How to Make a SOURDOUGH Starter | Detailed Instructions for Guaranteed Success

Making your sourdough starter is the first step into the great world of naturally leavened bread. It is way simpler than you might think. Forget all the nonsense that some people say about adding fruit or honey or using some mythical Egyptian starter form 3500 yeas ago. None of that is necessary. I will show you how to make a starter with two ingredients and no fuss. Check out the Sourdough section in the top menu to learn more about storing and using your starter and what you could do with the leftovers. I have many informative videos on this.
📖 Get the recipe ➡️ www.chainbaker.com/make-a-sou...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🥨 To learn more about bread making click here ⤵️
Principles of Baking bit.ly/principles-of-baking
The Steps of Baking bit.ly/steps-of-baking
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🔪 Find all the things I use here ⤵️
🇺🇸 www.amazon.com/shop/ChainBaker
🇬🇧 www.amazon.co.uk/shop/ChainBaker
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🌾 If you would like to support my work click here ⤵️
www.ko-fi.com/chainbaker
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclosure
I participate in the Amazon Influencer Program which will earn commissions from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#Bread #Baking #ChainBaker

[@ChainBaker]

📖 Find the written recipe in the link below the video ⤴️ 🌾 If you would like to support my work click here ⤵️ www.ko-fi.com/chainbaker 🔪 Find all the things I use here ⤵️ 🇺🇸 www.amazon.com/shop/ChainBaker 🇬🇧 www.amazon.co.uk/shop/ChainBaker 🥨 To learn more about bread making click here ⤵️ Principles of Baking bit.ly/principles-of-baking The Steps of Baking bit.ly/steps-of-baking

[@yothinari7356]

10:41 10:41 10:41 10:41

[@user-oq4np7vx9n]

The thing I didn't understand about sourdough starter is when we feed again and again but need to take out some amount of starter from the last day made so the amount taken out is waste ? Or what and can we use starter everyday ? Or have to make all 2week to use?

[@areillea5883]

It's so funny to me that you named your starter "Flint". I named mine "Clint", like "Clint Yeastwood". Haha! 😂 I know, it's a terrible pun.

[@ChainBaker]

Clint & Flint. The two fermented mates 😄

[@crazyleaf257]

🤣🤣🤣 brilliant. OMG Gran Torino scarred me for life

[@SeriesOfYouTubes]

@@crazyleaf257yes… Grain Torino…

[@chrisblanc663]

Don’t mind if I borrow the pun for my starter.

[@bad_egg000]

😂😂😂

[@kevinu.k.7042]

