Sourdough 101 (2024)

I first got into cooking with sourdough because I knew it was one of the healthiest ways to prepare grains. But when I tasted my very first batch of sourdough waffles, I was hooked on their flavor. It was so beyond anything I had ever made. Then the first sourdough bread I baked made me want to do a happy, giddy dance and eat just that for breakfast, lunch, and supper. And then the sourdough biscuits: heavenly! You might say I fell deeply in love with sourdough.

If you’ve never tried cooking with sourdough, let me do my best to convince you to give it a go!

What is Sourdough?

Sourdough is essentially a natural yeast. There’s yeast all around us: in the air, on our hands, on surfaces, etc. Sourdough captures those natural yeasts and uses them as a leaven or raising agent. It also contains strains of the beneficial bacteria Lactobacillus, which helps with the raising process as well as fermentation. Together these microorganisms work to create carbon dioxide, which is what raises bread, waffles, biscuits, etc.

Before commercial, shelf-stable yeasts were invented, sourdough is what people used to bake bread. It’s easy to understand why commercial yeast is so popular: it requires a fraction of the time! Sourdough takes much more patience and loving care, but it results in a far superior flavor (in my opinion).

What Does Sourdough Taste Like?

I think a lot people have a preconceived idea that sourdough is, well, sour. Like, really sour. That can definitely be the case! But if done just right, sourdough can be almost undetectable. You can totally achieve that distinct tang if you want! But my point is, it doesn’t have to be mouth-puckering.

In my own experience, sourdough has a depth of flavor that fast-raised bread can’t compete with. You have to experience it to really understand. A fresh slice of sourdough bread with some good-quality butter…there’s nothing like it!

What Are the Benefits of Sourdough?

Besides the addicting flavors, sourdough has some health benefits over regular bread as well!

The long fermentation process of sourdough aids in the breakdown of phytic acid. What’s so bad about phytic acid, you say? It’s actually a plant toxin that blocks our absorption of the nutrients found in whole grains. By reducing the phytic acid in bread, sourdough makes those nutrients more available to us!

It has also been discovered that sourdough bread doesn’t spike your blood sugar as much as regular bread. The microorganisms can even break down some of the gluten in sourdough, making it easier to digest. If you have a slight gluten intolerance, sourdough might be the answer to your bread-loving prayers. Just make sure to consult with your doctor before experimenting!

How Do You Make a Sourdough Starter?

If you’re interested in starting on a sourdough-making journey, you first need to acquire a sourdough starter. The easiest way is to get some from a friend that has a well-established starter. But not everyone lives close to a sourdough guru!

Making a sourdough starter from scratch is pretty easy, but it takes a little commitment and patience.

You basically mix together flour and water and wait for it to “catch” a yeast and some good bacteria. Then you feed those tiny organisms regularly to keep them happy and strengthen the starter.

I already had a wonderful starter that my sister made, but I decided to show you guys how easy it is to make one from scratch!

Day 1

First, let’s talk flour. It’s actually a great idea to start out making you starter with 100% whole wheat flour. The microorganisms that make up sourdough seem to like it. If you don’t have any on hand you can use unbleached all-purpose flour, though it might take a little extra time to “wake up” the yeasts and bacteria.

Measure out 50 grams of whole wheat flour into a clean glass jar or plastic container. You don’t want to use metal or anything reactive.

Side note: It doesn’t really matter how much flour you use as long as you’re adding the same weight of water (not the same volume). I chose 50 grams because it was a small enough amount that feeding it didn’t seem as wasteful. But you could use even less if you like!

Back to making the starter: Add 50 grams of water. I used tap water because we live outside of town and our water isn’t treated with chlorine or fluoride. If your tap water has those chemicals, make sure to use filtered water instead.

Now mix the water and flour together thoroughly (I like to use a non-wood-handled spatula for this since it cleans up easily). The consistency will be like thick pancake batter.

Put a rubber band at the bottom of the jar to mark the level of the starter. This will give you a visual sign of when the starter has risen. Put a lid loosely on top of the jar.

I don’t recommend using a metal canning lid for long-term starter storage. Starters can get pretty acidic and break down the coating on canning lids—this happened to me! Kind of gross. Use glass or plastic instead.

Put the jar in a warm spot in your kitchen out of direct sunlight. Now the waiting begins.

Day 2

The next day, I checked up on my starter. It was a bit discolored (gray) on top, which is totally normal. There were no bubbles or other signs of yeast activity, so I decided to leave it alone for another day.

Day 3

When I checked in the next day, I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few bubbles on top of the starter.

It had also risen slightly. See, that rubber band came in handy!

I discarded half of the starter, which left me with about 50 grams total.

At this point I started feeding the starter with a 50/50 blend of organic all-purpose flour and organic white whole wheat flour. I added 50 grams each of the flour mixture and water. I gave it a good stir and replaced the lid and set it aside to do its thing.

To my surprise, when I came back about 9–10 hours later, it had expanded significantly!

Just look at all those bubbles!

However, the starter didn’t have a super pleasant smell (reminiscent of newborn baby poo, if I’m honest), so I knew it wasn’t anywhere near ready to be baked with.

