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Sourdough Starter Cheat Sheet by

A cheat sheet for creating and caring for a sourdough starter.

Yum.

Day 1

Starter
0g
Flour
60g whole wheat
Water
100ml filtered room temper­ature
Mix well, leave for 24 hours.

Days 2, 3, and 4

Starter
60g (from previous day)
Flour
50g whole wheat, 50g all purpose
Water
100ml filtered room temper­ature
Mix well, leave for 24 hours.

Days 5 and 6

Starter
60g (from previous day)
Flour
30g whole wheat, 30g all purpose
Water
60ml filtered room temper­ature
Mix well, leave for 24 hours.

Day 7

Starter
60g (from previous day)
Flour
60g all purpose
Water
60ml filtered room temper­ature
Mix well, transfer to new clean jar.
 

How Often To Feed After Day 7

How often you need to feed your starter depends upon how often you're using it.
If you are baking daily, keep your starter in a cool dry place and feed it every day.
If you are baking weekly, keep your starter in the fridge, and feed it daily for the two days before you plan to use it.

Day 8 Onwards

Starter
60g (from previous day)
Flour
60g all purpose
Water
60ml filtered room temper­ature

Starter Tips

If you see dark liquid on top of your starter, this is called hooch. It means your starter is hungry. Discard the liquid and any discol­oured starter, then feed as normal.
The amounts in this cheat sheet are a guide. Flour and yeasts are not all the same. You can always add more or less water if needed - your starter should be the consis­tency of thick pancake batter.
Try to feed your starter at roughly the same time every day. Starters love consis­tency.
Name your starter. It's a living thing, it's going to be feeding you, so it deserves a name!
Put a rubber band around your jar when you feed it, so you can see how much it's grown.
If you want to test if your starter is ready to use, place a small dollop in some water. If it floats, it's ready to use.
Starters rise and fall. The best time to use them is at their peak, which is usually roughly when they've doubled in size after feeding.
Every time you feed you end up with some discard, but that's useful too! Search for "­sou­rdough discard recipe­s" for ideas. Discard can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Float Test

If you aren't sure if your starter is ready, you can do the "­float test".
Drop 1 tsp of starter into water. If it floats, your starter is ready. If not, feed your starter again.

Baking Schedule

Friday a.m.
Feed starter and leave overnight. (If you keep it in the fridge, feed friday morning and evening.)
Saturday a.m.
Check starter (float test).
Saturday
When starter is ready, make dough. Leave to rise overnight.
Sunday a.m.
Shape and bake.

Recipe

Ingred­ients
 
150g starter
 
250g warm water
 
25g olive oil
 
500g bread flour
 
10g fine sea salt
Method
 
Add starter, water, and oil to large bowl. Mix, then add flour and salt.
 
Mix until dough is stiff, then knead to rough dough.
 
Cover with damp towel, leave to autolyse for 30-60 mins.
 
Work dough into rough ball.
 
Cover and let rise until doubled in size. May take 2-12 hours depending on temper­ature.
 
Preheat oven to 230C (450F).
 
Shape dough (fold and turn). Place in lined pot (or coat with cornmeal) for second rise (1 hour).
 
Just before cooking, score top. Add lid.
 
Place in oven. Turn down to 200C (400F). Bake for 20 minutes then remove lid then 40 mins.
 
Leave to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.
               
 

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