I so totally agree with you. Never use sultanas, apples or any other naturally yeast covered fruit for your starter. The yeasts on these are of completely different kind from bread yeasts and we really need to keep them out. Wheat, Rye and Barley too are covered with yeasts in the field. They are the correct types for those grains. They are as if lingering there on the grain perhaps in the hope that conditions will become such that they can pounce on it for a good chomp. For this reason I always start my starter off with water or windmill ground wholemeal flour. Why water and wind mill? A lot of 'stoneground flour' on the supermarket has been put through high speed horizontal stone mills. (Made from carborundum and epoxy resin). They do more damage to the starch packets and the temperatures are higher doing a little more harm to the yeast and germ than the old slow stones of water and windmills. But, its of no huge matter. The thing is you can always switch the starter across to a white flour starter later. How effective is this? Well, last night at about 1800h I decided my starter needed a reset. So I took some freshly milled local wheat and made a 100% hydration slurry and popped in a warm place. It's now twelve hours later and it's already on the go. In another 48 hours at the most it will be up to full steam. It's fast because I use freshly milled flour. The nutrients in wheat germ deteriorate markedly after about 48 hours after milling. The problem is not getting it started or trying to keep it alive. If anything yeast is like the living dead, damned hard to kill. I don't bother with all of the careful feed ratios. I've never needed to use them, though they might give a faster start. I don't know. So why did I decide to reset my starter? The yeasts in starter are being continuously inoculated by yeasts from the air in your kitchen. They will change over time and season. But, they can also get contaminated with commodity yeasts such as those from Fresh and Fast Action yeasts which I also use. These commercial yeasts are bred to be super active and they are quite simply, aggressive. They ferment dough faster than wild yeasts, but they don't give the depth of flavours that the broader spectrum of wild yeasts will give. Bread fermentation is brewing. Beers get their characteristic flavours fermented into them by carefully chosen beer yeasts (which happen to be very close relatives to bread yeasts unlike those of wine). So too, we brew the flavour into our dough. For this reason I would be very wary of cheating with your starter and inoculating it with a little commercial yeast. It works against what we are aiming for regarding long slow dough fermentation with broad spectrum grain yeasts and the depth of flavours they bring. Good stuff to know: 20 C - 27 C Most Favourable Range For Yeast to Multiply 26 C Optimum multiplication of Yeast 27 C - 30 C Optimum Fermentation Range I am told that many French Artisan Bakers aim to bulk ferment at 24 deg C This allows for a long slow fermentation for flavour. So I feed and revive my starter at 26 - 28 deg C and ferment my dough at 24 deg C. Unless I'm in a hurry and then I might push the bulk ferment up to 30 deg C. A cheap proofer is a handy, but space consuming thing. Once tried... You know the rest. Having said that I am not beyond putting a small inoculation of Fast Acting yeast into my dough along with the starter if the starter is too sleepy to do the job and the bread needs to get done. A quarter of the usual amount usually does the job. But, never do I add that yeast to the mother sourdough starter. This is the big difference between a instant yeast inoculated poolish , bigga, sponge or whatever and a sourdough starter. The other big difference is that a sourdough starter has Lacto Bacilli in it naturally. And, L. Bacilli works symbiotically with the yeast. Together they produce a fuller flavour. So when using Instant Yeast I put a dessert spoon of live yoghurt into the dough per 500g of flour. (If I have some handy). At the sweet spot of 24 - 26 deg C both are equally active. I hope this is of some help to someone.

[@ChainBaker]

A super useful information packed comment as ever. Thank you Kevin. I keep learning little details from you every time. And so will anyone who comes across your absolute knowledge bombs! Cheers :)

[@dimitrigenard8321]

Not trying to be a smart ass but its just Lactobacilli not Lacto Bacilli or L. Bacilli. Sourdough starter contains a ratio of 1:100 wild yeast and Lactobacilli. There are many types of lactobacilli in sourdough but the most common, and one that arguable contributes the most to the tangy, acidic flavor, is L. acidophilus (Lactobacillus acidophilus ), which is also commonly found in many yogurt products.

[@kevinu.k.7042]

@@dimitrigenard8321 Hi Dimitri Your right. Thank you for the correction. I should have looked up the correct way of writing that. I have mild dyslexia. Apologies for my laziness. Usually I stick to the term LAB which is the common biochemists abbreviation for sourdough Lactobacilli. Just as you say, there are so many different strains at play. "Heterofermentative lactobacilli, such as Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus paralimentarius, Lactobacillus rossiae, and especially Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis, usually dominate the bacterial community of sourdough" (Gobbetti et al., 2016). See: "Lactic Acid Bacterium Population Dynamics in Artisan Sourdoughs Over One Year of Daily Propagations Is Mainly Driven by Flour Microbiota and Nutrients" This article is available on the Web. What I think I have found is that the strains of LAB which predominate in a starter are different depending on the temperatures at which it is stored. Debra Wink's thread on the Fresh Loaf website is a very good discussion of some of the biochemistry at play, if you are interested. To find it, it is is best to search for 'Debra Wink' in the search engine home page. However for every scientific research article I have read saying one thing about microorganisms and sourdough I have another saying something different. At the moment I am reading up of yeasts in sourdough starters. Some are adamant that Candida milleri is the dominant species others say it is Saccharomyces cerevisiae. For me on a typical day, a starter is like getting drunk football supporters onto a bus. If they get on the bus that's good enough. They can sort themselves out. I'll just drive. FWIW at the moment I am trying to get a better understanding of temperature and feeding regimes and the impact that has on sourdough culture and then to reduce that info. down to a home bakers guide. Be well :)

[@bonnie_gail]

fantastic share, you are awesome !!

