So you’ve got a jar of bubbling, active sourdough on the counter. Your first time ever. And now you have no clue what to do with it? I’ve got you, friend! From one sourdough beginner to another, let me show you the very sourdough basics that’ll soon become second nature for you as a sourdough beginner too!
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Johnson Home NC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and links to Amazon.com. As part of this Amazon Associates program, the Website will post customized links, provided by Amazon, to track the referrals to their website. And I thank you for using these links!
What if I’m still not ready for sourdough but do want to make bread?
Friend, you’re in luck! I’ve got an amazing yeast bread recipe that can have you in bread in less than 3 hours from start to finish.
This recipe is so versatile, you can make hamburger and hot dog buns as well as cinnamon rolls and more.
What do I do with my active sourdough starter?
Your starter is bubbling and active in its jar on your counter top. CONGRATULATIONS! You did it! You made sourdough starter! Now let’s use it.
Sourdough starter is a living thing so it needs to be taken care of each day but it’s not as fussy as you’d think.
In this blog post, as a sourdough beginner myself, I am going to teach you exactly what I do with my active starter each week and the discard too to put you into a weekly rhythm with your bread baking.
Go ahead and save this or pin it to your Pinterest now so you’ll have easy access to reference it later.
Sourdough Basics: a disclaimer
I realize I’m taking a big risk putting this blog out into the interwebs where sourdough masters live and breathe, not to mention those new-during-the-pandemic sourdough masters. I fully realize many will come for me with my lack of experience and “not doing it right”.
Here is my disclaimer: I learn as a I go, make mistakes, read recipes and then edit them to fit me. I find what works best for me and go from there.
Is what I am about to share with you the gospel of sourdough? Absolutely not.
Have I made countless loaves of bread that has nourished my family for over a year now? Absolutely yes.
Please take what you want from this or leave it all. It’s up to you. These are just the sourdough basics I have proven to myself to work and have become a weekly baking rhythm for me. I haven’t bought store bread since June 2022.
First Step in Sourdough Basics: Sandwich Loaf Recipes
With a jar of active sourdough starter, you’ll want to bake something while it’s good and bubbly. This is where I like to bake a loaf of bread for the week.
My family prefers the sandwich style bread loaf I make often. I prefer it because it takes way less time.
For this recipe, I use 100 grams of active sourdough starter.
Sourdough Sandwich Bread with Yeast
Yeast is not necessary in sourdough bread but I will use 7 grams in a recipe when I need it to rise faster and make bread same day. The full recipe for this loaf is here: Get The WITH YEAST Recipe.
Sourdough Sandwich Bread without Yeast
This version is going to take you longer to make as the rise time is significantly longer.
I like to start this recipe in the morning after breakfast and let it do its first rise in the bowl for most of the day.
Then after dinner, I do a quick stretch and fold before tucking this loaf into a loaf pan to rise all night while covered with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel.
Finally, the next morning while I am enjoying my morning coffee, I will bake this loaf.
So, yes, this is a 24 hour loaf that would be best started on the weekend or Friday night to eat with dinner Saturday evening.
Get The WITHOUT YEAST Recipe here.
Second Step in Sourdough Basics: Feed Your Starter In a New Jar
This next step is easy. You’ve taken out of your jar what you need for sandwich bread. Now you feed your starter so it’ll be ready for the next time you want to bake in a day or two.
BIG DISCLAIMER:
This is where some will not agree at all with me. At this point, I’ve got a loaf of bread rising and waiting to be baked but I go ahead and feed my starter anyway by portioning out 1/2 cup of starter. Pour this 1/2 cup into a new, clean jar.
Feed your sourdough starter as directed. Here are those instructions in case you need them again.
Then I leave my starter on the counter to get active then deflate. My starter is okay to be left on my countertop for a full 2 days before I MUST do something with it– fridge it or feed it.
Fridge it to slow down the fermentation process but still use the discard within 2 more days.
Or feed it by removing the 1/2 cup of starter to a new jar and following feed instructions.
This is a great time in your week to find a new sourdough discard recipe you’d like to try such as:
You can use fallen sourdough starter to make any “sourdough discard” recipe. Just keep enough starter to be fed to continue your next jar. By this time in the week, I will be just about ready to make a second loaf of bread.
