Breads (Sourdough) - Open Crumb
How To Make Sourdough Starter
December 31, 2021
| Recipe by Bake with Paws
In this recipe, I am sharing "How to Make Sourdough Starter from Fruit Yeast Water"
What is a sourdough starter? Sometimes it is simply called levain. It is a fermented dough from naturally occurring yeast bacteria known as lactobacilli. The sourdough starter or natural levain makes the bread dough rise.
Sourdough starters can be cultivated from scratch with only water and flour or fruit yeast water and flour. In this recipe, I cultivated my sourdough starter from grape yeast water.
For the past 2 years I used the sourdough starter that I cultivated from bread flour and water. But, I have been feeding with different bread flours over the past 2 years and its activeness deteriorated and was not as healthy as I would have liked it to be. So, I started again from scratch, cultivating a new starter with grape yeast water. This method is adapted from "Baking with Gina" where she used apple instead of grape.
There are so many recipes and methods for cultivating sourdough starter. I am just sharing the method I used for your reference.
So far, I am very happy with this starter. I have named it Romeo after my cat's name as it is still young and active.
If you have any questions regarding this recipe or any other post, please leave me a comment in the “LEAVE A COMMENT” link and I will reply you as soon as possible. Do tag me on Instagram @Bakewithpaws if you attempt on this recipe.
MAKING FRUIT YEAST WATER
INGREDIENTS:
100g grapes
500g filter water
80g organic/raw sugar
Utensil: A glass bottle/jar with lid (about 1 litter capacity)
METHOD:
- Day 1
- Sterilize the bottle/jar with hot water. Set aside to dry.
- Wash and drain the grapes. Cut into half.
- Add water and sugar into the jar. Stir until the sugar almost dissolves then add in the cut grapes. Stir well and cover with lid. Keep the jar in a cool place of the home (temperature @ 27C - 28C) for 24 hours.
- Day 2
- After about 24 hours, open the jar, stir and put back the lid. From here on try to stir it twice a day if possible. You may not see much bubbles or activity.
- Day 3 - Day 6
- You can see the grapes floating and the water with bubbles.
- Stir twice a day if possible. Repeat the procedure through out day 3 - 6.
- Day 7
- You can see a lot of bubbles and it should smell like beer. It is ready to harvest.
- Sieve out the yeast water into another bottle/jar.
- The yeast water can be use immediately to cultivate a sourdough starter. Otherwise, can be kept in the fridge and use within the week.
CULTIVATE SOURDOUGH STARTER
INGREDIENTS:
Bread flour (I used unbleached Japan High Protein Flour)
Grape yeast water
EQUIPMENT
2 bottles with lid, sterilize with hot water and let them dry
A kitchen scale
Mixing spoon/spatula
On average, I took about 7 days, but it can take longer depending on the flour, your grape yeast water and also the conditions in your kitchen. As long as you see signs of yeast activity and bubbles, continue feeding it. My aim is to get the starter to triple in size after feeding (1:1:1 ratio, one part starter : one part water : one part bread flour) within 3 - 4 hours times.
Let's start...
DAY 1
5.00 pm -
- Combine 20g grape yeast water + 20g bread flour in a clean bottle. Stir until there are no lumps. The dough will look sticky and thick. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C - 28C) for 24 hours or until double the size.
DAY 2
5.00 pm -
- 24 hours later, it has risen to almost double.
- Feed 20g of starter + 20g grape yeast water + 20g bread flour in a clean bottle.
- Discard the balance of the starter and keep in another container in the fridge.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C - 28C) until double.
DAY 3
10.00 am -
- About 17 hours later, it has risen slightly more than double.
- Feed 20g of starter + 20g grape yeast water + 20g bread flour in a clean bottle.
- Discard the balance of the starter and keep in the fridge.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C - 28C) until double or triple.
9.00 pm -
- About 11 hours later, it has risen about triple.
- Feed 20g of starter + 20g grape yeast water + 20g bread flour in a clean bottle.
- Discard the balance of starter and keep in the fridge.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C - 28C) until triple.
DAY 4 -
10 am -
- About 13 hours later, it has risen about 4 times and started to collapse. I should have fed when it was triple but I missed it.
- Feed 20g of starter + 20g grape yeast water + 20g bread flour in a clean bottle.
- Discard the balance of starter and keep in the fridge.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C - 28C) until triple.
4.00 pm -
- About 6 hours later, it ha triple and started to collapse. I should have fed when it triple and before collapsing but I missed it again.
- Feed 20g of starter + 20g grape yeast water + 20g bread flour in a clean bottle.
- Discard the balance of starter and keep in the fridge.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C - 28C) until triple
- I noticed the starter gets more active in shorter time. The starter need to feed in closer time interval.
10 pm -
- About 6 hours later, it has risen 4 times.
