Basic guidelines and starter recipe.

Sourdough Basics

There are a lot of different recipes for all kinds of different flour types, and they all will end up with a valid starter. The main idea behind all of them is pretty much the same. Mix flour and water, let it rest at room temperature for a day before removing a fair share of it and adding fresh water and flour. As a rule of thumb a 1:1 ratio between water and flour is a good baseline to start and feed a sourdough. However, you can tweak the process by using a bit more water in the early stages or reducing it during feeding. Note that all ratios highly depend on the used flour and may vary, even for the same type bought from different sources or manufacturers.

Important: sourdough is a living thing. Do not fully cover it as it does need air to breath.

Beginner Tips:

• If this is your first time making sourdough, start with wholemeal rye flour.
• If you need more information about the process take a look at Joshua Weissmans Ultimate Sourdough Starter Guide.

Instruction / Timetable

The recipe for my wheat starter is heavily based on Joshua Weissmans Ultimate Sourdough Starter Guide linked above. However, I found that the ratio between water and flour was too high during the first few days for my types of flours. While it did work and I got a strong starter in the end, I got better results reducing the water. Also I halved the amount of ingredients for the first 6 days as you have to throw away the unused (and unfinished) starter in the process.

Day 1

As explained in Joshuas video, weight your char before starting the process as it makes it easier afterward to measure the right amount of mature starter dough. As I have a lot of different jars I write their weight on the outside bottom of each jar, so I do not have to remember their weight. Afterward, fill and mix:

• 50g stone ground wholemeal wheat flour
• 60g lukewarm water

Day 2 & 3

Remove most of the mature starter from the jar until only 35g are left (weight of jar + 35g). Afterward add the other ingredients:

• 35g mature starter
• 25g stone ground wholemeal wheat flour
• 25g unbleached all-purpose wheat flour
• 55g lukewarm water

Day 4 & 5

• 35g mature starter
• 25g stone ground wholemeal wheat flour
• 25g unbleached all-purpose wheat flour
• 50g lukewarm water

Day 6

• 25g mature starter
• 25g stone ground wholemeal wheat flour
• 25g unbleached all-purpose wheat flour
• 50g lukewarm water

Day 7 & feeding

For the last day I doubled the ingredients again. This is the recipes that you will use in the future to feed your starter. With the following recipe you have a yield of 200g mature starter, which is what I often use in my bread recipes. In case you usually require more or less it does make sense to alter the recipe accordingly.

• 25g mature starter
• 50g stone ground wholemeal wheat flour
• 50g unbleached all-purpose wheat flour
• 100g lukewarm water