How to Prepare Fresh Sourdough Starter For Baking - Cultures For Health (2024)

Once you have activated yourdehydrated sourdough starter culture, it’s time to bake your first loaf of delicious sourdough bread. But how do you go from rehydrated sourdough starter to sourdough starter that is ready for baking? What is meant by ‘Fresh Sourdough Starter?’

WHAT IS FRESH SOURDOUGH STARTER?

The term ‘fresh sourdough starter’ refers to sourdough starter withyeast and bacteria in an optimal state of activity, ready to use asleaveningin a recipe.

HOW TO MAKE FRESH SOURDOUGH STARTER

From Refrigerated Starter

If your starter has been stored in the refrigerator and fed once per week, it is in ahibernation state. To get it ready for baking, please refer to our tutorial onMaking Fresh Sourdough Starterfor instructions on"waking up"the refrigerated starter.

From Room Temperature Starter

If your starter has been maintained at room temperature, and you have been through the steps forActivating a Dehydrated Sourdough Starter, thenyou havefresh sourdough starter already!The next step is to determinehow much starter you will need for your recipeand thenbuild your starter to that amount.

1. DETERMINE HOW MUCH STARTER YOU NEED

Check your recipe for the required starter amount, or try our recipe forBasic Sourdough Bread. This recipe calls for 2 1/3 cups fresh starter. Your recipe may call for anywhere from2 to 4 cupsof fresh sourdough starter. The procedure for preparing fresh starter for baking will be the same, regardless of the amount required.

The instructions foractivating your sourdough starter and maintenance feedings, call for discarding all but ½ cup starter before each feeding. However,if you are preparing to bake with your starter, once it is active and bubbly for 3 consecutive feedings, youno longer need to discard any starter.

Feedinginstructions for building up starter are exactly the same as feeding the starter to activate it, except that no starter needs to be discarded.

2. BUILD UP ENOUGH SOURDOUGH STARTER FOR BAKING

1. Measure the amount of fresh starter you have in the container.
2. Feed starter with flour and water:If using a scale to measure ingredients, combine equal amounts by weight of starter, water, and flour. For instance, 50 grams starter, 50 grams water, 50 grams flour.If using measuring cups, combine 1 part starter, 1 part water, and a little less than 2 parts flour. For instance, ¼cup starter, ¼cup water, slightly less than ½cup flour.
3. Mix vigorously.
4. Cover the container and let starter sit for 8-12 hours.
5. When it is time to feed again, repeat steps 1-4 until you have enough starter for your recipeplussome extra starter to continue feeding for your next baking session.
6. Once you have enough starter for your recipe, always prepare your bread dough when the starter is at its peak of activity, about 4 hours after it has been fed.

3. RETAIN EXTRA STARTER

As you build up enough starter for your recipe, make sure you always retain a little extra, just ¼-½ cup is enough. What do you do with this extra starter?

1. If you bake infrequently, store the extra starter in the refrigerator and feed it once per week. Read our instructions onMaintenance Feeding for Sourdough Starter.
2. If you plan to bake again within a couple of days, follow the steps above once more to build up enough starter for baking.

The cycle continues indefinitely. As long as you continue feeding a portion of sourdough starter, you will always havesome to use for baking.

PLANNING FEEDINGS AND BAKING

If you are new to sourdough, you may have trouble at first with timing. Knowing just how long it will take to build up enough starter and then being ready to bake right away may not always work out.

The good news is that as long as you continue feeding the starter to keep it active, there is no hurry to bake. If you find that you’ve built up too much starter, discard some or use extra starter for other recipes that do not require so much planning, likepancakes,crackers, ormuffins.

Ready to Learn More?

• Sourdough Activation and Feeding FAQ
• How to Use Discarded Sourdough Starter