Third Step in Sourdough Basics: Discard Crackers
No one really likes to waste things. It’s wasteful!
Your sourdough discard is what is leftover after you use some to bake a recipe and use the suggested amount to start a new jar (this is how sourdough can live on forever!).
Any sourdough leftover in the jar is discard. But you do not have to throw it away.
Note:
Never, EVER pour your sourdough discard down the drain! It will severely disrupt your plumbing.
If you must throw it away, trash it with the garbage. If you have animals on your homestead, feed it to them! Chickens even love it too.
My family is absolutely in love with these 3 ingredient sourdough discard crackers. My children think they taste like Chez-Its but there’s no cheese in them! Just discard, melted butter, and salt.
If you prefer a thicker cracker, try these buttery sourdough discard crackers instead. One extra ingredient is more flour.
Three Steps of Sourdough Basics in Summary
So that’s it. That’s my weekly rhythm with 1 active jar of sourdough:
- Make a loaf of sandwich bread
- Feed my starter in a new jar
- Use the discard to make crackers or another recipe
What if I only want to make one loaf a week or have one baking day each week?
If you only want to make one loaf of bread weekly or have one baking day a week, make your bread and discard crackers and then add your new jar’s starter to a fresh jar but instead of feeding it, go ahead and fridge it. When you’re ready to bake again, feed it the day before!
Example: you want Sunday to be baking day. Take starter from the fridge and feed your starter Saturday morning.
Note: sometimes refrigerator starter takes extra time to “wake up” and may need 2 feedings before using. Because of this, I keep mine on the counter and feed it 2-3 times a week since my baking days are random and just when I find the time. But my discard never goes to waste!
How to save sourdough starter in case of an emergency
Let’s face it: life happens. If I’m honest, I’ve killed my sourdough 3 times now. Once when I first started and had no reserves so I had to completely start over from scratch. Two other times in the SAME month but I had dried reserves I just reconstituted.
It’s best to have some dried sourdough in case you accidentally kill your starter. If there is mold present or the top is turning pink, you need to trash all of that sourdough and start over. This is why it is important to keep your starter fed or store it in the fridge to keep it happy.
If there is a brown liquid forming on top, this is called hooch and it is OKAY. Starter stored covered and in the back of the fridge, I’ve seen be reconstituted after 6 weeks and lots of dried brown hooch and chunks of starter on top! Dig that gunk out and snag some starter from the bottom. If you don’t have 1/2 cup of starter discard to restart a new jar, use what you can get and the ratio starter:water:flour, 1:1:2.
How to dry sourdough starter:
With an active jar of sourdough starter, take out what you need to start a new jar and feed it.
Grab a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Next, take a silicone spatula and a heaping dollop of active starter from your jar. Plop it on your parchment paper and smooth it as thin as you can on your baking sheet. The thinner, the better!
Now you’ll place your baking sheet in a cool oven with just the oven light on for about 8 hours or until dry. Could take up to 24 hours to fully dry out.
TIP: Put a sign on the oven control panel that says “DO NOT START THE OVEN!”. You don’t know how many times drying starter has been killed by accidentally preheating the oven while it was in there drying.
Next, peel your dried starter off the parchment paper, breaking it up into crumbles as you store it in an airtight container like a jar or food saver baggies for storing dried goods like air-dried herbs and your dry starter reserves.
Whenever you need to break into your emergency starter stash for whatever reason, simply follow your rehydrating instructions again.
Can I make my own sourdough starter?
Yes, you sure can. Click here for those instructions.
Can I purchase dried sourdough starter to reconstitute?
I do offer dried sourdough starter that comes with an extra start inside in case of failed attempts and instructions. This website is not currently set up for e-commerce but this is a google form to request your starter from me and I’ll be in touch!
Now offering dried sourdough starter options:
- organic unbleached all purpose white bread starter
- organic 100% whole wheat starter from freshly milled wheat berries by 4 Generations Organic Farms
REQUEST JOHNSON HOME NC DRIED SOURDOUGH STARTER
Save this for later. You’ll need it!
You can find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube by name @johnsonhomenc
Give me a follow, comment on my posts, and share with a friend! Thank you for reading! Sign up for my weekly newsletter HERE.
Leave a Reply