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My tips on how to care for a sourdough starter

Sourdough

7 Apr
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So you have a brand new starter – congratulations! You are on your way to a (hopefully!) long and happy love affair with a yummy and nutritious food. If you have already purchased a starter, I don’t need to sell you on the benefits of sourdough bread. But if you haven’t made the leap yet – do it!! You won’t regret it. Check out my 10 year old organic starter here, then read below for my tips on how to care for a sourdough starter.

Sourdough starter in jar with handmade spoon

So what do you do once you get your new starter? Move your starter to a largish jar (about the size of a can of tomatoes will do), then follow these steps to keep your starter as fat and happy as you like!

Feeding your sourdough starter:

Your starter needs a feed of flour and water each day if you keep it out of the fridge, or week if you keep it in the fridge. I like to keep mine out of the fridge, but I try to bake every day or two. So that is what works for me. If you don’t intend to bake every day, you might prefer to keep yours in the fridge. This will mean taking your starter out of the fridge the day before you want to bake and feeding in the morning.

If you are using my recipe, you will feed as follows:

  • 50g flour – try to use flour that is as whole wheat as possible. White bread flour will work fine, but a feed periodically with wholewheat will benefit your starter. I buy mine here.
  • 50g water – try to use cool boiled water if you can, unless you are sure your tap water is fairly chemical free.

You may think that starting with a large amount of starter is best here, but you want to start with a maximum of 50g in your jar. Less is fine, more is not great. I usually have around 20g in my jar when I feed mine.

Using your sourdough starter:

One of the most important steps in caring for your starter, is to feed regularly. If you keep your feeding schedule up, your starter will be strong and happy, and that means great bread!

I like to feed mine the morning before I mix my dough (per my recipe). As I leave my starter out and bake each day, this means I am feeding once per day. I keep around 20g in my jar, and feed 100g mix of water & flour. This amount is then removed when I mix my dough, leaving the 20g in my jar again.

Things to look out for:

  • A clear liquid on top of your starter: this is very common, don’t worry! I usually means that you are leaving it too long between feedings. Just stir the liquid in (the liquid is called hooch) and feed your usual 50g each of flour and water. Your starter is slightly weakened in this state, so you may need to feed and discard a few times before your starter will be strong enough to bake.
  • A strong cheese smell: again, don’t worry. This is another sign that you have left it too long. This will usually be ok, just feed. As with the hooch situation above, you will need to feed and discard a few times before your starter will be strong enough to bake.
  • Mould: your logical brain might tell you that if your starter gets mouldy you need to throw it out. Prepare yourself: you don’t. Its perfectly fine to scrape out all the mould you can, try to grab a little of the starter that looks fairly mould free, pop it in a fresh jar and continue like it never happened! Again, you will need to feed and discard a few times before your starter will be strong enough to bake.

Keeping a frozen ace up your sleeve:

As you can see above, if you follow all my advice on how to care for a sourdough starter, it’s pretty hard to kill! But, it’s not impossible. You can make sure you always have your starter though, by keeping a little safety net in your freezer. It’s as simple as emptying a little of your starter into a small jar or snap lock bag, and popping in your freezer. This will last for up to a year, and if you kill your starter somehow, just defrost, feed, and pretend it never happened!! I probably don’t need to tell you again, but just for the record, you will need to feed and discard a few times before your starter will be strong enough to bake.

  • Sourdough bread on cooling rack
  • Cultured butter next to sourdough slice

So that’s my best advice on how to care for a sourdough starter. Let me know how you go! x

Sourdough starter in ball jar with spoon
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I was thrilled to receive these pics and feedback I was thrilled to receive these pics and feedback from my very first Sourdough Workshop. I canโ€™t wait for my next one 31/7 at @studio_on_sunshine
Still 2 spots left!

โ€œHi Alison. Here is a picture of my first sourdough loaf. Iโ€™m really thrilled with it. I have already made a really lovely focaccia bread and Iโ€™m preparing to make a couple of sourdough pizzas. Thank you so much for your workshop. I had an amazing time.โ€
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Ok, I feel like Iโ€™m getting closer to figuring t Ok, I feel like Iโ€™m getting closer to figuring this out! Now I just have to remember every step I took to get to this point and repeat it perfectly every time ๐Ÿ˜‚

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Well itโ€™s in!!! We finally have our gorgeous old Well itโ€™s in!!! We finally have our gorgeous old Metters installed in the kitchen. Here she is, a bit rough looking yes - canโ€™t wait to finish the tiling and the mantle! 
We are already LOVING our kitchen being so warm, and a kettle thatโ€™s always hot โค๏ธ
We are still learning how to control the temp - so brace yourselves for some burnt, undercooked, flat or oddly shaped sourdough pics ๐Ÿ˜‚ 

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This sweet girl, drowning in rocket! I think she m This sweet girl, drowning in rocket! I think she may be in chicken paradise ๐Ÿคค

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Two spots left in my Sourdough Starter to Scoring Two spots left in my Sourdough Starter to Scoring Workshop - Sunday 22nd May ๐ŸŒพ 

Message to book if you would like a spot!
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These are definitely among the last of the gorgeou These are definitely among the last of the gorgeous tomatoes coming out of our garden this season ๐Ÿ˜ญ Bye home grown tomatoes, next stop Zucchini Relish town! 

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Very excited to have some of my beeswax & sourdoug Very excited to have some of my beeswax & sourdough goodies available at Studio on Sunshine again! โค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ

Kids going a little stir crazy this bit of school holidays?๐Ÿคช๐Ÿคช

We have 2 ๐ŸBEESWAX making kits. $25 each each kit

We also have "sourdough" starters for $20.

And 1 whole SOURDOUGH STARTER KIT $94.95 even includes the bowl!

Why not teach the kids a little something, learn a little something about making your own sourdough๐Ÿฅฃ๐Ÿฅ– 

All popped together by talented local sourdough maker  Alison  of @the_grand_ole_apiary ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป

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AC Woodwork made chopping board, AC Woodwork made knife and @the_grand_ole_apiary made sourdough. Nice surprise delivery this morning! 
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Havenโ€™t posted a sourdough for a while! Canโ€™t Havenโ€™t posted a sourdough for a while!  Canโ€™t wait to tuck into this one ๐Ÿคค๐Ÿ๐ŸŒพ

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How gorgeous are these Zucchini flowers? A boy and How gorgeous are these Zucchini flowers? A boy and a girl right next to each other. The bees will find these this morning, *cue Barry White* and a baby zucchini will be along in a few weeks. Ainโ€™t love grand?

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We have a few Frankentrees here at the Apiary, but We have a few Frankentrees here at the Apiary, but this new graft is the one Iโ€™m most excited about! I have been trying to get Coxโ€™s Orange Pippin scions to take for the last 3 seasons with no luckโ€ฆ ๐Ÿ˜ฉ I purchased two scions from @la_petite_pomme_orchard and guess who has a successful graft???? ๐Ÿ™‹โ€โ™€๏ธMe!!! I am pathetically excited about this scraggly looking twig!๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ

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BEFORE & AFTER I am so in love with my gorgeous co BEFORE & AFTER
I am so in love with my gorgeous copper #fowlersvacola preserver! I gave it a quick strip and polish to clean up the tarnish and OMG ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜

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This little apiary was feeling pretty naked today! This little apiary was feeling pretty naked today! I feel very guilty removing any original part of this old beauty ๐Ÿ˜Ÿ But when the rain starts threatening the pressed metal ceilings, itโ€™s tough decision time. I hope this new roof will protect our home for many, many years to come! One century under her belt, I reckon she can do another centuryโ€ฆ

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