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Sourdough Starter Recipes

You can find tons of sourdough starter recipes. Between books and the internet, everyone’s got an opinion. I think it boils down to commitment. How much time do you want to spend with your starter?

I’ll offer you two extremes. First: the short cut way.
#1
Take 2 cups of warm water and put it in a ceramic bowl (don’t use metal sourdough doesn’t like metal)
Add one packet of yeast
1 Tbs of sugar
2 cups of regular flour
Stir it well and cover with a cloth.
Stir it several times a day and in about three days you’ll have a sourdough starter.

The more involved way:
#2 It’s called a potato starter
Cook 2 cups of diced, peeled potatoes. Use about 3 cups of water for cooking — you’ll want the water, so don’t dump it after cooking.
(You almost want to overcook the potatoes so they’re breaking apart in the water.)
When the potatoes are done, pour the whole thing into a colander or sieve that’s placed over a bowl. Mush the potatoes through the holes.
Let the potato/water mixture cool a bit.
When it’s warm instead of hot, add 2 Tbs of sugar
and 2 cups of regular flour
Stir it well and cover with a cloth.
Stir it several times a day and in about three days you’ll have a sourdough starter.

Either recipe is great — as you can see neither one is overly taxing. It’s what happens afterward that matters. Sourdough starter is sort of like a pet — you need to feed it and give it attention.

If you leave your starter out on the counter, like me, then you have to give it food and water every day. 1/4 cup of rye flour and a 1/4 cup of warm water is perfect. Use a whisk on the flour & water to really get it mixed well. Feed your starter every morning and you can make bread, scones, muffins and pancakes anytime you want. Or, if you are an occasional or weekend baker, you can leave your starter in the fridge during the week (where you don’t have to feed it — it’s like hibernation) and take it out Friday night. When you pull it out of the fridge, give it a good stir and don’t be alarmed at the clear liquid on the top. That’s good. Just stir it back into the starter. In the morning feed the starter and use it later in the day or on Sunday morning.

Within a few days you’ll be ready to find a sourdough bread recipe to use up some of that sourdough starter!

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