Sourdough Starter Guide
What is a Sourdough starter and why do we need one?
Sourdough starter, also known as Levain or Levito Madre is a fermented dough, made from water and flour, flourished with natural yeast and bacteria. We use it to create the perfect rise, gas needed and flavors for homemade loaves of bread and other pastries. Sourdough starter replaces commercial dry yeast, as the natural yeast is already there ready for action.
What do we need in order to create a sourdough starter from scratch?
Well, not too much:
- Tap water
- Whole-wheat flour
- The KneadAce® Sourdough starter Jar
- Digital scale
Let’s start:
Creating your sourdough starter usually takes between 7 to 12 days. Do not worry; you only need to “work on it” about one minute each day. It will be better to feed (add water and flour) your starter each day approximately at the same time. In addition, keeping an environment of 75-80 Fahrenheit (24-26 Celsius) is important for good results. For clarity, please refer to our walkthrough video in addition to reading this recipe.
DAY 1: Pour 80gr of water to the KneadAce® sourdough starter jar and add 60 gr of whole-wheat flour. Stir well with a silicone spatula and cover with the cloth. Leave the jar on your kitchen counter.
DAY 2: Stir the mixture and leave it covered with the cloth for another 24 hours.
After the 2nd day, you might see tiny bubbles on top of the mixture surface. This is a good sign as fermentation is beginning to form. If you do not see any bubbles, they might have dissolved overnight or they will begin to emerge in the following days.
DAY 3 to DAY 7: On each day of the next 5 days, do the following: stir well, DISCARD 100gr FROM THE MIXTURE, add 50gr of water and incorporate well with the mixture left in the jar. Add 50 gr of whole-wheat flour and mix well. Cover with the cloth and use the rubber band to mark the mixture starting level and the feeding day and time. Over the 5 days, you might start to see a rise in the mixture level 8 to 12 hours after feeding. The mixture will rise and fall again between feedings.
Keep on with the same process mentioned above in the next few days. Your starter will be ready to use when it has doubled in volume within 6 hours after feeding.
Your sourdough starter is ready! What’s next?
Well, you can now start baking fabulous sourdough bread loaves and other great pastries!
As for the starter, our recommendation for maintaining it in a good shape is:
If you bake every day or every other day, you should leave your starter at room temperature. Make sure to feed it once a day.
If you bake less often, keep your sourdough starter jar in the fridge with the aluminum lid on (put it in the fridge about 2 hours after feeding). Feed it once every 3 to 5 days. Remember that feeding your starter regularly results in better loaves.
If you have any questions or want to consult with us about your baking routine, sourdough starters and our products, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We do our best to respond right away.