If you’ve been at all curious about making your own sourdough bread I’ve put together a (hopefully) helpful guide and a few tips to managing your starter as well as a bunch of recipes that I’ve made and loved.
I’ve experimented with a few other fermented foods over the years but sourdough was on my list of “someday projects” for quite a while. When we moved into our home in March and coincidentally, stopped traveling at the same time, it was the perfect season to try something new.
Sourdough is a fermented mixture of flour, water, (good) bacteria and yeast, the actual “sour-dough” stays in a jar on your counter, every day you will need to dump out (or use, more on that later) about half of your mixture, this is called the “discard” and then you will feed it more flour and water. Your mixture will grow and bubble, a healthy sourdough will smell slightly, well, sour, but should never stink. You will then use that new starter along with a few other simple ingredients to make a loaf of fresh bread. And so on and so forth, rinse and repeat! Breads made with sourdough retain some probiotic and prebiotic properties and the fermentation process actually breaks down gluten (the protein found in wheat, barley and rye) making this a relatively nutritious treat.
That’s my overly simplified version of what goes into maintaining a sourdough starter. I think it’s intimidating at first and some people are nervous to have something growing in their kitchen, but I promise its very easy and in no time at all it’ll feel like second nature and you’ll be hardly have to think about it. (keep scrolling down for the FAQs)
Favorite recipes:
Basic Sourdough loaf – from @just.ingredients instagram – she recommends fermenting this dough in your fridge for up to 72 hours to reduce the gluten content by over 50%.
King Arthur Flour has the most amazing page on everything SOURDOUGH! I reference them all the time with questions I have, and every single recipe I’ve tried from them has been amazing.
Rustic Sourdough Bread – this is the recipe that I use the most often since it comes together quickly (thanks to the addition of bakers yeast).
Cinnamon Raisin Bread – this might be the best recipe I’ve made yet, OH MY GRACIOUS! It was light and fluffy and the cinnamon swirl is heavenly.
Sourdough Naan – this is an amazing addition to dinner, you can also use the leftovers for a sandwich wrap or as a pizza crust
Pizza Crust– Friday night is pizza night over here and we love it so much! This is my weekly recipe, I mix it up in the morning and let it rise until dinner.
Sourdough Biscuits – this is a super quick recipe
Sourdough Frequently Asked Questions:
- How do I get my own sourdough starter?
Do you know what I did? I texted two of my homeschool mom friends and asked them if they had any friends who had sourdough and sure enough! They both knew someone, I ended up connecting with another mom who was sweet enough to give me a jar. Did you know that you can also start your own? You can, apparently there is “wild yeast” in the air all around us and you can catch it (I know that this sounds like complete nonsense…), here are the instructions for making your own sourdough starter.
- How much flour and water do I add each day?
Roughly a cup of flour and a half cup of filtered water. You can go the extremely science-y route of weighing ingredients, but I take a very loose approach and add or subtract until the consistency looks right to me. Detailed instructions are here.
- I’m so excited to try my bread, are there any recipes that don’t take all day to make?
Yes! A true sourdough takes a while for the yeast to develop and the dough to rise, if you’re in a hurry there are a few recipes out there that use additional bakers yeast and that will speed things up nicely. I’ve made this recipe for Rustic Sourdough Bread quite a few times and it is delicious.
- I’ve heard horror stories of sourdough exploding, will I have an incident in my kitchen?
My own mother had her sourdough explode all over the inside of her fridge, so I hear your concern on this one! I’m not sure what the official answer is, but I use a larger jar and leave lots of empty room at the top and only cover top with a coffee filter or leave the lid resting on top so that it can breathe.
- I hate to waste food, what do I do with all of the “discard”, do I have to throw it away?
You do not have to throw it away, you can use it many different ways. There are thousands of great discard recipes. King Arthur Flour has an entire page and I have a pinterest board here with some of our favorites and ideas of new one recipes to try.
- I’m gluten-free, can I eat sourdough made with wheat flour?
This is a tricky answer and if you are celiac or gluten intolerant I will always recommend talking to your doctor about consuming any amount of gluten. I make my sourdough with organic wheat flour and both Josh and I are able to eat it without being sick. I’m not sure if its because the organic flour is non-GMO or if because of the reduced gluten content through fermenting (one of my recipes requires a 72hr ferment that breaks down over half of the gluten). I would not serve this to my celiac father-in-law, but the rest of us seem to be okay. As always, make your own educated decisions.
- Can I make a dedicated gluten free sourdough starter?
Yes! It’s a little trickier, but it can be done. Here is a great post by Farmhouse on Boone to get you started, Lisa’s blog was very helpful in getting me started as well.
- What do I do if I’m traveling and can’t take care of my starter?
Just pop the entire jar into the fridge. This will hold your starter until you’re ready to go again. Simply set the jar back on your counter, drain off the clear liquid on top, allow it to warm to room temperature and then add back in flour and water. It should be ready to use within a few hours.
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