Flour + Water = Starter

July 13 2007 at 03:35 pm

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

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.)

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.

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.

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?

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.

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Post a comment » 44 Comments

ejm July 15 2007 at 06:14 am 1

I’m so glad you posted photos.

When I saw that you were going to post about your natural starter, I imagined that I was going to be coming in to agree that they’re really easy to build and that the bread made with them is fabulous.

Now I’m thinking that this time I didn’t let mine get bubbly enough before trying to use it. The smell of my (non)starter is wonderful - reminiscent of very mild yoghurt - but the shaped bread just refused to rise.

This is my second attempt. I tried in April when it was still quite cold. It started bubbling and then fizzled out. I blamed it on the cold.

So this week when it was so insanely hot, I thought I’d try again. Like the first time, I began with rye flour, water and a tiny bit of honey. Then after the first day, I switched to using unbleached all-purpose flour and water for feeding. I soon had bubbles like yours. I thought everything was going correctly. But no.

I made the bread; it rose(ish); I shaped it; it lay there and its only movement was to flatten out slightly.

RATS!

I want to blame it on the sudden cool front that swept in a couple of days ago. The temperature in the kitchen has dropped dramatically from around 27C to about 18C.

But on the same coolish day that I began mixing the natural-starter dough, I also made regular bread, using commercial yeast (active dry) That bread rose like a fiend and those loaves are spectacular.

RATS.

-Elizabeth
ejm July 15 2007 at 06:21 am 2

One more thing… I did not weigh my ingredients. Nor did I use a thermometer. RRRrrrrrr.

Okay, okay. I’ll get out the scale…

-Elizabeth
blog from OUR kitchen » care for some flat bread, anyone?... we adore good food July 15 2007 at 08:07 am 3

[...] Susan (Wild Yeast) is an avid bread baker and has just posted about how she captures yeast. It is there that I learned the terms “culture” and [...]
Kim July 16 2007 at 07:40 pm 4

Thank you for detail info.
I will try your method soon.
Susan July 16 2007 at 10:54 pm 5

Elizabeth: I think you had early leuconostoc; looks promising early on, but not good to bake with! I hope you keep feeding your culture and I think eventually it will turn into a good starter.

Kim: You’re welcome. Please share how it turns out when you try it.
ejm July 17 2007 at 08:50 am 6

I suspect you are right, Susan. When I cut sawed open one of the discs, there had clearly been some activity. There were a few bubbles. But in spite of baking for over an hour, the bread didn’t get done.

I wish I could say it was satisfying breaking up the discs to put into the composter - but the bread was so hard that I hurt my hands…

I am feeding the culture now and hoping that I will soon see a bubbling mass like your photo.

-Elizabeth
blog from OUR kitchen » still hunting for the elusive wild yeast…... we adore good food July 21 2007 at 09:32 am 7

[...] I must say that I do feel just a little foolish as I enter day 12 (or is it 13??) of my hunt for wild yeast. However, I can’t stop now! But… I wonder how much longer this is going to take…. * Susan (Wild Yeast) captures yeast. [...]
blog from OUR kitchen » The uncultured is caged!!... we adore good food July 26 2007 at 06:58 am 8

[...] the bowl. When I mixed it, it was as high as the bottom edge of the sticker. Many thanks to Susan (Wild Yeast) for the hand-holding; here is a portion of her calm and kind reply to my shrieking “How do I [...]
SUCCESS! « Coffee & Cornbread August 9 2007 at 09:14 am 9

[...] finding Wild Yeast Blog raising a starter link ,I realized failure was due [...]
grrranimal August 13 2007 at 10:11 am 10

Susan:
Thanks for this post. Toying with the idea of making my first starter. I’d love to do it wild style!

Bitsy question: On Day 1, do you keep the container sealed, or leave it exposed to air during that first 24 hours?