- The starter is strong and healthy and it is time to start feeding with filter water instead from now onwards.
- Feed 20g of starter + 20g filter water + 20g bread flour in a clean bottle.
- Discard the balance of starter and keep in the fridge.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C) until double.
DAY 5
10.00 am -
- About 12 hours later, it has risen double only. I noticed the starter become slightly weaker is because I changed to water.
- Feed 20g of starter + 20g filter water + 20g bread flour in a clean bottle.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C) until double or triple.
10.00 pm-
- About 12 hours later, it has risen double.
- Feed 20g of starter + 20g filter water + 20g bread flour in a clean bottle.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C) until double or triple.
DAY 6
10.00 am -
- About 12 hours later, it has risen almost triple.
- Feed 20g of starter + 20g filter water + 20g bread flour in a clean bottle.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C) until triple.
1.00 pm -
- About 3 hours later, it has triple. Yes, this is what I am aiming.
- I changed the feeding ratio to 1:3:3 (5g of starter + 15g filter water + 15g bread flour) in a clean bottle. So that I do not need to feed in shorter time span.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C) until triple.
8.00 pm -
- About 6 hours later, it has triple.
- I changed the feeding ratio to 1:7:7 (Feed 2g of starter + 14g filter water + 14g bread flour) in a clean bottle.
- I fed high ration because I left it overnight for longer hours.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C) until triple.
Note: You can use to build levain for baking on Day 6 when the starter triple in side when feeding 1:1:1 ratio. However, I fed few more times just to make sure the starter is healthy enough to make a nice bread.
DAY 7
10.00 am -
- About 14 hours later, it has risen 4 times in size. I should have fed when its tripled but I missed it.
- Feed 1:7:7 ratio (2g of starter + 14g filter water + 14g bread flour ) in a clean bottle.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 27C) until triple.
10.00 pm -
- About 12 hours later, it has triple.
- Feed 1:7:7 ratio (2g of starter + 14g filter water + 14g bread flour ) in a clean bottle.
- Keep it in a cool place of the house (temperature @ 26C - 27C) until triple.
DAY 8
10.00 am -
- About 12 hours later, it has triple and almost 4 times in size.
- I could see the starter is healthy and ready to use for baking.
- I fed 1:1:1 ratio accordingly to the quantity required by the recipe and used this to bake my first loaf of bread (Charcoal Sourdough Open Crumb Bread) The starter has risen triple in 3 - 4 hours.
SOURDOUGH STARTER MAINTENANCE
It is advisable to feed your starter regularly to keep it healthy if you want your bread to rise nicely and to use the starter (levain) at its peak. A starter that is fed regularly will be more active in general. If the mother starter is not healthy, the bread dough will not rise a lot even though the starter is used at its peak.
There are so many ways and methods of how to maintain the starter. Below is my method of starter maintenance. This is just for your reference. Please try and find a way or schedule that works best for you.
I bake almost everyday. So, my starter is left at room temperature and I feed it twice a day about every 12 hours at its peak when it is tripled. I used unbleached Japan High Gluten Flour or unbleached bread flour and filter water for feeding.
Example
10.00 am - at ratio 1:5:5 at room temperature around 28C - 29C
10.00 pm - at ratio 1:5:5 at room temperature around 27C
I feed a very small amount if I am not baking, so that I will not end up with too much discard:
2g starter + 10g water + 10g bread flour (1:5:5)
2g starter + 10g water + 10g bread flour (1:5:5)
I kept the discard in a container in the freezer. I used it to make crackers, pancakes and sometimes hybrid breads. You can find the sourdough dough discard recipe HERE.
When I am baking, I will feed the starter accordingly to make up the quantity required by the recipe to be baked. If I know that I won't be baking for a few days, I will then feed it only once a day at 1:1:1, transfer to the fridge when it is doubled, and feed again 24 hours later.
If you do not bake daily or if you bake perhaps once or twice a week, then you may place your starter in the fridge and feed once a week. But, you will need to refresh your starter few times before the baking day in order to get a better result. To refresh your sourdough starter, I fed ratio of 1:1:1 for few times until the starter tripled in within 3 - 4.5 hours. Then continue feed as usual according to your schedule or baking.
I fed when at its peak when it is tripled. The above just an a guideline and please adjust accordingly to the health of your stater and your schedule.
I am just sharing what I did. This method may work for me but not you.
There is no way around this, sourdough baking takes planning!
How I judge my starter is healthy? My starter usually tripled in size (or at least double) in within 3 - 4.5 hours at room temperature (27C - 29C) for feeding ratio of (1:1:1 = starter:water:flour)
When is a starter at its peak? My sourdough starter is usually at its peak when it is tripled in the jar. The surface of my starter looks bubbling and uneven. The starter will not collapse when you tap the jar. If the starter falls it means it has already past its peak. It usually stays at its peak within 30 - 60 minutes before it starts to reduce/fall.
