Make Your Own Sourdough Starter

Easy Process for Catching Wild Yeast

I’ve had my pet yeasts so long I don’t even remember a time without them. I have struggled with sourdough breads for equally as long. I know sourdough may seem intimidating but don’t give up….you will find what works for you and your family. I’m going to share with you what works for me and we are going to catch wild yeast together. It’s super easy to make your own sourdough starter.

I’m going to share the gist of the process and then we will do it together. It’s going to take about a week to capture and nurture the wild yeast into a sourdough starter. Your going to add equal parts water and flour to the same ratio as you have in your starter. You will also discard some starter each day to keep a manageable amount. Make sure to subscribe to the newsletter to get updates.

Day 1

To get started, in a pint glass jar mix together 2 Tablespoons of organic flour and 2 Tablespoons of filtered water. You will have a thick past. Cover and leave in a warm place. I leave mine on the kitchen counter. If you have several ferments (ie., kombucha, fermented veggies, science experiments…) going on in your kitchen make sure to place your sourdough starter away from the other goodies. On a different counter is fine.

In 12 hours I added 2 more Tablespoons of flour and 2 Tablespoons of water to the pint jar. Stir really well to get some air mixed into the flour water mixture.

Day 2

In 12 more hours I added 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of water. Stir well to mix in some air. We are adding 1/4 cup each because you want to add fresh to the same ratio you have souring. Now we have a total of 1/2 cup of sourdough starter.

12 more hours…add 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 of filtered water and stir briskly. Now we have a total of 1 cup of sourdough starter. The starter is beginning to get a little active…notice the bubbles?

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Day 3

Again, 12 more hours…this time dump 1/2 cup of starter in the trash. I know it seems wasteful but I don’t know any other way to build a strong starter without being overrun with starter. Dump 1/2 cup of the sourdough starter in the trash. Add 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of filtered water. Stir the starter and set aside.

The sourdough starter is getting active…see all the bubbles? After 12 hours I dumped 1/2 cup of sourdough starter and added 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water. Stir it up really well. Wait 12 hours and repeat…

Day 4

After 12 hours I dumped 1/2cup of sourdough starter again and added 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of filtered water.

I checked my starter for a refresher and it is bubbling like crazy. I’m going to make some sandwich bread today so instead of dumping my starter I will use it in my bread recipe. I took 1/2 cup of my sourdough starter out for my bread recipe. I fed my new pet yeasts with 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water. It might be ready to go into the refrigerator. We’ll see after 12 hours.

After about 4 hours my starter was bubbling out on the kitchen counter so I tucked her away in the fridge for Friday night pizza.

Now what are we going to cook with this sourdough starter? Here are a few ideas…

Sourdough Hamburger Buns or Sourdough Dinner Rolls

Sourdough Brown Bread

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