Thanks, in advance!
Susan August 13 2007 at 03:45 pm 11

grrranimal, I leave the lid on the container always. I’d be worried about it drying out or catching flies if left open. Good luck with yours!
ejm August 18 2007 at 02:39 am 12

Susan, have you had any experience with travelling by plane with your starter? I’m flying out west to visit family and am planning to take my starter with me. Because of the regulations, I’m going to have to put it in my luggage in the hold. I’d be much happier if I could bring it into the cabin of the plane with me…

Yikes!! I hope it survives! I know I’ll be able to capture yeast again but I don’t really want to have to.

-Elizabeth

P.S. Defiinitely leave a lid on the container, grrranimal. We had an infestation of fruitflies recently (we foolishly left peach pits in the compost container under the sink! - they were great peaches though!!) and even though I keep our starter covered (except when I’m stirring in new flour) I found a fruit fly happily swimming around in the starter when I took it out of the fridge to feed it….

I think fruit flies are relatively harmless though, so I just lifted out the swimmer and proceeded with the feeding by using part of the starter that seemed undisturbed. Everything appears to be normal now and I haven’t seen fruit flies in the starter since.
Susan August 18 2007 at 12:38 pm 13

Elizabeth, I have never traveled with starter. I think there has been some discussion on The Fresh Loaf about that, though.
ejm August 18 2007 at 03:25 pm 14

Thank you Susan… I think. I just read the thread and aaauggghhhhhhh it was all about the suitcase with the starter having been lost. Apparently, it finally arrived and the starter was still alive but just barely. Oh dear.

If only I could carry it on the plane….

Oh well, c’est la vie. If it doesn’t survive, I’ll just have to capture more wild yeast.

-Elizabeth
Susan August 19 2007 at 05:05 pm 15

Elizabeth, why not just refrigerate your starter while you’re gone? Of course that means you won’t be able to dazzle the family you’re visiting with glorious sourdough bread, but at least the starter will be waiting for you when you get back.
ejm August 22 2007 at 08:19 am 16

My husband really wanted me to take the starter with me so that I could make bread while we’re here. I did take it with me and double wrapped the container in two plastic bags and put it in my luggage to go in the hold of the plane. Good thing too. The starter was quite active and pushed its way out of the container, continued bubbling in the inner plastic bag and moved on into the second plastic bag. As soon as we arrived at my sister’s house, I fed it. The next day I built it up and there are now two loaves of bread on the counter. Interesting working in a foreign kitchen with foreign oven and NO bread stone!! (At least there is parchment paper…)

I’m considering trying to take the starter on the plane with me when we fly home. The only thing I’m concerned about is that airport security will freak out when they see the bubbles. Not to mention that I’m uncertain whether it will be100ml when we get to the airport. What if it manages to bubble over past the 100ml limit while we’re in the taxi on the way to the airport?? (Wheee!!! …and people think travelling with pets is tricky….)

-Elizabeth
Susan August 29 2007 at 11:53 am 17

Elizabeth, I hope it all worked out well!
blog from OUR kitchen » travelling with wild yeast September 10 2007 at 03:25 pm 18

[...] who had seen my question about travelling with a natural starter in A Year on Bread (or was it at Wild Yeast that she saw the question??) Whichever it was, she kindly answered to say: […] I mixed extra [...]
Danielle September 30 2007 at 05:25 am 19

I have been baking simple white breads for a few years . But recently started thinking about expanding my horizons.. and then I read about starters and sourdoughs and decided that I really want to try it. My question, I live in a little town in Russia, and I have never seen rye flour here, maybe I just don’t know what its called here.. Could I make a starter with white flour only?

Danielle
Susan October 1 2007 at 02:08 pm 20

Danielle, I’ve never been to Russia, but I was under the impression that rye bread is pretty common there. I know the grain is grown in Russia. But if you can’t find rye flour the next best would be to substitute whole wheat. I have never tried it with only white flour but I think you could do it, I would just expect it to take longer than with the rye or whole wheat. Good luck!
Danielle October 2 2007 at 05:45 pm 21

Thanks Susan. I found out what rye is in russian, now the only problem is to find it in the store. Apparently they only sell rye flour directly to the bakeries.
Rachelle October 22 2007 at 04:32 pm 22

My flour doesn’t say anywhere on it whether or not it has malted barley flour in it. If I wanted to add it in, how much should I use?
Susan October 23 2007 at 06:48 am 23

Rachelle, if malted barley is not listed in the ingredients then It’s a pretty sure bet that the flour isn’t malted. I’m sorry I can’t advise you on how much malt to use; one reason I prefer the malted flour is because without the malt, flours vary in their enzyme content. With the malt (which is basically adding sprouted barley, which is very enzymatically active) you know the miller has adjusted it to the “correct” level (i.e., a range that works well for most baking).

