Sourdough runs so deep that once you start, questions pile up by the hundred. Below are the ones I’m asked most often about my sourdough starter recipe.
- What is the float test?
It’s the “is my starter ready?” check I recommend to anyone on day 7 of building a starter. Six hours after the last feeding, before you use your starter for bread, focaccia or whatever you’re making, drop a spoonful into water. If it floats, like in the video, you’re good to go. Your sourdough starter is alive. Congratulations!
- What water should I feed my starter with?
Room-temperature drinking water is the most practical.
- My starter worked and my first loaf is done. Where should I keep my starter?
When you’re not baking, you can keep your starter in the fridge, in the freezer, or even dried, in your spice cupboard.
From the fridge: take your starter out 30 hours before you want to use it and let it come to room temperature for 1 hour. Then feed it at 12-hour intervals with 1 part starter, 1 part flour and 1 part room-temperature water, and start your bread 6 hours after the last feeding.
From the freezer: take your starter out 48 hours before you want to use it and let it come to room temperature for 6 hours. Then feed it at 12-hour intervals with 1 part starter, 1 part flour and 1 part room-temperature water, and start your bread 6 hours after the last feeding.
From dried: 60 hours before you want to use it, put the dried starter in a large jar and add its own weight in water. Twelve hours later, give it its first 1:1:1 feeding, and start your bread 6 hours after the last feeding. And yes, you can dry a starter! Spread your surplus thinly on baking paper and leave it near a radiator in winter or in direct sunlight in summer. Once it’s dry, blitz it to a powder in a food processor and keep it in an airtight jar.
- “My starter has gone watery. What do I do?”
The question I hear most these days 🙂 I’m not a baker, but because of the sourdough starter and bread recipe I shared at the start of the lockdown, I answer questions as best I can. So, the answer. Whether you’re still building your starter or keeping it in the fridge, liquid collecting on top means your starter is “hungry.” What you need to do is very simple: feed it. Within about three feedings, it will bounce back.
- I tried making a starter with kavılca flour, but after 8 days there’s no activity. What can I do? Where did I go wrong?
You didn’t go wrong anywhere. Bread recipes around the world call for bread flour mixed with whole wheat flour, or some variation of it, because of the protein and gluten potential of bread flour in particular. Flours milled from local heritage wheats such as kavılca, karakılçık or siyez behave differently from white bread flour, so your flour will react differently too. Don’t give up.
Just don’t use the all-purpose flour sold in supermarkets for bread. Don’t hesitate to order proper bread flour. It’s like entering a Formula 1 race in an off-roader. Not impossible, but it doesn’t belong there!
- My starter floats, there’s no liquid on top, I use heritage flours, and still my bread won’t rise. Why?
Your starter should meet the dough no later than 4 to 7 hours after its last feeding, depending on the room temperature and the strength of your starter. Remember: bring them together at the wrong moment and it will work against you.
- My starter is very runny, but I can still make bread with it. Is something wrong?
If your starter has enough good bacteria and you can make bread with it, don’t worry too much about its consistency. Some people make bread from the whey of yogurt.
- My starter smells like vinegar. Is that normal?
Once your starter passes the float test, taste it, and taste it again every time before you bake. Don’t be shy about it. Its flavor profile, its sourness, its sharpness and those vinegary notes will shape your bread. So get to know your starter well.
I’ll add answers here as new questions come in.
Now on to the sourdough bread recipe!
