Want a healthy bread? A “true” sourdough bread is a great healthy bread to consume. You can read my article about all the health benefits in sourdough bread in my article A Healthy Bread That is Good For You. To make your own sourdough bread, you will need a sourdough starter. It is not hard to make a sourdough starter, it just takes a little time. In this post, I will show you how to successfully start your own sourdough starter. Once we master the sourdough starter, I will then show you how to make your own sourdough loaf.
Here is what you need to start your sourdough starter. You will need some whole grain spelt flour and some fresh oranges. Fresh pineapple juice can also be used instead of fresh orange juice. To start your sourdough starter, simply add 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice with 2 tablespoon of spelt flour. Place in a small bowl and mix well. Loosely cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours. We will continue a 7-14 day feeding schedule to make your sourdough starter. Once you have your starter, you won’t have to go through this whole process again, you will just use and save some of this starter for future uses. This recipe was adapted from The Fresh Loaf website.
DAY 1: Add 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice and 2 tablespoons whole grain spelt flour to a small bowl. Stir vigorously, cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave on counter for 24 hours.
Here is what your starter will look like after 24 hours at room temperature. I will post a picture daily so you can see how it changes and what you are looking for. If you notice, not much has changed after day one.
Day 2: Add 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice and 2 tablespoons whole grain spelt flour to your mixture. Stir vigorously, cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave on counter for 24 hours.
Here is what your starter will look like after 2 days. Not much has changed after day 2 but look for changes coming real soon.
Day 3: Add 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice and 2 tablespoons whole grain spelt flour to your mixture. Stir vigorously, cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave on counter for 24 hours.
Here is what your starter will look like after 3 days. Notice all the bubbles starting to appear.
Here is what the starter looked like after 3 days. Little change, as of now. Yours might look different by now and that is fine. Your sourdough starter will grow on its own terms.
Day 4: Stir down your sourdough starter. Measure out 1/4 cup starter and discard the rest. To this starter add 1/4 cup filtered water and 1/4 cup flour. At this point you can add any flour you would like (excluding coconut flour and almond flour). I usually stick with spelt flour because it has a better result. I tried all purpose organic flour and didn’t have the best results. Stir vigorously, cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave out at room temperature.
Repeat day 4. Repeat day 4 for days 4-14, (Stir down sourdough, measure out 1/4 cup and discard the rest, add 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup flour. Stir vigorously and loosely cover and leave at room temperature) once daily until your sourdough starter starts to expand and smells yeasty. Your sourdough starter might become very bubbly and then go flat. That is ok. If it doesn’t become bubbly again by day 6, add 1/4 tsp of apple cider vinegar with the daily feeding.
Day 6: Here is my sourdough starter on day 6 right before the feeding. You can tell it is time for a feeding because it has deflated. Notice how far it raised up by the lines on the sides of the bowl. When it falls it is ready for a feeding. I needed to feed mine about every 8-12 hours now.
Day 7-14: I finally have my starter. Here is what a healthy starter looks like. Look how high it has risen. It has more than doubled in volume and it has a lot of air bubbles.
I will continue to feed it (the normal feeding: 1/4 cup starter (throw out the rest), 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup flour) and keep it at room temperature for 1 more week (a total of 2 weeks) to make a strong more favorable starter. My sourdough starter is now ready for use. At this point, you can make a fresh loaf of sourdough bread.
After 2 weeks of storing and feeding your starter at room temperature, you will need to now store your sourdough starter in the refrigerator. At this point, you can feed it once a week by using the same method. At the top of the starter will be a liquid called the “hooch” and that is normal. Simply pour the hooch off and discard it and measure out your 1/4 cup starter and add to it 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup flour. Mix together and store back in the refrigerator.
When you are ready to make a loaf of bread, simply pull the starter out, pour off the hooch and give your starter a feeding (1/4 cup starter (discard the rest), 1/4 cup filtered water, 1/4 cup flour). Leave out at room temperature for 8 hours and give your starter another feeding. This might be enough to activate your starter (remember you are wanting it to almost double in size and you are wanting it to be bubbly, like champagne). If it is not bubbly then you might need to give it one more feeding. You are now ready to use your sourdough starter in your recipe. Remember to save a little for your next recipe and store it in the refrigerator.
I know you all might have questions along the way. Please feel free to leave your comments below in the comment section and I will answer your questions for you.
Liquid hooch picture courtesy of Bradyrevisited.com.
Hi there, I hope you’re still at this, I have a question I can’t find an answer to. My starter is just bubbling along beautifully. Looks good, smells good. My concern is that I’m feeding it twice a day now, (day 11) and although everything is going great, it doubles in size every time, but only falls a small amount. I’ve left it overnight and again, I can see on the sides of the bowl it has only barely fallen about an eighth of an inch or so. Can I fix this?
Hey Lauren,
This is a great sign that your starter is ready for use! You can reduce the feeding to 1x a day and it will fall again. This sounds like a completely healthy starter! Great job!
Oops, meant to say thanks so much!!!
TOh holy cow, Halle! Serious?
