I've been baking with sourdough starter on and off for about 4 years. Lately, friends are wanting to try it, so as a way to simply give instructions to get them started, I've created this.
My current sourdough starter was gifted to me from a friend. I keep it alive in a pint jar. When I have plans to bake with it, it's on the counter being fed once a day. If I'm not baking right now, it lives in my fridge.
If you were given a starter, here's what to do:
Are you going to bake with it tomorrow or the next day? Great! Keep it on the counter with a lid on but not screwed on tight. (It needs some air.) Feed it once a day. (Some suggest twice a day.) Get out a scale and set it to weigh in grams. Scoop / pour out about half of your starter. This discard can be saved in the fridge for a future recipe, or diluted and put down the drain. Add the same weight of flour and lukewarm water to feed your sourdough yeast. I usually give mine 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. That's 100 grams I'm adding to a starter of about the same weight. Stir it all together with a fork or spatula. You can choose what flour you prefer. I use half whole wheat and half all-purpose. Some find rye flour makes the most active yeast. Some prefer all purpose flour. After feeding and stirring, I like to put a rubber band on the outside of the jar to show the level at that point so I can see it bubble and rise over the course of the day. Once it has doubled, it's considered "active and bubbly" and ready to bake with. The amount of time this takes is dependent on the temperature of your kitchen. Watch yours to learn its pattern.
If you're not going to bake with it for a few days, keep it in the refrigerator with the lid screwed on. I still like to discard and feed it once a week to keep it fresh if I'm not out of town.
Ready to bake? Great! Choose your recipe and make a plan. If you need more starter than what's in your jar, you can increase the amount of flour and water you add and use a quart jar or other larger container. After taking out what your recipe calls for, you'll want to have enough starter left behind to keep feeding and alive. As an example, you could put half your starter into a new container and feed that to increase it's volume - keep it on the counter; but what's left in your jar can be fed and then put into the fridge for next time.
Once a week or two, I transfer my starter to a clean jar so I can wash the one I’ve been working with.
You can do this! Just find a recipe you want to try, and go for it!
There are many variations of managing and baking with a sourdough starter, so there will be other ideas you can try, but this is what is working for me.
Great website resources:
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/guides/sourdough
Sourdough Geeks Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2841604162602509
Recipes I love:
Sourdough sandwich bread:https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/sourdough-sandwich-bread
English muffins: https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/how-to-make-sourdough-english-muffins
This can also be made as a loaf of English muffin bread instead of spending the time cooking English muffins at the
stovetop. I bake it at 375 for 35
minutes.
Sourdough Artisan Bread: https://anoregoncottage.com/easy-sourdough-artisan-bread/
Sourdough Pancakes or Waffles: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/classic-sourdough-waffles-or-pancakes-recipe
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