Sourdough starter
| Serves: | Makes 4 cups |
| Prep Time: | 5 days |
Ingredients
- 30 ml warm water
- 30 g Eureka Mills white bread flour
Woolworths is committed to sustainability via our good business journey. Seasonal (and other) products might not always be in stock.
Cooking Instructions
To make the initial starter, place the flour and water into a glass bowl and stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the bowl with clingwrap. Place in a warm area in the kitchen and allow to stand for 24 hours.
To feed the starter, mix 30g of the initial starter mixture with 30g flour and 30g water, at the same time of day, for the next 5 days. Be sure to mix until smooth. Cover and place in a warm area for 24 hours. Repeat this process for 5 days.
The starter should be bubbly, even frothy. It should also smell quite sour and pungent. It’s now ready to use.
Cook's tip: While bread flour and wholewheat flour makes delicious sourdough, you can also use cake flour for this, or rye flour. If you're using rye flour, use double the amount of water. Gluten-free flour will unfortunately not produce a classic sourdough loaf, though you may get an edible bread. If dark spots of mould form on top of your starter, discard it and start again.
Think making your own sourdough starter is too difficult? Think again. Okay, it takes a while, but the result is totally worth it. Plus, your friends will be seriously impressed.
Wild yeast is present in all flour; you simply have to “activate” it to make your own starter so that you don’t have to use commercially produced yeast when baking. All you need is flour and water. After a day or two, bubbles will start to form in the starter, indicating that the yeast is becoming active and multiplying. Feed it with more flour and water for about five days (depending on the conditions in your kitchen) until it becomes frothy and ready to use.