Sourdough Starter-All you need to know
Hello Foodies, Many of you have been asking me about sourdough starter. Since this pandemic started, it seems like everybody been baking and baking breads.  So after many days and nights of research and adding my background knowledge as well as a bit of flair, here is my guide to my sourdough starter. Welcome to the bread making Journey. It is so much fun and very easy to do. You are going to create your own sourdough bread in no times. As chef we like to give a name to our sourdough starter (your new baby). This guide will show you how to feed it too.
Servings: 1 yield(s)
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 00 mins
Total Time: 20 mins
Ingredients
    Started liquid
  • 300 g Boiled water (Cool it down to room temperature)
  • 100 g Raisins (dry)
  • 50 g Dates (dry)
  • 25 g Honey
    • The flours
  • 75 g Rye Flour
  • 25 g Baker's Flour
    • Feeding the Starter
  • 100 g Rye Flour
  • 100 g Baker's Flour
  • 160 g Water (Room temperature)
Instructions
    Your sourdough starter ingredients
  1. Get ready. weight all your ingredients and chopped the dry dates.
    2. Preparing your first flavoured water. You can avoid this and just use boiled water
  2. Pour your boiled water in a clean glass jar.
  3. Add the honey
  4. Add the raisins and dates.
  5. Give it a good stir.
  6. let it seat for a minute.
  7. and close the jar. Let your fruit infuse for 4 days at room temperature (20-24 C). That will give a wonderful flavour to your sourdough starter as well as a great colour. More so the sugar will help feeding the natural yeast contained in the flour and therefore mature (develop) your starter.
    8. Making your Sourdough Starter
  8. If you do not use flavoured water, you can use a jar of water you have previously boiled or water that has been sitting at room temperature for 2 hours. This will allow chemicals in the water to disappear.
  9. After for days my raisins are plump. Open the jar and it smells sweet.
  10. Strain the raisins and dates in a bowl. Discard the fruits but keep the flavoured water.
  11. Look at that colour. I will not use it all, just 150 g of liquid . I will freeze the left over just in case.
  12. In a clean jar, add your Rye flour.
  13. Then add your baker's flour
  14. close the jar and give it a good shake for few seconds.
  15. This is just to mix it nicely
  16. Add your 150 g of flavoured water.
  17. Mix it well with a spatula or even a fork.
  18. It will look pasty.
  19. Let it rest for few minutes.
  20. Mark the side of the jar . This will show you how fast or slow your starter is growing. That is where the science and your environment is amazing. If it is a very warm day your starter will rise fast if it is cold it will take time.
  21. Cover it with a cloth.
  22. Place it away from sunlight and at room temperature. Because my water has sugar, 4 hours later my starter was already growing. this is a good sign.
  23. This was 24 hours later. it had double in size.
    24. Feeding your sourdough starter on the second day
  24. Starter keeps rising it means it still feeding itself. Positive signs and time to feed it.
  25. Add 25 g of Rye flour to your starter.
  26. Add 25 g of Baker's flour to your starter
  27. Add water (room temperature) 80 g
  28. Give it a good mix
  29. Cover again and let it rest for 24 hours at room temperature
    30. Feeding on the 3rd and fourth day.
  30. After 2 days of feeding and looking after your starter you should have about 380 grams of starter. Now you have 2 options. give half to a friend or throw half in the bin. Yes discard it one way or another or you will end up with too much starter to deal with.
  31. In a clean jar place 190 g of starter and add 50 g of flour and 50 g of water. Mix it well and cover. Leave it at room temperature.
  32. You will start to see some nice bubbling action after 24 hours.
  33. The volume of your starter should double in size. Repeat the same on day 4 than day 3.
  34. You can start to use your sourdough starter on day 5 to make bread. The rule is if you bake everyday you should feed it everyday the same amount of starter you use, should be replace with 1/2 flour and 1/2 water. So,if you use 160 g of sourdough starter every day, you must feed it with 80 g flour and 80 g water. Keep your starter at room temperature.
  35. I Bake once a week and i keep my starter in the fridge and only feed once a week. It really work well. the flavours are developing already. this was my third week of baking. i use 100 g of sourdough starter every week. once i am done i feed my starter with 50 g of flour and 50 g of water place it in a clean jar then in the fridge until the following week
Recipe Notes

If you can not find Rye flour or wholemeal or baker's flour you can do your starter with plain flour it still works. Your starter will be ready to use after 4 days. it will improve over time i can feel the difference after 3 weeks already. Imagine after 2 to 3 months. Feed it once a week if you keep it in the fridge.  leave it for an hour on the bench and back in the fridge. Name your Sourdough starter all chef do :) Mine is RBF because she is Sour ahahaha My bread recipe does not involve any yeast just the sourdough and that will be FRiday next video