It hasn’t doubled in size though for sure, maybe only half as much. I had my husband double check with me this morning again. Bubbles like mad, raises up about half on one, a quarter on the other. (I’m definitely a type A so I needed two to be sure one would work! This morning I put a bit of ACV in the one that only rose a quarter. They are in the oven with the light on because I’m in Canada and we are at or below 70 degrees in the house for the most part of the day. ) Is that still ok? And when you say ready, are we talking I can move to your second blog post and make bread? If so, why down to one feeding a day? Still on the counter? Am I not supposed to put it in the fridge then and look for “hooch”? You are a gem for responding, and I’m so thrilled this might actually work!
Thanks again,
Lauren
Hi Halle! 3 posts in 3hours. Must be a record. So here’s my update. After putting them in the oven all last night, I fed them this morning and put them back in. Yay! Success and they both definitely doubled before they fell this time. It didn’t take very long to fall, only a couple of hours, but I’m going to leave them until tonight to refeed. My two weeks ends on Tuesday (in two days) so I guess I should continue with the two feelings, continue with them in the oven with the light on, and then after the feeding Tuesday morning I’ll start actually trying to make a loaf and put the starter in the fridge? Start the weekly thing then, Or should I start now? Shakin in my boots, but really excited!! I’m going to try one plain spelt, one with some oat flour in it and then hopefully figure out how to make it in loaf pans for sandwich bread. That is my end goal. Any tips you have, I’ll take!
You are my hero and many thanks!!
A question please. What temperature is “room temperature”? My winter house is between 65-67 until June. Even cooler at night. What temps are needed to make sourdough starter and proofing sourdough bread? Thanks!
Hi Kris, I am an expert, but at making many trial and errors before I finally got it, phew! So our house is between 65 at night and 70 during the day. That is just fine! Don’t do what I did!! A: put it in my warming drawer on the lowest setting or B: put it in the oven with the light on. (Did that as well) Too hot for it. It’s just fine to have it be cool, it will just take longer till you need to feed it. Mine didn’t do the rise and fall successfully for a month, and really only after I started keeping it in the fridge as I only bake once a week. Now it’s strong and I’m relieved!
Thanks for the info, Lauren. Last time I tried this (years ago) my started didn’t start till I left it on a ledge jutting out from the hot air furnace in the basement. Didn’t want to go that route again. I’ll just keep this batch on the highest shelf in the kitchen and hope it doesn’t take a month to mature. Glad yours is hale and hearty! 😀
Today is day 4 and my starter on the top kitchen shelf is (before 1st feeding) bubbly! Yay. (lime juice & whole grain spelt) I’m so excited!
Do you have to wait the 2 weeks for bread making or can you use it after the first week?
If your starter is good and bubbly you can give it a whirl. I like to feed it for 2 weeks to make sure there are plenty of beneficial bacteria in the starter.
Do you have to use filtered water or can tap water work as well. Do you continue to put apple cider in the feeder or just once? Please reply as soon as possible thanks
It is best to use filtered water to keep the starter alive. Just once on the ACV.
Hi. I’ve made this starter and it’s doing fine after some adjustment, but there is something I would like to comment.
In the recipe, you use volumes for the amount of flour and water. 1/4 cup starter, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup flour. The problem with this is that the weight is different. The starter and water might have approximately the same weight, but the flour is lighter. My flour is about 50% lighter than the water.
This means that if you mix 1/4 cup starter/water/flour, it will have a hydration of 200%, which makes it too runny and it won’t rise as well. It will also drop off more water every day.
With the wholemeal spelt I use, I need 1/2 cup of flour to match the 60g of water in 1/4 cup. This gives the starter a nice fluffy consistency and it doesn’t leave a lot of water between feedings.
Thanks so much for sharing this Phil!
Hi: I don’t understand why you recommend using plastic wrap, even if loosely, over the top. If we want the wild yeasts and bacteria from the air to ferment and raise the starter, wouldn’t cheesecloth be better? Surely our ancestors merely covered their starters, which rose on their counters, with a thin piece of cloth. Isn’t the point of the natural fermentation process that the souring and yeast activity come from what’s in the air? Or are you purposely trying to slow the process down, so only a bit of those bacteria and yeasts access the starter? Does the slower process make a stronger starter? I’m curious.
Hi Barbara!
The reason for the plastic wrap is so that the starter does not dry out or get a thin film on top. You certainly can use a towel or cheesecloth with great results. I don’t think a slower process makes a stronger starter, but it will make a more sour starter, which is a taste that most desire when it comes to sourdough.
This is my first attempt at making sourdough. My starter keeps “molding” or creating a fine hard-ish layer on top. Is that normal? Is it too hot or humid maybe? Should I keep it in the oven? Or am I not feeding it or stirring it enough?
Hey Cari,
No this is not normal. Are you covering it with plastic wrap? You can try putting it into the oven (turned off) with the light on and see if that works for you better. I lose lid might also work nicely.
Hi, I’m on day 6 and there’s a hooch formed every day. You only mention it after the 2 weeks are up, so should I store it in or out it off at this early stage?