Hi Bold Bakers, one of my New Years resolutions for 2020 was to master the art of sourdough
making, but here’s the thing.
I’ve never actually made sourdough myself because I’ve never kept a starter alive
long enough.
We’re actually going to make a starter, me and you, and I’m gonna take you on this
journey and we’re gonna document it every step of the way.
On BiggerBolderBaking.com you can find the recipe however you’re going to want to stay
tuned to the videos because I’m gonna have loads of information in there.
Ok, let’s get started with our little starter.
So here I have some whole wheat flour and this is what we’re using to start our starter.
Later on we’re gonna be using a white flour.
Lots of people use different flours that’s totally up to them, this is what we’re gonna
use.
So I’m gonna put this in my nice clean jar, make sure your jar has a nice sealed lid.
Next we’re gonna add our water.
I’m using tapster and that’s totally fine, some people prefer to use bottled water and
I’m gonna leave that up to you.
Then just pour that on the flour, and with a fork I’m going to mix these together.
And what you’re going for is a paste, kind of a loose paste like oatmeal or porridge
or something like that.
If you find that yours is too thick, add a splash of water.
So this is it, this is the start of our bread journey together.
So fingers crossed everything works well.
Seal it up nice and tight.
Now you see a lot of people online naming their starters and if I do that, I’m probably
less likely to kill it and I’ll keep it alive longer.
So I’m calling mine Breaddie Vedder.
Because Kevin loves Pearl Jam.
So there you go, that’s it, our starter is done for the next 24 hours.
I’m just gonna let it sit here and do it’s thing and then we’re gonna come back and
check on him.
One of the pieces of advice I read online is don’t overcomplicate this.
You know it’s supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be a fun hobby to continue with,
and grow.
So don’t overthink it just go with the flow.
As for right now, we’re gonna come back in 24 hours and check to see how he’s doing.
So it’s day 2 and I’m happy to say that Breaddie Vedder is still with us!
As you can see there’s a little bit of liquid forming at the top there, some people say
pour that off but I’m gonna leave it be.
I’m seeing some bubbles on top and that’s what you’re supposed to see on Day 2.
So look for bubbles on your starter.
I will say if you don’t see them don’t freak out.
They might have already come and gone so maybe you just missed them.
But so far, day 2 is looking pretty good!
So it is day 3 and Breaddie Vedder is looking good.
He’e looking and smelling good.
Let’s open up the jar here.
You’re probably going to hear the gasses in there.
Do you see him?
Nice and bubbly.
It smells really boozy and that’s how it should smell right now.
So I’m just gonna give it a stir.
I Like the texture of it it’s kind of like a thin yogurt.
So here’s what we’re gonna do.
We’re gonna pour out half of it, you don’t have to be too too precise with it.
Just estimate what half would be, because on day 3 you have to feed it.
So you get rid of half, replace it with new flour and new water and you add it in on top,
and that’s how this whole process will go.
So into my starter I have what’s left of half of it.
So I’m gonna add in more flour.
And this recipe is on BiggerBolderBaking.com along with all of the instructions as well.
So in we go with our water.
And then just mix that all together.
So there you go, it’s a little bit thicker now since we added that in, but I think this
is looking good.
If you find that yours looks a little bit thick, add a little bit of water in, don’t
be afraid, look you’re kind of going for this consistency.
Like a thick kind of, like a medium strain yogurt.
So this looks good, pop back on Breaddie Vedder’s lid.
So it is day 5 and Breaddie Vedder is looking really good.
Let’s have a little peak.
I don’t know if you can hear the gas, but just have a look in there.
See how bubbly it is?
It has risen quite a lot.
It’s really bubbly, it smells sour, but not bad.
It shouldn’t smell rancid or anything like that, just kinda salty and sour.
This is lovely I love to see all those bubbles on top and over the days it has grown quite
a bit.
So we’re gonna feed it again, just like we did on day 3 and day 4, we’re feeding
it on day 5, we’re gonna do the same thing on day 6.
So pour away half, and you just discard off this.
Then we add in our little measure of flour.
Our equal amounts of flour, and then with a fork just mix it all together.
Feeding our starter every day like this just makes it stronger and develops more flavor.
Day 5 is down and we’re looking pretty good.
Gonna put back on its lid.
So we’re gonna do the same thing again in 24 hours.
So this is day 6 and we’re gonna do the same feeding we’ve been doing all the other
days.
Oh it smells really boozy, look at all those bubbles, big bubbles, small bubbles.
We’re gonna pour half of it away, and like I said you can do this by eyeballing it.
And then we’re gonna add in our flour and our water.
So now what we want to do is put the lid back on and come back in 24 hours.
This is the last feeding we’re gonna do because you can either use it now or put it
back in the fridge.
And we’re gonna come back and check on it in 24 hours.
So this is day 7, this is actually the first day you can use your sourdough starter, so
let me just show you what it looks like.
It has doubled in size, and you will see that your sourdough starter does this over the
days.
It ballooned right up.
If we take off the lid, again, it’s almost like a marshmallow.
Really bubbly, really delicious, it smells gorgeous.
It smells sour, it smells boozy, it doesn’t smell bad.
Get used to this smell because this is what sourdough smells like, it actually is really
good.
So, this is looking good.
Now, I said day 7, one way to check if your sourdough starter is good to use, just take
a little drop and add it to a little cold water.
And if it kind of floats the way that is, give it another little bit, that means it’s
actually ready to use so this is great.
So here’s what you want to do right now, you want to take out your starter and put
it in a nice clean jar.
So Breaddie Vedder is nice and clean in his new jar, so here’s what you can do.
You can put it in the fridge and feed it once a week and then you can make sourdough whenever
you want and I’ll put that information on my website.
Or you can stay tuned because I’m gonna show you how you can make your own homemade
sourdough loaf.