How to Make a No-Waste Sourdough Starter Without Measuring
Easy DIY Sourdough Starter with No Measuring
I’ve recently been making beautiful and delicious sourdough bread, including my sourdough starter. I’ll show you how to make your own DIY sourdough starter, with no discards, measuring, or daily feeds for your baking.
Why Bake Sourdough Bread?
Sourdough bread can be made in an artisan-style, crusty bread, or soft, loaf bread types.
Sourdough breads not only taste great but are also fermented foods. Because of the fermentation process, they possess less sugar and less gluten than other types of breads.
Sourdough starter is a fermented mix of flour and water and sometimes other ingredients. This is used instead of yeast in bread baking.
Many of today’s sourdough bread-baking techniques overcomplicate the process. In previous generations, it was easy and worked well with their lifestyles. Let’s get back to old-style bread baking.
Product Recommendation: Here is a list of my favorite sourdough bread-making shopping list of tools and products I love. I prefer mixing organic non-GMO flours (unbleached) and Einkorn ancient grain flours.
Making Your DIY Sourdough Starter
Grab a quart glass jar or the jar you want your starter to be in.
This first step is optional but gives your homemade sourdough starter a head start with a robust beginning. We will start the process with some milk kefir to introduce a fermented active culture base.
You can purchase milk kefir (make sure it is plain and has the highest count of active strains). Alternatively, in my article below, I show you how easy it is to make your own, so just use some of that.
Put plain milk kefir into the bottom of the jar to about 1/4 inch up the sides of the jar.
If you’d like, add about 1/2 teaspoon of caraway seeds, again optional.
Next, add in the flour you will be using, about 1/2 cup or so.
Then add filtered water and stir this mix until it is the consistency of a thick pancake batter. If you need to add a bit more flour to thicken it up some, you can. It’s not too fussy.
Now, place a coffee filter and secure it with a rubber band on the top of the jar. Place it on a counter and leave overnight.
The next day, give it a good stir. It should be starting to have some bubbles happening.
Do the same thing over the next 2- 4 days. On day 5, it should be ready to use in bread if you want.
If, at any point, it becomes more runny in texture, add more flour and stir.
After 5 days, however, you will need to add a bit more flour and perhaps a little water to feed it and keep it going.
Before baking, you always want to ensure the batter has bubbles that release air and a thick pancake batter consistency.
After baking, add more flour and water, put the starter on the counter, and repeat the process for more sourdough starter later.
Longer-Term Storage for Your Sourdough Starter
If you plan to use your starter longer than 5–7 days after you first make it, or after you’ve baked your bread and you don’t plan on making more for a while, follow these directions to put your starter in longer-term storage.
Add a lot of flour to your starter and stir well. Make sure it is very thick, it might not even be mixed completely. Then add about 1/2 inch of flour on top of the starter.
Put a tightly closed jar lid on it and put it in the fridge. This method can be used for several months.
Pull it out of the fridge when you are ready to use it again. Add pure water and still well until it has a thick pancake-like batter texture. Again, cover it with a coffee filter or paper towel and rubber band and set it on the counter.
Repeat the process of daily stirring for a day to 4 or 5 like you did when you made it originally. Then bake with it when it's ready.
This can also be easily shared with friends and family.
Enjoy your baking with your favorite sourdough bread recipes. I’ve had great success with this delicious starter.
Do you make bake with sourdough? I’d love to hear from you.
All rights reserved by Val Garner
Book Recommendation: My Favorite Bread Recipes: Handwritten Recipes I Love
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