So I fed it by discarding all but 50 grams, and mixing in 50 grams each of flour and water.

Note: After a while, you can tell by sight what 50 grams of starter looks like. That way you don’t have to weigh it each time you discard. Also, it isn’t rocket science! Don’t worry if you accidentally dump out too much.

Day 4

At 10 AM the next morning, the starter was bubbly and almost doubled.

Here you can see the rise. I fed it as before and set it aside.

Day 5

At 10 AM the next morning, the starter had a few bubbles on top. It had probably already risen and fallen overnight. The smell was about the same, but a bit milder.

You can see that there was a watery substance on top, which is an indication of a mature starter that desperately wants to be fed.

Here you can see how much it had risen above the rubber band.

I fed it as before and set it aside.

Day 6

At 10:45 AM the starter had risen by about a third. The smell was more mellow and closer to a pleasant, yeasty sourdough starter.

Here you can see how much it had risen.

I fed as before and set it aside.

At 10:45 that evening the starter had risen and was bubbly, so I fed it as before.

Day 7

At 10:45 AM the next morning the starter had risen by about 2/3. It had a pleasant, yeasty smell.

Here you can see how much it had risen.

I decided to see if it would pass the float test: I dropped a small amount into a glass of water. It sank, but you could tell that it wanted to float.

I fed it as before and set it aside.

At 10:45 PM I fed it again as before, except I used organic all-purpose flour instead of the blend.

Day 8

At 8:00 AM the next morning I decided to give it the float test again. It passed! And then it sank a minute or two later. But I decided to go ahead and try baking with it, which we’ll get to in a second.I had successfully made a sourdough starter from scratch!

Back to the test batch of bread: I decided to bake two batches of bread—one with my newly-made starter, and the other with a starter that I had been maintaining for about 5 months. I tried my best to make the two loaves exactly the same way.

Here’s what the dough looked like after a 20-or-so hour bulk rise in the fridge. Look at the bubbles! The starter was actually doing its job!

Here are the two loaves after baking. Can you guess which loaf is made with which?

The one made with the young starter is on the left, and the one made with my mature starter is on the right.

Here’s a comparison of the crumb. They were very similar!

It made me all sorts of happy to bake that first loaf of bread with the starter I had made from scratch. And the flavor was phenomenal!

From here on out I continued to feed my starter daily. I varied the time of the feed and how much I fed it based on whether or not I was going to be baking with it. But basically I fed it equal weights of organic all-purpose flour and water.

After 2 weeks total, I fed the starter one last time and put it in the fridge for long-term storage. You want to wait to store a starter in the fridge until it’s well established.

How Do You Maintain a Sourdough Starter?

The way you maintain your sourdough starter depends on how much baking you plan on doing.

If you want to bake with your starter throughout the week, you’ll want to keep it at room temperature and feed it once a day. Don’t freak out if you forget a day, just feed your starter twice in a 24-hour period before using it for baking.

If you only want to bake 1-2 times a week, I recommend storing your starter in the refrigerator. This cuts down on how much flour you have to use to feed it. Just remember to take it out of the refrigerator, let it get warmed up a little, feed it, and put it back in the fridge. Or let it rise for about 8–12 hours at room temperature and use in your recipe! Make sure to feed your starter one last time before putting it in the fridge if it has been out for 8 hours and is hungry.

I haven’t tried this personally, but I’ve heard that you can actually store your starter in the freezer for about a month between feedings.

You can also dehydrate your starter for even longer storage. Again, I haven’t tried it personally! But I think I will soon—it’s a great backup to have on hand in case you kill your starter.

How you feed your starter is up to you! Some people like a very small amount of starter in comparison to the flour and water. Others like equal weights of starter, flour, and water. For example, you could feed 10 grams of starter with 50 grams each of flour and water. Or you could feed 50 grams of starter with 50 grams each of flour and water. In my experience, this isn’t rocket science. Experiment and find what works for you personally!

Something to keep in mind when you’re feeding your starter is how much you’ll need in your recipe. For example, if your recipe calls for 100 grams of starter, you’ll want to feed it with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. This will give you enough starter to use in your recipe, plus enough leftovers to keep and maintain. Don’t freak out if your recipe requires you to use up almost all of your starter—you can get it going again with the scrapings from the jar! Just feed it and wait: you’ll see!

After you feed your starter, you’ll need to wait until it has risen and can pass the float test before you use it. This can take anywhere from 6–12 hours, depending on how warm or cold your kitchen is.

How Can You Use Sourdough Starter?

There are so many ways to use your sourdough starter! Besides sourdough bread, a couple of my personal favorites are Overnight Sourdough Waffles and Sourdough Dutch Baby. Could I eat those every day for breakfast, please?

Basically, if there’s a baked good that’s normally raised with commercial yeast, there’s probably a recipe out there for a sourdough version. I really want to try sourdough cinnamon rolls, English muffins, and puff pastry. Yes, puff pastry!

I’ll be back soon with my favorite sourdough bread recipe. It’s a keeper!

Have you ever baked with sourdough? What was your favorite thing to make?