Recipe by Joshua Weissman | Blog by Anna Tichenor
I know you're probably thinking "Anna, why do I have to read ten paragraphs of your rambling before I start making my sourdough starter? Well, you don't. All you really need to do is watch Joshua Weissman's video The Ultimate Sourdough Starter Guide (or buy his new cookbook, An Unapologetic Cookbook). However, if you're an interested party, then you're probably my dad. In which case, hi dad!
If you're not my dad and you're wondering why you should read this, then I should probably mention that I have made and re-made this recipe dozens of times. It's a bit tricky at times and has a lot of know-how involved, and I wish I'd had a comprehensive guide to it all in one place. So I have compiled all the sourdough knowledge I have acquired and put it in one place. But, if you'd like, you can scroll right down to the ingredients & calendar and go about your day. Click the link below to download a PDF version of this recipe.
Ingredients
Dark Rye Flour
Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Jar or Bowl with a lid
Kitchen Scale
Non-Metal Stirring Instrument
Water
Why do your ingredients matter?
The biggest issue I run into when trying to grow a sourdough starter is finding the right flour. Stone-Ground dark rye flour doesn’t exactly grow on trees, luckily King Arthur Flour solves a lot of problems for me. I typically only find the flour I’m looking for at a local grocery store called Dierbergs. If you happen to live somewhere other than Southern Illinois and don’t have them, you can probably find the proper kind of flour at a Whole Foods or Amazon.
The reason you need to go all over the internet looking for this flour is, well, I don’t have much of one except for “this bread is delicious.” This recipe is not mine, but Joshua Weissman’s Sourdough Starter Recipe. The reason I share this recipe on my blog is because I have made several loaves of sourdough bread from him that were perfectly crispy and soft. However, if you find another recipe or method for your sourdough starter that works for you, all the better!
The second most important flour in your starter is your all-purpose flour. For this, you must have unbleached flour. You may get a little fermentation from bleached flour, but it will not get you to the end of the week. My preferred flour is King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, but whatever you can get your hands on will do.
Can you make a sourdough starter with just AP flour? What about whole wheat flour?
Honestly, probably, but I have no real idea. Sourdough can be tricky – I’ve had loaves turn out beautiful with minimal hiccups, and I’ve made loaves where I followed every step correctly and wound up with a pile of mush. Sometimes the gases just don’t mix right or something, and it just doesn’t work. But don’t give up! Learning to make good bread isn’t just following a recipe, it’s a craft. Try again and you’re sure to get it.
What do you mean I need a "non-metal stirring instrument?"
Well, you need a non-metal stirring instrument. This includes wooden spoons, rubber spatulas, a straw, a rubber whisk, etc. The metal interferes with your fermentation process enough for it to be a no-no.
So...what exactly am I doing here?
I’m going to go through how I feed my sourdough starter. Having a solid sourdough feeding routine is going to help you efficiently & quickly feed it each day without too many hiccups. Your routine and setup is going to look much different than mine, and that’s fine. Just do what’s easiest and reconsult this blog, Weissman’s recipe, or Weissman’s video on sourdough starters (I have them bookmarked on my phone for quick access when things get confusing).
On your first day, as with every day, start with your kitchen scale and your jar or bowl. I prefer a bowl since it’s easier to clean and access, but the jar is a more popular method. If it has a cover and has enough room for your starter to expand, it’ll work just fine. Turn on your kitchen scale, weigh your starter vessel, and write it down! I keep a sharpie and masking tape in my kitchen for labelling, but if you want to keep it on a post it or a note on your phone, that works too. Just make sure you know the original weight of your vessel since this is what you’ll be mixing in.
My sourdough vessel weighs 337 grams. On day 1, I added rye flour until my scale read 437 grams. Then I take a mug or cup and turn on my faucet right between hot and cold, and temp the water that’s collected in the mug until it reads ~85°. I added the water to the flour until the scale reads 587 grams. Since I’m using a jar, I placed the lid on top without screwing it on so the gas has somewhere to escape (a cheesecloth and rubber band will work too, or saran wrap with small holes punched in it).
You’ll do the same for the following days and ingredients. When the calendar reads “Mature Starter”, it’s referring to your starter from the previous day. I like to leave about 36 hours between my first and second feeding, but it’s typically different every time. Put your starter inside a dark cabinet you’re likely to look in often so you can keep tabs on your starter. Once you see about how long it takes your starter to rise and fall, then you’ll know when you’ll need to feed it the next day. Sometimes my second feed is at 9am but my last feed will be at 4pm because that’s how my starter rose, but it’s going to be different for everybody depending on your starter.
Weissman, Joshua. The Ultimate Sourdough Starter Guide. 1 July 2018. Youtube.
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