Homemade Sourdough Bread Recipe Starter

Think sourdough bread recipe starter for those of you who are looking to make a delicious homemade bread. Sourdough starter recipes feed on natural yeasts from the air, and then added to a sponge to make delicious sourdough bread, with a little initial effort you probably will never make bread the conventional way again. Sourdough starter recipes are basically the same.

The Sourdough Starter

In a large bowl, mix 100 g of strong bread flour for the sourdough starter – at least 50 % spelt flour or wholegrain flour works best, with enough warm water to make a batter that is a thick gloop. Beat it well to add air into it and then cover with cling wrap in a warm area. Next to a wood stove or in a warm kitchen is fine. When you see bubbles appearing on the top and has a fermenting smell you know that the process has begun. This can take a few hours to a few days. It smells funky – it is supposed to, so don’t panic!

At this stage your sourdough starter needs feeding, and you could end up adding as much as a kilo of flour before it is ready for the next stage. However, you don’t add it all at once. You start by adding 100g at a time into the starter mixture with enough water to retain the thick gloopy consistency. You can use water at room temperature but not cold water. 

                                                               sourdough bread recipe

Cover the sourdough back up and leave again for 24 hours. Now, scoop out half the starter and throw it away. Stir in another 100g flour and add more water.

Repeat this process of throwing away half the sourdough starter and adding the 100g flour every day making sure that you maintain the sloppy consistency and keeping your starter at room temperature.

After about a week to 10 days with this sourdough bread recipe you have a mixture that no longer smells funky, but actually quite pleasant, although you will certainly smell the yeast at this stage.

For those of you who are going to bake bread on a regular basis you can maintain your sourdough starter in the same way, keeping it at room temperature, taking some out to make your sponge and feeding it again with the 100g of flour. In this way you will always have a steady supply of starter and you will never have to buy packaged yeast again.

For those of you who are not going to make sourdough bread every other day or so, then you will need to make sure that you treat the sourdough starter properly so that it doesn’t spoil. You can do this by simply adding enough flour but no water so that it now becomes more of a stiff dough rather than a batter. You can leave it like this for about 4 days without feeding it. Or, you can stop the fermenting process by placing the batter in the fridge and this will keep for a week without needing to do anything to it. You can also freeze the starter and it will start fermenting upon thawing.

If you are going to refrigerate your starter you will need to bring the starter back to room temperature and give it another feeding to get it bubbling again before you start the sourdough bread recipe of your choice.

The Sourdough Bread Recipe Starter Sponge

To make the sponge you take 100ml of the starter and mix it with 250 g of flour and 275ml of warm water in a large bowl. Mix well with your hands and then cover the bowl with the cling wrap and leave overnight. The next morning your sponge will be thick and bubbly.

The Sourdough Bread Recipe

Now it is time to make your sourdough. You add 300g flour to the sponge, along with the oil and the salt. Mix with your hands. The dough will be sticky. If not, add a little more water. If it is too loose you need to add more flour. Being on the wet side is better.

Turn the sourdough out on to a lightly floured board and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth. Place in a large bowl and cover with cling wrap again. Leave it to rise all day or overnight as sourdough rises very slowly. It should have doubled in size before you use it.

Knock it down and now place in lightly greased bread tins. Once the bread has risen again, and it doesn’t spring back when you poke it, it is ready to be baked. Enjoy! Store in sealed container or jar for at least a month before using. This sourdough bread recipe can be given away to friends with the starter for homemade gifts.