Sourdough Starter
Making sourdough starter and using it in recipes is a whole other level of baking – it’s challenging at first, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll get such great satisfaction from it. That said, here are some important terms to understand before starting:A mature starter is over 14 days old and has been doubling in size and you're able to predict how long it takes a starter to reach its “peak.” Some sourdough recipes call for a starter to be used while at its peak (when it domes, is very active, and is full of air bubbles), which is about 6-8 hours after feeding. This is often also referred to as an active starter. An unfed starter is a starter that's ready to be fed again for its daily feeding/discard routine. It's past its peak and is no longer active. The bubbles are starting to deflate and the top of the starter is no longer domed.A sourdough discard is the part that has been removed before you feed the remaining starter. The discard no longer gets fed and is either thrown out or saved for recipes that call for sourdough discard.
Ingredients
- 25 grams gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 25 grams bottled or filtered water
Instructions
- Day 1: Add 25 grams gluten free flour and 25 grams water to a glass jar. Mix well and scrape down the sides the best you can.
- Day 2: No discard. Add 25 grams flour and 25 grams water.
- Days 3-6: Stir the starter and discard all but 25 grams of the starter. Add 25 grams flour and 25 grams water. Mix well and scrape down the sides the best you can.
- Days 7-10: Stir the starter and discard all but 25 grams of the starter. Add 50 grams flour and 50 grams water. Mix well and scrape down the sides the best you can.
- Days 11-14: Stir the starter and discard all but 25 grams. Add 75 grams flour and 75 grams water. Mix well and scrape down the sides the best you can.
Notes
- After day 14, you can continue to maintain this feeding schedule if you plan on baking with it soon.
- If you don’t plan on baking soon, store the starter in the refrigerator and maintain by discarding/feeding weekly.
- Do not keep an air-tight seal on your starter.
- Do not bake with the discard until the starter is at least 7 days old.