Sourdough Starter School
Today is the first day of Sourdough Starter School. Each Sourdough Starter School post will walk you through, step-by-step one way of making sourdough starter. There are, believe it or not, several different approaches to making what is traditionally a two-ingredient food, and I love exploring the potential differences (but mostly similarities) that result from using different methods to get started.
Let’s Get This Starter Started
First up is the simple method employed by famed San Francisco Bakery, Tartine. Tartine Bread is a wonderful book to start a sourdough quest with because of the attitude of its author (and Tartine baker), Chad Robertson. The spirit here may remind you more of other fermentation books you’ve read than other baking books you’ve read. Robertson is very relaxed about the whole thing. Precise ingredient measurements and temperatures are provided, but where there’s flexibility, Robertson makes sure you know it. For a person who has always been turned off by the uber-precision needed for great baking, I love the mix of the two, especially when the results are so chewy/crispy/delightful.
The Tartine method is a slightly simpler process than some other sourdough or levain methods that you’ll find and it produces gorgeous breads that you’ll be incredibly proud to say you made yourself.
Making Sourdough Starter, Step 1
Equipment
- Small glass bowl
- Kitchen Towel
- Rubberband
Ingredients
- whole wheat flour
- white flour
- water (preferably filtered)
How-T0
Mix together equal parts white and whole wheat flour. You’re going to use a good amount of flour to get through this process to a baked loaf, so Robertson recommends mixing together 2.5 pounds of each for a total of 5 pounds. I just weigh out a bit of each and combine them in a quart ziploc bag, then make more flour mix as necessary. It’s not the most efficient, but it’s my habit and I like it.
Fill your small glass bowl (I use one with 2 cup capacity, but a slightly larger bowl would be fine) just about halfway with lukewarm water. Add a handful or two of flour mix and use clean hands to combine, until you have a thick batter. It should be pourable, but barely.
Cover it with a kitchen towel, cloth napkin or coffee filter and secure that with a rubber band. Put the bowl at room temperature out of direct sunlight and check in on it after two days. It might take three, especially in the winter, but when you look at the sides and bottom of the glass bowl, you’ll see that bubbles have formed in the “batter.” Abundant bubbles mean you’re ready to proceed to the next step.
Did you get there? Keep that starter going!
- Step 1 (Days 1-3) – Let’s Get This Starter Started (You Are Here)
- What your starter will look like after 24 hours of fermentation
- Step 2 (Days 3-7) – Stabilizing Your Starter
- Why You Should Do a “Low-proportion” Sourdough Feeding
- 4 Things to Make with Excess Starter
- Getting Ready to Actually Bake! Equipment and Starter Health Check
- Preparing the Leaven
- Mixing the Dough and Bulk Fermentation
- Dividing, Shaping, Final Rise
- Baking and Cooling
- Tartine Bread Giveaway
Kris Kramer says
Do you have to use white flour? I”m such a fan of whole wheat.
Amanda says
Hi Kris,
No, you can use whatever type of flour you’d like (you’ll need more water, though), especially for the starter. Once you get to the bread-making stage, however, you’ll need a lot more liquid and you’ll find it hard to get a really great texture with 100% whole wheat.
helen says
I have to do gluten free breads. I am having a hard time finding gluten free sourdough starter recipes. I have no imagination and so that could be part of my problem when someone says just to use what ever flour. Am I a hopeless cause?
Amanda says
Hi Helen,
By “whatever flour” I did mean whatever wheat flour. I experimented with GF starters quite a bit a few years ago and frankly, I failed. They never rose very much or imparted the great texture or flavor that I get from my wheat-containing breads.
I’ve also tried a few recipes I found on the internet, and the results were all a bit gross (for my particular tastes; you might feel differently). Gluten is an important part of this process, and although I suspect that someone with a science background might be able to make it work, for the most part, they just don’t turn out great. I haven’t given up hope, and I still wonder if the recent America’s Test Kitchen book on gluten-free baked goods might have something on this (I haven’t taken a look at it yet, since I do fine with gluten). You might want to check your local library for that book, or google for some GF sourdough recipes. Since I have really disliked all that I’ve tried, I can’t recommend one in particular, but again, tastes may vary! Maybe you’ll find one you love.