[@TheChefLady4JC]

@@kevinu.k.7042 you just totally made my food science geek self uber overjoyed!! LOL 🤪🥰

[@kevinu.k.7042]

Yes, what you say works. I would add most of the yeast that kicks the starter off comes from the wheat itself and there is more yeast on a wholemeal flour. Whole meal flour also has more nutrients for the yeast and the dough will start up quicker. Rye flour has even more readily available nutrients and it is a veritable rocket fuel in getting the started going. Finally, I have seen a number of research papers showing that a little broad bean flour in the mix really kicks the starter off to a fast start too. It 's easy to feed across to white flour later when its established. However, because of a lack of nutrients in white flour white flour starters are not as robust and healthy as ones with a little wholemeal flour in them. That's a really important point you made, Never use honey, grapes, apples and what nots. The yeast on them is not the same as the yeast on grain which is the perfect group of yeasts for metabolising it. That is why it hangs out there. Using these methods I have a lively starter up and ready to use in 48 hours. I would add that starters do not need daily feeding if kept in the fridge. Neither are there discards. They will sit in the fridge without feeding for a week. I do what many do with this method. I get it out the night before, feed it and then leave it on the worktop to revive. In 12-16 hours it is frothing away and ready to go. This method is totally no fuss and contrary to many pernickety articles online... It is impossible to kill a starter. The yeast just goes into hibernation, unless you bring it to the boil or something. Freezing will not harm it. So I freeze some in case my house is robbed and they make off with it. If I may Charlie, if it is over fermented flat and runny, just take 50 grams of it and feed with 50g flour and 50g water and take it from there. It will kick start very quickly. Yeast is indestructible and the increased acid is quickly lost by only using 50g. Please forgive this comment, I've used starters of many kinds for some thirty years (I'm lying, it's longer) and I've perpetrated every kind of abuse on them possible. I hope this is helpful to someone. This is the accepted modern approach, not my own. Cheers and thanks.

[@ChainBaker]

Thank you, Kevin! 😁 I've just pulled my starter from the fridge after a few months in there. And I am shooting a video about how indestructible it is. It's been fed once after the long hibernation and I've left it on the kitchen counter for almost a month while I'm on vacation. Curious to see what it will look like when I get back 😄

[@kevinu.k.7042]

@@ChainBaker Oh, this video is 2 year old! I was a bit confused because I am aware you have changed some of your practices, as we all do. Leaving a starter on the kitchen top unfed for a month? I look forward to the results. Of course the yeast will merely go dormant... It's what else might happen. Brave man... Hope your having a great holiday and will come back refreshed ;) 🙂 Cheers

[@RGSpray1954]

Thank you very much for this information. I am a complete novice- novice. I started my Sourdough Starter on Saturday morning with 50gr water and 50gr white bread flour. Fed it 24 hours later. It rose to triple it's size with lots of foamy bubbles. When I fed it on Monday, it was runny and flat. Monday it was sleepy. I fed it 12 hours later on Monday evening. I saw no growth. I fed it 12 hours later, today, (Tuesday) Now that I have read your answer in this article, it has given me hope. I am in such a "hurry" and the thought of waiting 7 to 14 days is killing me. Today is only day 4. 😳😳😳😲🙈 What should I do? I will discard with tonight's feed. If it is not mature yet does it mean thst I can't use the discard to bake dinner rolls

[@kevinu.k.7042]

@@RGSpray1954 Hi RG Thank you. I'm glad that was helpful. If you go to Charlie's Playlists under 'Principles of Baking' you will find a video "How To Keep Your Sourdough Starter Nice and Active & How to Build a Leaven" It's a much older vlog and Charlie has moved on a long way from there since. My post should be at the top. I've gone into some detail about a much more effective and modern approach to building and keeping a starter. The old 'kitchen worktop' with discards works well enough, but the fridge method is a lot less work and the acidity does not build up as much. We do discards to keep the acidity down. So if your starter ever smells or tastes very acidic... Do a discard. I rarely need to do a discard with the fridge method. I would add that at first sourdough starters seem quite mind bending and fragile. After a bit of practice you will find them so easy to manage. And, as Charlie said in one of his videos...'They are impossible to kill.' Bread made with a sourdough starter tastes so much better than one made with yeast. Good baking to you! I hope this helps a little.

