Sour Dough Starter-How to Feed and When to Use

In this tutorial, we will go over how to make a sour dough starter, how to grow, or feed, it, what to look for, and how to tell that it is ready to be baked with. This tutorial will not cover the baking of the dough, it will only cover to creation of it.

1. Large Mason Jar- at least two
2. All-Purpose Unbleached Flour
3. Access to Water
4. Scale that measures in Grams

Before you get started, make sure you have all of your supplies. Your mason jar should be completely dry with the lid off.

For your next step, you wan to place the empty mason jar, without the lid, on the scale and turn it on. Make sure that the scale is reading in grams and that the number is zero with the mason jar on it. This will allow for the most accurate measurements of ingredients.

Once you have the mason jar on the scale and it is "zeroed" out, you will want to add 100 grams of the unbleached flour. For this step, you can use any kind of measuring cup, spoon, or other scoopable tool. Be careful not to add too much at a time so that you don't exceed the 100 gram limit. After you add the flour, push the "zero" or "tare" button, the wording will differ depending on which type of scale you have. After you do this, the scale should read "0" with the mason jar sitting on it. Again, this will allow for the best measurement of all ingredients.

Once your flour has been added, the next step is the water. With the flour in the mason jar sitting on the scale, assuring that the scale is reading "0", you will use a measuring cup to add 100 grams of room temperature water. Make sure that the water is not too cold, as this will not allow the good bacteria to grow, but also assure that the water is not too hot, this will kill the good bacteria. A nice room temp water will allow for the best success and growth. You can use bottled water, however, water from the faucet will work just fine.

Once all of the ingredients, water and flour, have been added, use a clean, uncontaminated spatula to mix it up. Make sure to scrap all of the clumps off of the bottom of the jar and assure that there are no clumps in the dough, you want a nice smooth dough with not clumps. Once you are done mixing it, use the same spatula to scrape the sides removing all of the extra dough. Please note that you will likely not be able to get all of the dough off of the spatula and that is ok, it is not going to damper the dough growing process.

Once the dough is mixed and the sides are scraped, add the lid. Do not overly tighten the lid. Screw it on with your hand and once you meet resistance, turn it back a quarter turn to ensure a loose lid for air to still seep in. Please see the picture attached for further instruction.

Once your dough is made and the lid is one, let it rest on the counter top at room temp. Do not put it in a dark place, nor in the microwave, refrigerator, or oven. Siting it one the counter is the best thing to do. You should let it rest until the next day.

Once your dough has rested for approximately 16-24 hours, not to exceed 36 hours, you have officially made a Sour Dough Starter! Now it's time to feed it! First things first is to get a new, clean, dry mason jar and the scale. Like before, you are going to put the mason jar on the scale and turn it on, pressing "zero" or "tare" to make the scale read "0" with the jar on it.

Once you have your new jar on the scale and it is reading "0", pour 100 g of your starter, the dough we already made, into the new jar. Once the starter is added, zero, or tare, the scale so that it reads "0" again with the starter in it.

After the starter has been added, and the scale is reading "0", add 100 g of unbleached flour. Once the flour is added, zero, or tare, the scale so that it reads "0" again with the flour and starter in it.

After the flour has been added, and the scale is reading "0", add 100 g of water.

Now that you have added the starter, flour, and water to the new jar, stir it all up just like before until you get a smooth consistency free of clumps. Once it is mixed, make sure to scrape the sides of any remaining sourdough. Add the lid just like before, turning it until you reach resistance then turning it back 1/4 of a turn.

Now that you have made the starter and fed it for the first time, you are going to continue to repeat steps 8-12 letting the starter rest for approximately 16-24 hours after each feeding, not to exceed 36 hours.

After about 5-10 days, the starter should start to double in size over the course of a couple hours, the sour, acetone, smell should not be as strong, and there should be a bunch of bubbles in the starter. Once this has happened, it's time to bake! Refer to other recipes for baking instructions.