Good luck!
Jen says
King Arthur flour has a gluten free sourdough starter recipe on their website. I’ve used it with great success!
Amanda says
One thing I forgot to mention! I will be sharing some great alternative breads that are naturally gluten-free later this year!
Julia says
Hi, what a great tutorial! You make it look easy enough and I’m ready to try! I was wondering if I could use spelt flour instead. 100% spelt. Will it work? It makes great pizza and tortillas, but not sure about the bread. Thank you!
Amanda says
Hi Julia,
You can almost definitely use spelt flour, however, expect different results for texture and taste. I also don’t know how much liquid to tell you to use, because I’m not sure how absorbent spelt flour will be.
I would say to give this a go. The quantities are small enough (and hopefully the photos will make it clear enough what textures and consistencies you’re looking for) that it should be worth it! When it comes to baking the bread, you may need to follow a specific recipe for spelt, but for the starter, you should be fine.
Erin says
Thanks so much for this! The photos are really helpful. So I’m on day two, and my bowl of starter is separating – there’s a watery layer. Do I stir it? I know other sourdough starter instructions I’ve seen mention stirring it a few times a day. It smells okay, and there are bubbles on top but only a few isolated ones around the sides.
Amanda says
Hi Erin,
I would pour off a bit, if it pours off easily, and then stir. Usually one of the benefits of this method is that you don’t really have to play around with your starter too much the first few days. It’s good that you’re seeing bubbles (a small number on day 2 is totally normal!). You may need to let it sit longer than planned after stirring, so peek in there tomorrow, but try to leave it alone if there’s not another liquid layer on top. At your first feeding, you may want to up the flour vs. water, too.
Carol says
This seems so easy! I had read about wheat flour sourdough starters previously, and the process of making one seemed so complicated. This is something I can handle! I have played around with a rye starter before, but I think a wheat starter will be more versatile. Thanks especially for the photos. They will really help.
Chaim says
Hey
I just tried to make my first starter and after 2 days I got something weird.
the starter was divided into three layers.
the first was the starter itself without a lot of changes except from the smell,
on top of it I had a more liquid layer which looks like dirty water
and on top of it a crusty layer with the bubbles as I saw in your photos (more or less)
is this normal? what should I do with the “dirty” water?
should I just stir it and keep the process by discarding the 80%?
Thanks
Amanda says
Hi Chaim,
Hmmmm, the darker liquid usually comes after the starter sits for a while (it’s fine, it’s just a natural byproduct of the yeast fermentation). Is it very warm in your house? Just stir it back in and keep going!
Devin says
Many resources state that the chlorine often found in tap water (which kills bacteria) will mess up any chance at making a good starter, and that therefore it is best to use bottled water. Many brands of bottled water are just glorified municipal tap water anyway. In any case, any bottled water you buy should list the content of chlorine and other particles for you to see yourself. I switched to demineralized water to great success. I just say this as a heads up to those who get disheartened after bottled water does their starter no good.
Amanda says
Hi Devin,
Bottled water is unregulated (as you say, it could be exactly tap water store in plastic) and tap water is very regulated. Although both can contain chloramine, I’ve never had a problem fermenting with tap water, even though it definitely contains chloramine. However, I do tend to use a household charcoal filter as a just-in-case. It will remove some chemicals and some heavy metals, and I trust that a lot more than I trust bottled water.
scott bertram says
Was thinking same thing, how about bleached flour? Ok to use?
Jacob says
Hi, thanks for this! Just wanted to let you know, the photo seems to be missing on this post.
Jacob says
Actually, sorry — it’s the next post where the photo is missing: http://phickle.com/sourdough-starter-school-day-2-still-step-1/
Nunzi says
Hi Amanda
At the start in creating the starter how much flour mix and water in grams do you put in the jar
Ann says
I don’t know if you’re replying to these posts any longer. I read the instructions in Tartine and started my starter on Sunday. Since it is winter I kept it in a closet that stays about 70 degrees. By Wednesday night it had totally separated, something I have seen no reference to so wasn’t sure what it meant or what I was supposed to do. There were some bubbles, so i went onto the next stage, but I’m not seeing anything like describe. just looks light a dough, no bubbles or rising and falling. Do I need to start over?