Preface | Getting Started | Keep it Going | Updates

Step One
The first thing you need to do is decide on a recipe, most are pretty much just ratios of flour and water. You will need to decide what type of flour and what your water is like. If you have city water that has a smell of chlorine than you may want to try bottled water(not distilled!). Since I have well water and bread flour I will be using these in my attempt at a "natural" sourdough starter.

Step Two
Now that we have the ingredients settled upon we need to find something to put this little science experiment in. I'll be right back, I need to find a container...yes im typing this as i create my starter. Eureka! a nice glass pickle jar should do just fine.

Here's the recipe i'm using
1/2 cup Bread flour
1/2 cup Warm Water

Add these two ingredients to your jar, mix it up then set it in a nice warm place(around 70-80F) out of direct light. My suggestion is to leave the lid off so it has the best chance of success. I've seen recipes that say to loosely cover it or place a towel over it, but i prefer the no lid method. You may want to place it in an area that's not too isolated as well since the starter needs to pick up wild yeasts from the air to do its thing.

Step Three
Every 24 hours you may want to add equal parts flour and water to provide more food for the yeasts. You can just add this in if your container is big enough or remove as much starter as your adding back in. I will be using AP flour as food added with 1 Tbsp flour to 1 Tbsp warm water. Within the first few days you should start to see some activity in the manner of bubbles. This is the yeast converting the mixture into gas and alcohol, the bubbles are the gas escaping and the alcohol is the "Hooch". Hooch is the liquid you will see collect on top of the starter. Mix this back into the rest once a day. If your adding more flour and water you'll most likely mix the hooch back in when you stir to add the new food.

In as little as a few days or as much as a week or more you should start to notice a sour beer like smell. You may also have noticed the starter has bubbled over the container, this is a good sign. When you see a lot of activity and have the nice sour smell your done...you have just succeeded in creating a sourdough starter. You can now place the starter in the refrigerator awaiting its sourdough bread recipe. Remember that the starter is a "living" thing that produces CO2 as a byproduct. Do not seal the jar tight as you could wind up with a mess if left to build up pressure. Putting a hole in the lid or leaving the lid loose will prevent this.