Why use starter at its peak? This is when the starter is most active and it will result in a better rise for your bread in general. By the way, you can use when it is doubled/before its peak too. But, not it starts to fall.
Very cute how you have named your starter after your cat 😄
ReplyDeleteVery cute how you have named your starter after your cat 😄
ReplyDeleteHi, Thanks for reading this post. LOL.. I find this name very suit my starter..lol
DeleteHello.
ReplyDeleteFirst word, I would like to thank you very much for your recipes. I am so grateful and lucky since knowing you because I have been stuck in cultivating the starter for last 6 months. And when I followed your recipe, I don’t know whether the weather of Vietnam is too hot because after one day, my grape water yeast had tiny bubbles and I sticked the flow as your recipe within 7 days. Yesterday I started cultivating the starter and my “Star” had risen triple after 12 hours, I fed this morning and Star had risen more than triple after 12 hours. Now it’s almost 3 hours and the Star is rising more than double in size. Could you please show me how to do next? I am happy if my Star is strong yet I don’t know about cultivating sourdough starter well. I am still learning day after day.
Thank you so much for spending your time on this comment.
I hope to see your response.
Give you a flower as a token of my appreciation for your help 🌹.
Hi, thanks for trying. Wow! your fruit yeast water is very strong. By the way, the above recipe is just an guidance. Our grape, water, sugar and ambient are different so the natural yeast cultivated will be different too. It is an natural living thing so you do not need to follow exactly.
DeleteSince your starter is so strong, you can feed with filter water now. Feed ratio 1:1:1 (20g starter + 20g water + 20g water). If your stater triple in 3-4 hours then you can feed at higher ratio 1:3:3, wait until triple then feed again. Otherwise feed 1:1:1 until you get it triple in 3-4 hours.
Next, just feed for another 1 or 2 days then you can use for baking.
Cheers:)
Good evening Bakewithpaws ^-^
DeleteI am happy as the time I see your response. Thank you so much 🙏.
I have used filter water to cultivate starter for 4 days and I realize that my Star has become weaker much more than using grape water :,(. but I keep trying with him. And now, with your recommendation, I partly understand why the Star is weaker day by day. I thought my Star needed to be feed since Star risen triple after 3 hours, therefore I fed with the ratio 1:2:2 and then 1:3:3, Star still risen fast then I fed with the ratio 1:5:5 (because I go to work). After that I thought him is strong so that I changed the water and since then Star was like just double, him can’t rise triple...
Fortunately, it takes more 10 days for starter to get strong enough (I referenced from general information) so I still have time to get back to the right way. I won’t give up 😁
Thank you again for your help❤️. Give you a flower 🌹.
Jesus loves you.
Hi, my pleasure to response. The starter will get weaker when you feed with filter water. But, eventually it will get strong at some point. Just keep on feeding. Just experiment and try to suit the method that work best for you and your schedule.
DeleteHappy baking and god bless you,
Cheers :)
Thank you so much ❤️.
DeleteCheers 🤗
Most welcome :)
DeleteHi, I tried doing a new starter with your tips but my starter never got to rise up to 4x. At the very max only up to 3x. I just feed at peak everytime. Or how can I get it to be stronger?
ReplyDeleteHi, Thanks for trying.. Sometimes is very hard to say. Could be the flour, water you used and environment of your area. Some people added 10% of rye flour. However, I didn't find it works very well for me. You can try. For my new starter I never added any rye flour.
DeleteTry to fix with one type of bread flour if possible. Changing of flour will weaken the starter based on my experience.
If I were you, I will keep on feeding.
Cheers :)
Hi, came across your article. Wanted to find out how to maintain & keep my starter strong. The starter was given by my friend to me that it will usually raise 3x within 5hrs at her place. I fed at 9am, only up to max 2x by 2pm. I fed again at peak, it still only 2x within next 5hrs. What should I do so that it will raise to 3x?
ReplyDeleteAwaiting for your advice. Thanks
Hi, thanks for visiting my blog. It could be change of flour if you used different flour than the flour she used to use to feed. It may take a while for the starter to get back to healthy stage. Just keep on feeding until you get tripled in within 5 hours. Leave it on the counter for time being. Don't store in the fridge except the discard.
DeleteIf the same flour used, then maybe is the water or also the ambience.
You can try to feed slightly more flour too, means less hydration. Once the starter get healthy, feed back to 100% hyration.
Cheers :)
Hi, how much base starter do you keep?? Everytime you feed you will discard right? If let’s say you need 60g starter for your baking, do you feed your base starter 30g water and 30g flour to get the 60g? Thank you in advance!
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for dropping by and your questions. Please refer to the "MAINTENANCE" in the above post. I always have 2 bottles. One bottle is for the discard that always keep in the fridge and I transfer if I don't use for discard recipe. Another bottle is where I maintain my sourdough starter daily.
