How to Start a Sourdough Starter

I never heard of sourdough starter until about 4 years ago. After hearing about it I dreamt about starting one and making bread all the time. Oh it was a dream indeed because I didn’t begin to even start one until 2 years ago. If you think this may be intimidating I honestly thought it was a lot of work, when in fact it is very easy.

Once I realized how easy it was, I began doing more research on what kind of flour I wanted to use. Around the same time of discovering sourdough starter I discovered einkorn flour. So I decided that was the flour I was going to use. If you know nothing about einkorn flour it is a very ancient flour from the Neolithic Revolution time. This wheat that has never been hybridized and only has two sets of chromosomes which if you know anything about wheat this is amazing. Its weak gluten makes it much easier to digest and lacks the gluten proteins that triggers symptoms of gluten sensitivity. It is higher in protein and lower in carbs than modern wheat.

Einkorn is more costly but if you are looking for something that is more beneficial for your stomach and something cleaner this would be a flour I would look into and budget for.

When you plan on starting a starter please make sure that you are not going out of town for 5-12 days. The beginning of the starter is something that needs to be fed daily.

First make sure you have a 32oz or a 64oz wide mouth mason jar and a long wooden spoon.

Using white flour it is equal parts flour and water. Einkorn is 1 part flour to 1/4 – 1/2 cup of water. Please keep that in mind when reading my instructions since mine is made with einkorn flour.

1 Cup Flour

1/4 – 1/2 Cup filtered water if using einkorn flour, 1 cup of filtered water if you are using white flour.

Stir and keep in a warm environment 68° or above.

After 24 hrs remove half of the starter then add 1 Cup of flour and 1/4 – 1/2 Cup Filtered Water if using einkorn flour, 1 cup of filter water if you are using white flour. Then stir and let it sit for 24 hrs. 

Repeat for the next 2 days (4 days total). On days 5, 6, & 7, feed it twice a day and still remove half the sourdough starter.

Keep this out on the counter for the 7 days. On the eighth day you can store it in the fridge and feed it once a week. When you decided you want to use it, take it out of the fridge the day before while keeping in on the counter and feed it 1 cup flour and water like above and use it. Once you are done using your starter, feed it again, then return back to the fridge and remember to feed it once a week when you aren’t using it.

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Where to purchase:

• Mason Jar
• Wooden Spatula