Sourdough FAQ

Can I use a packet of commercial baker's yeast to create my sourdough starter?

If you want to. I personally find that I don't need to use baker's yeast to make a sourdough starter, and a starter begun with commercial yeast often produces a bread with less distinctive sour flavor than the real thing, but it works fine. If you are having trouble, go ahead and take the shortcut.

Should I use distilled, filtered or bottled water to create my starter?

You can, but there's no need. The chlorine in tap water won't hurt yeast, and I can honestly say the tap water has never been bad for my starter. If it concerns you, just leave the water sitting out for a few hours before hand, so the chlorine will have time to leave the water.

What sort of flour should I use for my starter?

I've made starters using whole wheat flour, bread flour, and rye flour, but there's no need to limit yourself to those. The only flour that you should not use is bleached flour, because flour that has been bleached has no live yeast in it.

Once your starter is off and running, many sourdough bakers like to switch it over to unbleached all-purpose flour, but that's not required either. I keep feeding my starter rye flour, because I like the flavor of rye grains in my finished bread.

Other web sites recommend feeding a starter honey or sugar, but yours doesn't. Why not?

In my experience, it's not necessary to add honey or sugar to the diet of a starter for it to thrive, so I don't do that. You can add the sugar or honey if you want too, though; it certainly won't harm anything.

I have Celiac disease. Can sourdough bread help?

If you have Celiac disease or any other medical condition that prevents you from eating bread, you should consult with a physician or dietitian for advice on what you can eat safely.

It is possible to have a sourdough starter using rice flour, which is gluten-free, though I have yet to try this.

I like the taste of sourdough bread, but I don't want to keep a starter. Can you recommend a good cheat to get the flavor?

The flavor is not exactly the same, but I've discovered that you can approximate the flavor of sourdough bread by stirring an individual serving size of plain organic yogurt into the dough for any conventional loaf of homemade bread.

I have a great bread recipe that I would like to adapt for sourdough use. How would I do that?

Bread recipes all call for adding water at some point. Instead of water, add the corresponding volume of proofed sponge. Keep in mind that you might need to slightly adjust the amount of flour the recipe calls for, or to add a little bit of water later on.

Should I cover my starter before I put it in the refrigerator?

A loose covering won't hurt your starter, but it isn't necessary unless your starter is drying out. I cover mine when it is in the refrigerator, mainly to keep it from absorbing smells from other items, which isn't usually a hazard on the counter.

Is it OK if the starter gets runny? What if it smells bad? What if the color changes?

Generally speaking, your starter should have the same consistency as pancake batter. If it is too runny, you can add a little flour to thicken it up; and if it's too thick, you can add a little water. The smell of your starter should remind you of a good beer. If it's rancid, throw it out and start over. The same thing goes for any unusual changes in color.

There's a brown liquid forming on top of my starter. Is this a bad sign?

Not at all. What you're seeing is hooch, a natural and slightly alcoholic byproduct of the fermentation process caused by yeast. A darker hooch will deepen the flavor, and the alcohol will break down during the baking process, so there's really no problem with it. If you don't like it, you can pour the hooch down the sink with no ill consequences.

What should the froth look like?

A healthy starter will have bubbles visible all along the side of the glass. A starter with bubbles only at the top isn't doing well, and may require some new feeding and stirring.

My starter became frothy much faster than you predicted. Did I do something wrong?

No, you're just lucky. Sometimes starters just zoom to life, and sometimes they take their sweet old time. It just depends on which strains of yeast take up residence in your starter.

When you feed the starter after it already had been established, do you still discard part of it?

Not personally. As long as you maintain a ratio of about one cup of water to one cup of water, just adjust the amount you're keeping to fit your container and your needs. If you know you'll need a lot of starter soon, to make several loaves of bread, just put it into a larger container and bulk it up with extra flour and water a day or two in advance to give it a chance to grow into its new size.

Does it hurt the starter if I stir it a lot?

Not at all.

Can I keep my starter as a lump of dough instead of as a batter?

I prefer to use a batter, because it's already set to go when I make my next batch of dough, but there's no reason you can't reserve a pinch of dough from your most recent loaf before you bake it instead, if that's what you would prefer. I have done that myself, and tossed it in the freezer, when I knew I would be away for a while and unable to make bread.

The starter works just great, but my bread isn't coming out right. What should I do differently?

The general rules of baking bread apply to sourdough bread as well. Flour will vary in its absorbency, and if your dough is too wet, you will need to add a little more flour to absorb the extra water. If it is too dry, add a little more moisture. You must always adjust your dough's moisture level by feel.

My first few loaves came out great, but lately my starter isn't working right any more. What did I do wrong?

There are plenty of things that can cause a starter to fail, including heat damage from accidentally baking it or leaving it too close to the stove, and even changing the type of flour you use. Some brands of flour are toxic to sourdough because of the chemicals they are treated with during processing.

It's also possible that after a few early successes, you started taking shortcuts that have sabotaged your baking. Make sure you're feeding your starter properly, and giving the sponge enough food and enough time to proof before you start baking.

If your starter has puttered out, you usually can revive it with a few fresh feedings. Of course, if it is producing a rancid odor or has changed color, you should toss it out and start over.

Can I use my starter to make pancakes waffles, pizza or something else?

Absolutely. If you can make a bread with conventional yeast, then you can make it with a sourdough starter. The simplest rule of thumb to adapting a recipe is simply to look at how much water it calls for, and then to use that much proofed sponge instead.

I don't have the exact ingredients your recipe calls for. Are substitutions all right?

One of the nice things about bread is that, for all the varieties you can make and you can eat, bread is essentially nothing more than flour, sugar and yeast. Varying the type and amount of those ingredients is what makes each person's bread taste different.

So, if you prefer the soft taste of honey, use that; if you prefer sugar, use it. You can even experiment with different kinds of sugar, until you find the one that you like most.

There is a world of variety in flour, and that of course is where the bulk of variation in bread recipes comes into play. Most of the recipes I've shared here call for all-purpose flour, because that is what most people have, but you can get a tastier bread by using other types of flour as well. The rule of thumb is that up to half the recipe can be whole wheat flour, and up to one-fifth can be rye flour. Beyond that, and your bread may become too crumbly.