DeleteFor baking, If your starter is very healthy or been feeding daily then you just feed 1:1:1 (20g starter + 20g water +20g flour) to get 60g sourdough starter.
If your starter has not been fed for a week or several days, it is better to refresh your starter first then feed according to the recipe required.
Please read "Maintenance" and other notes shared above the post.
Cheers :)
Thank you for your reply. I gather you also keep a bottle of starter you feed daily. Then if you need 60g for baking, you will scoop out 20g of the daily fed starter, add 20g water and 20g flour and use it when peak? Is that correct? If so, howmych of the daily fed starter do you keep?
DeleteHi, thanks for asking again. Yes, you are right I just scoop 20g of the starter and feed 1 portion of flour and 1 portion of water. I normally fed more than 20g example, 23 - 25g starter + 1 portion flour + 1 portion water. I will end up more than 60g and I use 60g only and keep the balance.
DeleteCheers :)
Thank you for your reply. Can I know the extra left over will be the base starter you feed everyday again?
DeleteHi, if you read my note of maintenance, I fed very small amount. Usually 2 - 3g of base starter. The rest I will put into the discard bottle that I kept in the fridge. So, you do not have to follow strictly me like what I do. It works for me and it may not work for you.
DeleteCheers :)
Thank you :)
DeleteMost welcome :)
DeleteMay I know why you keep discard jar in freezer and not in fridge .
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for your question.
DeleteIf the discard is place in the freezer, it will stop the natural yeast fermenting process stop. The discard will not turn bad and last longer in the freezer.
Refrigerator is not cold enough. The natural yeast will still fermenting in low pace. The discard will become weak or turn runny and become hooch after weeks or months.
Cheers :)
Hi BWP, i still do not understand how to activate my matured starter. I kept it in fridge. Example if i have 90g matured starter in sleeping mode, how do i activate it if i need to use 60g for baking? Do i still need to discard starter?
ReplyDeleteHi, thank you for stopping by.
DeleteYou need to discard your matured starter.
I usually use very small amount example 10g to start and discard the rest. Feed 1:1:1: ratio (10g starter : 10g flour : 10g water) for few rounds until your starter tripled in size in within 3 - 4.5 hours at room temperature (27C - 29C). Then feed the amount you need for the your baking. If you need 60g active starter for baking then feed 25g + 25g + 25g. I always feed more than requested as some will stick on the glass.
Cheers :)
Hi BWP, may i ask how to activate my starter from fridge? I hv 60g starter in fridge sleeping mode and i need to use 60g for baking. How to I activate my starter? Do i have to disccard starter again?
ReplyDeleteHi, I am so sorry I just read your message. Just feed ratio 1:1:1 until your starter tripled in size (or at least double) in within 3 - 4.5 hours at room temperature (27C - 29C). You may need several feeds.
DeleteCheers :)
Hi, can I just use water to make the starter instead of using grape yeast water?
ReplyDeleteHi, yes you can. Just start from "How to cultivate sourdough starter" method. Feed with water instead of grape yeast water. You may need more days to feed.
DeleteCheers :)
thank you for your reply. i tried starting the yeast water using apples. may i ask after the yeast water is ready, I should put in fridge and use it to start my starter everytime I feed it?
DeleteHi, once the yeast water is ready you can put in the fridge and use within a week or use it immediately to cultivate the sourdough starter. As you can see the above, I fed the fruit yeast water until when the starter get very healthy (means your starter trippled in 3 - 4 hours time). Mine was Day 4 and changed to filtered water. I did not monitor and until risen 4 times only I fed. You can feed when it rises 3 times.
DeleteThe above steps are just for reference only. The flour and yeast water are different from mine so the result will be slightly differently. You may take shorter or longer time.
Cheers :)
Thank you for your reply :)
DeleteSo if I take some to cultivate my starter, the rest I have to put in fridge and take out to feed the starter for the first fewsays right? So the yeast water will be cold when I use it to feed the starter?
DeleteYes, you are right. Keep the yeast water in the fridge and it will be cold when you use it.
DeleteCheers :)
Thank you!
Delete
DeleteMost welcome :)
Hi sister, just need to check with you.
ReplyDeleteWhat do we do with the discard?
Every time we need to scope out to put aside and to cultivate the starter till it’s natured to use for bakings?
I see that it needs to be cultivated for at least a week before we can use it.
So tge discard to throw it away?
By putting in the fridge will not be used at all?
I am always struck at this matter. Thank you
Hi there, Thank you for visiting my blog.
DeleteI kept the discard in a container in the freezer. I used it to make crackers, pancakes and sometimes hybrid breads. You can find the sourdough dough discard recipe HERE.
If you read carefully this post it is shared under SOURDOUGH STARTER MAINTENANCE.
Cheers and happy baking :)