
Measure your ingredients…
… then combine them all in a large bowl.
Stir to combine…
… then transfer them to a storage vessel. I love these Weck Jars .
Transfer to the fridge for at least 4 hours but preferably for at least 8 to 12 hours. During their time in the fridge, the chia seeds swell and the oats hydrate and soften.
I find them irresistible.
Top with fruit of choice (if desired)…
… and store until you are ready…
… to enjoy. Such a treat.
Description
Adapted from my friend Serena Wolf’s recipe, which can be found here. Her apple pie overnight oats are also a favorite but entail a teensy bit more work.
Notes
Oat Milk: I love the Minor Figures oat milk for my morning muesli , for my sleeping chocolate ( Beam ), and, now, for these oats. As noted below, use whatever milk your heart desires.
Weck jars: I love these Weck jars for storing the muesli because one is large enough for the entire batch with room for fruit.
Individual Jars: I also love these jars for making individual portions, in which case to each jar I add:
- 2 tablespoons of chia seeds
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 3/4 cup oat milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1.5 teaspoons maple syrup
- pinch sea salt
- dash cinnamon
Large-Batch Portion: When I can’t locate all of those cute jars, I make a large batch and store it in one of these 2-quart vessels . Then I dish out smaller servings as needed.
¾ cup chia seeds
2 cups rolled oats
4.5 cups oat milk
2 tablespoons vanilla
¼ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons chia seeds
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups oat milk or milk of choice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon maple syrup
a big pinch of flaky sea salt
cinnamon, to taste
- Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, using 1.25 cups milk if you like a thicker “oatmeal” consistency and 1.5 cups milk if you like a milkier mixture. Transfer the mixture to a storage jar and place in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours but ideally 12 or more. The oats can stay in the fridge for 4 to 5 days.
- Remove the jar from the fridge and transfer the contents to two bowls. Top with fruit if desired, then serve.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stir
- Cuisine: Amerian
