See my notes below regarding temperature.***ĭay 5 and Day 6: Repeat steps on Day 4. If your environment is cooler or if you’re using white (all-purpose) flour you may see delays from this schedule but it’s okay. ***At the end of Day 4 you should see good bubbling activity and the starter will be somewhat vinegary, alcoholic, sweet. Add 50 grams rye flour and 50 grams warm water. With twice daily feedings you’re not giving the yeast a chance to do their thing.ĭay 4: Take 100 grams of the flour/water mixture from Day 3 and discard the remainder (see note about discard below). Again, temperature is what needs to be adjusted to encourage yeast activity. The flour and water from the previous day, its “food”, have not been consumed. If your young starter appears sluggish at this stage it’s not because it needs to be fed. Respectfully, I don’t see that this is necessary. For this starter I didn’t observe any activity overnight but during the last few hours when I moved my jar to a warmer room the bubbles appeared.***Ī note about feeding before proceeding: at this stage most starter formulas would recommend twice daily feedings. The bacteria and yeast are trying to establish a mutually beneficial existence at this point.

***At the end of Day 3 you may not see any activity at all but don’t worry and don’t give up. For this starter I saw a lot of activity but don’t despair if you don’t see it in yours.***ĭay 3: To the 100 grams flour/water mixture from Day 2 add 50 grams rye flour and 50 grams warm water. ***At the end of Day 2, in a warm environment, you should see some bubbling (signs of fermentation). ***At the end of Day 1 there will be no visible activity***ĭay 2: To the 50 grams flour/water mixture from Day 1 add 25 grams rye flour and 25 grams warm water. (Image 3: Between initial mixing and at the end of Day 1 you likely won’t see visible activity.) Basic Sourdough Starter Formula (Printable Recipe at the end of this Post )ĭay 1: Mix 25 grams rye flour and 25 grams warm water. With the current flour shortage you can save your flour for baking bread, which, if you follow my recommendations below, you can enjoy in just one week. It’s not necessary to use up pounds of flour to get a bubbly starter going. What’s different about my method is that I use less flour and water than called for in most recipes. Mix equal amounts of both ingredients, feed, repeat. The truth is, it’s the same as most–all you need are flour and water. You’re looking for a recipe for a sourdough starter, your own Ida that you will be able to use for years to come, and you’re wondering why you should try this one and what makes it different from the rest.

I wanted to start this post by saying something poetic and flowery about my five year old sourdough starter, Ida ( ee-da), how strong and dependable she has been, her unfailingly effervescent quality, blah, blah, blah. (Image 1: All you need are flour and water to make a sourdough starter.)

Ken forkish cookbook