My first Sourdough

Baker’s Gallery
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Hi all,
I am so happy! My son took me to a sourdough bread class in San Francisco and we got to bring home some 9yr old starter. In class we mixed and baked what she called flat bread due to time restraints so I was eager to try your no knead sourdough recipe. Thank you so much for providing a video. I watched it and followed it to a T. What I got was delightful success. This is my first loaf. I was scared it would be a total flop but to my pleasant surprise it turned out just beautiful. I still am a little unsure how much to feed my starter but so far it seems to be hanging in there. I am so scared of killing it because it really has a very sour flavor which I love and I hope to bake sourdough loaves for years to come.

Regarding feedings, if I plan on leaving the starter outside of the fridge, do I discard all but one tablespoon of my unused starter and feed 1/3C flour and 1/4 C water daily and then discard all but one Tablespoon feed. etch OR do I feed the 1/3 C flour and 1/2 C water without discarding the unused starter. I realize on the day before I will be baking I would need to built up my quantity for the recipe but when not baking everyday I am uncertain about maintaining with proper feeding ratio. My instincts are telling me I would keep all but one Tablespoon and feed as above. Any help with this would be appreciated.
Thanks, Shari Marie

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Congratulations on your great bread. I’m happy for you too!

There really is quite a wide range of feeding options which could all be considered perfectly workable. But your idea of discarding all but a small amount each day is a good one considering your desire to keep it unrefrigerated, as this will prevent building up a huge quantity of starter if you don’t bake for a while. I’m curious though, why do you want to keep out of the fridge?

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Hi ShariMarie. Congratulations on your first Sourdough bread! It looks wonderful! Isn’t it fun?! Sourdough has always been my favorite. I grew up in San Francisco (36 years) and experienced the best Sourdough bread there I’ve ever had. But since I no longer live there, I had to learn how to make it myself!

As Eric suggested, there are probably many Sourdough Starter feeding options that people use that work well. My SF Sourdough Starter is about 4 years old and still going strong, healthy and very sour. I keep it in the refrigerator. I store it in a 12 oz clip top canning jar. But I also, each time I finish using it, wrap the jar all the way around and over the top tightly with Saran Wrap (clear plastic wrap), to further seal out air that would dry it out.

When I am going to make a loaf of Sourdough, I get the jar out of the refrigerator, leave the Saran Wrap on it, and let it get room temperature. Once it’s room temperature, I open it, and stir what’s in the jar really well with a wooden spoon, making sure it’s thoroughly mixed. The jar is usually at least about 3/4 full of starter.

I then pour out about 1/2 cup of the room temperature starter into a large glass or ceramic bowl, and add 1 cup of flour, and 1/2 cup of very warm (but not too hot) water, and mix well. Cover top of bowl immediately and tightly with Saran Wrap (clear plastic wrap), and let it process/ferment, usually overnight. The next day it’s ready to go! Nice and bubbly and very sour! What you don’t use of your re-fed/fresh starter in your recipe that time, you put back in your canning/storage jar and mix it well with the starter you have left in the jar. Seal it and rewrap it tightly in clear plastic wrap and put back in the refrigerator until next time. Your starter will definitely get more sour and improve with age.

As I said, my starter has remained very fresh for four years, a great texture, thick, but stirrable, and very sour. I never discard any unless I have too much for the jar.

Anyway, that’s how I’ve cared for my starter for four years. That’s just one way.

Happy Baking! There are many great loaves in your future!

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ShariMarie,

I forgot to add, that even if there should be a month, or a bit more, in between your Sourdough bakings for some reason, the above method still keeps your SF Sourdough Starter fresh and very much alive, ready for the next feeding and bread baking, if in refrigerator as above. If more time has passed since your last re-feeding and baking, you may wish to go through the above feeding/fermenting process (i.e. 1 c. flour and 1/2 c. very warm water & mix) twice to get to the quality/sourness and “ready-to-use” quality that you want.

Enjoy your baking. Lots of very creative, exciting, excellent recipes, instructions, tips, etc. here on Breadtopia and in the Bakers’ Gallery (with pics!).

Have fun, and it would be fun seeing your posts/pics as you go along. There are always things we can learn from one another.

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That’s a beautiful first loaf. Well done.

Don’t get too wound up about feeding techniques. As long as it gets fed now and then and you don’t torture it (with heat) it will be fine.

For further peace of mind, you might want to “back up” your starter as Eric demonstrates:

I froze some of my starter over 10 years ago using those instructions and occasionally revive some just for fun. It’s so amazingly resilient.

Welcome to the sourdough journey!