Danielle, I hope you were able to find the flour you were looking for and have gotten you starter off the ground!
Rachelle October 25 2007 at 08:54 am 24

Thanks Susan! My starter is on its way nevertheless.

Is malted barley flour the same as barley malt powder???
Rachelle October 25 2007 at 08:55 am 25

oops sorry. I forgot to ask you… what flour do you use that has the malted barley in it? I’m using Bob’s Red Mill now, but usually use King Arthur’s for my AP flour. What do you recommend?
Susan October 28 2007 at 08:26 pm 26

Rachelle, I’ve never used King Arthur AP for bread, but I know of people who do, with good results. I believe it is malted, as is every other non-organic flour I know of. I have found three organic malted flours: Giusto’s Golden Haven (the one I’m currently using; I have to special order it from a local natural foods store), Heartland Mill unbleached all-purpose (available for order on their website), and one from Central Milling I found at Costco. All three have given me good results.

I hope your starter is flourishing!
Rachelle November 2 2007 at 09:57 am 27

Hi Susan,

I am now entering day 14 of trying to raise this starter. There are enough bubbles everyday to keep me going, but nowhere near what you describe. At most, I think I’ve gotten a 20% raise. Should I keep going, or give up and start over??? Please help!
Susan November 3 2007 at 10:52 pm 28

Rachelle — Is your starter in a warm place? (That may be hard this time of year.) If not it may take longer to get going. It sounds like there are good signs of life — I’d keep it up and see what happens.
Rachelle November 6 2007 at 09:49 am 29

Hi Susan,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, my starter is in a warm place. I am keeping my starter in my oven (when its not in use!). The pilot light keeps it at a constant warm temperature. Since I last posted, my started has begun to pick up steam… it can double its volume in 12 hours. My next question for you is, should I begin feeding it only white flour (ie. leave out the rye)?
Susan November 8 2007 at 03:13 pm 30

Rachelle, yes, I would go with all white flour at this point if your goal is a white starter.
Sugarlaw November 9 2007 at 11:33 am 31

Interesting! This is really helpful. I’ll have to crank the heat up in my apartment and give it a try!
Susan November 14 2007 at 07:47 am 32

Sugarlaw, instead of cracking up the heat, why not try to find a warm nook, like in the oven as Rachelle suggests. Good luck with the starter!
Daniel December 5 2007 at 08:07 am 33

Mine is working out so WELL!!! Thanks for the TIPS!!!
Dan January 17 2008 at 07:29 pm 34

I was just going to write here about how my starter had finally taken off and gotten really active after plodding along for weeks in our cold upstate NY house. It did, and I made some very nice Norwich Sourdough the other day. Then, tonight while I was at work, disaster! My wife decided to cook something in the oven, where my starter has been living and growing. Now I have a gnarly molten mess of plastic and dead starter. I guess this is a good excuse to try your method now; my last starter was started using Peter Reinharts method in the BBA. I’ve been looking for an excuse to try yours, and here it is. I hope it won’t be too long before I can get going again. I had just convinced one of my cooks to start baking sourdough and promised him some of my starter.
Susan January 20 2008 at 07:54 am 35

Dan, so sorry about your starter’s demise but I’m confident you can have a new one going soon. Sending good starter wishes your way…
Tim March 8 2008 at 07:34 pm 36

Hi Susan, thank you for this wonderful blog. I’ve raised a starter using your method and now, at the 4-day mark, it’s hit its stride.

I have a question about using the starter (for example, when making your Norwich sourdough). At what point in the feeding/discarding cycle is it best to draw from the starter so that the resulting bread has the most yeast activity? Before feeding, after feeding (how long after?), or does it not matter?

