How to Make Sourdough Starter | Como Fazer Sourdough Starter

So, my name is Armando and this is my very first contribution to the Kikalicious blog. Francisca is my significant other but I’ll let her introduce myself when and where she feels is appropriate.

By no means whatsoever I’m a baker, cook, or any kitchen art specialist! BUT! I really enjoy baking bread and especially taking care of Aurora, our sourdough starter. So, as I learn, I thought it’d be nice to share my experience with you, and maybe we can learn further together. Obviously, I’ll be bringing Francisca’s knowledge here to avoid any misinformation.

There are mainly two ways of making your sourdough starter: starting from a sample someone gifted you with (or you can just take with you a little jar for a dinner at your bread geek friend and just take a little bit when you say you’re just going to the loo in the middle of the meal….but you didn’t hear that from me!) or you can make it from scratch. I’ll go deeper on the first option but I’ll try to explain what you need to know to start yours from scratch.

But without further ado, I present you guys Aurora!

As you can see, Aurora is a fluffy, bubbly, tasty, white(ish), and good-smelling thing that’s been with us since October 2017. Yes, you read it right, it is two and a half years old by the time I’m writing this. We use it not only to make the Levain for bread but also for focaccias, pancakes, crackers, etc… We will share recipes and ideas to use your starter and starter leftovers in the future.

Let’s get to the main topic of this post: how to start your starter? (nice choice of words, heim?)

Sourdough Starter from Gifted Sample

Let me add a quick “disclaimer”. We use stone mill ground organic flour, so if you’re using a different kind of flour (or even the same for that matter) don’t panic if you don’t get the same results, as it will probably take some time for your starter to get used to the flour you’re using, which is most likely different from what it was used to before.

The basic recipe we used for this was:

• 30g Active Sourdough Starter (if you can’t get the 30g, just work with what you have and be positive!);
• 60g Water, heated up to 36ºC;
• 60g Stone Ground Organic Bread Flour;

Put the 30g of active starter in a jar. We use jam jars for this purpose, and then we have proper weck jars to make the leaven when we’re making bread. Make sure you weigh the empty jar and register its weight directly on it. This will help further ahead.

Then, heat some filtered water up to 36ºC. Try to be precise if you can, otherwise, use your judgment and your hands to feel the water temperature, which might be about the temperature of your hands or fingers.

Weight 60g of that water into the jar and whisk it well. This is not mandatory, but I found it actually helps to evenly mix everything in on the next step.

Right after you mixed the water and the starter, add the 60g of bread flour. Mix it thoroughly making sure you reach to the very bottom of the jar. I like to be vigorous doing this. It will make the jar a little messy but you’ll deal with it next.

When you’re done mixing and the starter looks homogeneous, use a scraper to get the dough on the wall of the jar back down in its place. Then I like to use a bit of paper to really make it clean. This means you’ll be able to use the same jar longer.

You can use a rubber band to mark the level your starter is starting from. If it’s simpler for you, just use the marker and make a trace on the jar.

Also, it is fundamental that you write the hours you just made these steps.

Craving for more? You can find delicious recipes here:

• Cream and Coffee Icebox https://kikalicious.com/how-to-cook-condensed-milk-step-by-step/;
• How to cook condensed milk – step by step https://bit.ly/3O2BWsA;
• Ovar Sponge Cake https://bit.ly/3HgYtjw;