Thanks again — I tried to raise a starter a few months ago with lukewarm success, but your method has worked brilliantly.
Susan March 8 2008 at 11:22 pm 37

Tim, the starter should be used when it “peaks,” that is, it has reached its maximum volume and before it starts to fall again. My starter is fed twice a day; it peaks about 8 hours after feeding and holds there for about 4 hours before it starts to fall. It can be used any time in that 4 hours. I’m glad you starter is chugging along, and I’d love to hear how your first bread turns out.
Derrick March 11 2008 at 06:45 pm 38

Susan,

I came across your website while researching sourdough. You finally gave me the kick in the pants to try and capture my own local starter.

I’m on day four, and it seems to be ready to bake with (at least to my impatient eyes), but I’m holding off for a few more days to make sure it’s really established.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmoreno/2327351901/in/photostream

Thanks for the tips and virtual hand holding.
Penitent Jeff March 16 2008 at 08:28 pm 39

Finally, a sourdough starter that works! It’s actually sour!

I think the success that I achieved from following these directions was a lot about technique. My house was a little cool so it took longer for things to progress, but the end result was super sour stuff!

I’ve made two different breads using this starter, and I’m just amazed. Thank you!
Cheryll April 22 2008 at 11:14 am 40

The flour I have been using to try to create my starter was frozen (precaution against flour bugs) before I began. Could this have killed or lowered the yeast population of the flour?
I have leuconostoc at the beginning of each attempt, followed by starter that never really develops a good rise, just sits and bubbles. How long does the leuconostoc tend to slow the process down? Should I expect it to take a lot longer than predicted because of this ‘interference’?
Thanks!
bulent May 3 2008 at 10:54 am 41

Hi
I had my starter from L?nda Collister’s ‘The Bread Book’
4 years ago and been using the same starter for 3 years.
Than one day I had a vacation for two weeks. I made a special container with towels for a comfortable travel. But in the hurry I left it behind. My precious had gone. I couldnt recover from that day on. anyway I had many tries after that without success. I finally used dried yeast to make a regular bread and saved some of it as a starter. It worked and been using it for the last two months. But my conscience is not clear as it is not from the scratch. Today I found Susans’s descriptions. I will have a go at the real thing again.
Jeremy May 6 2008 at 05:06 am 42

Hola Susan,
You know your always outdoing yourself and stirring up lots of questions.
Do you think that bottled water is that pure? Some people say that it’s just glorified tap in plastic with lots of pretty shapes and ads? Is it that eco friendly? I use filtered from a britta filtered or even tap water, NY is the best, so they say? Great to see your like Johnny Appleseed sowing sourdough into the hearts and minds of I hope future bakers!

Keep up the good work!
bulent May 6 2008 at 09:01 am 43

Hi susan
I started everything afresh and keeping a diary with pictures. Today is day one. Lets see how it goes.
Susan May 6 2008 at 10:59 pm 44

Hmm, I was sure I answered some of the older comments before but what happened?

Derrick, Jeff : Great to hear about your success!

Bulent: Lots of luck with your new one.

Cheryll: I’m not sure about the freezing. I freeze instant yeast but I’m not sure how wild yeast tolerate it. When I have gotten leuconostoc it has gone away after a couple of days at most. Although I can’t vouch for it from personal experience or give you specific instructions, you may want to try using pineapple juice to inhibit the leuconostoc. I think you can find directions by searching at The Fresh Loaf.

Jeremy: You raise great questions and I admit I’m growing increasingly uncomfortable with using bottled water from an environmental standpoint. Also I think bottled water is more susceptible to contamination because it’s not well-regulated. We drink and cook with plain old tap water but I have been reluctant to use it in starter or bread because of the concern that the chloramine (which does not dissipate when you let it stand like chlorine does) with which our city water is treated would inhibit the yeast. Also because our tap water is softened, so it doesn’t have all those minerals that the yeast like. I think it’s time to rethink this, though, or at least to do some experiments to see if the bottled vs. tap water really does make a difference.