[@The_Letter_J6]

I used my starter to make sourdough chocolate chip cookies. To adjust the recipe for the hydration of the starter I browned the butter to evaporate the water, and I only used egg yolks to eliminate the water in the whites. I let the dough ferment 24 hours in the fridge. Best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had!

[@jonnsmusich]

Seems rye has more yeast in it. I start mine with rye and once it starts I add regular white flour and water. Then, I make the bread and just leave the mostly emptied jar, with a spoon of flour and water mixed in, in the fridge . Then, a couple days before I need it again, out it comes into a warm kitchen and then start feeding it with flour and water. No waste. The yeast goes to sleep in the fridge and wakes up once it gets a feed and back in a warm room again.

[@kevinu.k.7042]

I totally agree with you. I think that rye flour also has a greater spectrum of readily available nutrients. I mostly feed my starter on wholemeal flour and rye flour, half and half for this reason. If I'm doing a white dough I just do my final feed with white flour. I find a starter solely fed on white flour is weaker and slower. And, yes, the fridge is the way to go IMO. :)

[@wolfgangreichl3361]

A rye starter definitely looks better and gives you as the maintainer a nice warm feeling.

[@terbhang]

Thanks Charlie, and @Kevin U.K. for excellent advice. I went to my local bread mill and got some hard red wheat to try my first starter. And on Day Two: behold, bubbles! I'll be coaxing it along per your instructions at 1/10/10 ration starting tomorrow, and baking maybe within five days or so.

[@jn7812]

It works!!. Followed to the letter and delighted. Thanks so much!

[@ChainBaker]

Awesome! I'm glad it worked out :)

[@AnthonyLeighDunstan]

Your naming of your starters (living things) gave me a great idea. Thanks!

[@alucardonus]

Great video. I will write you down 2 recepies for our Czech breads. Šumava (every tourist says it is one of the best breads they ever tasted) and Buttermilk bread. Šumava bread: 150 g of rye flour, 150 g of water, 20 g of rye starter. Let it sit. Next add 300 g of wheat flour, 170 g of water, crushed caraway (4 g), salt (12 g). Dough should be rising in floured wooden basket from which it falls out. Just cover the top with whole caraway and a little btt of wheat flour and bake until brown. Crust has to be thick and crunchy, covered with roasted flour. No cracks, bubbles about 1mm max. This bread, if wrapped in cloth is fresh for a week (that will NEVER happen as you will eat it whole). Perfect bread to meaty and greasy meals. Can be deepfried and spreaded with garlic -> Topinka, mostly used as pairing with steak tartar. Buttermilk bread: Here you feed 80 g of rye started with 300 g of rye flour, add 330 ml water and let it sit 12 hours. Next add 200 g of buttermilk, 3 tea spoons of salt, crushed caraway, 1 tea spoon of sugar/honey and 500-550 g of wheat flour. Rise and bake the same way as that 1st one, but this time no caraway and flour on top and just untill golden. This bread is very soft, wet and perfect for any kinds of spreads, spring veggies with butter or just any cheese. Crust is light and soft with no cracks, bubbles again about 1 mm big.

[@kevinu.k.7042]

Thank you :)

[@ChainBaker]

Awesome! Thank you for the recipe ideas :)

[@alucardonus]

@@ChainBaker For nothing, i really wanna see you bake those. Hope you will love it as we do.

[@goldberry5384]

I love your videos so much. Detailed info, groovy tunes, good sense of humor, and relaxing voice. Can chill to it

[@ChainBaker]

Cheers! :)

[@badoiuecristian]

The way you make the videos is so cool. There is a lot of humour in your videos even if the tone seems quite flat at the first glance, I think that makes it more funny when you say things like "mythical recipes". Keep going, you have a natural ability to distil information to simple principles.

[@johngriswold]

I’m taking the leap. My wife loves SF sourdough. I know I won’t make any of THAT, she’ll still love it. Thank you!

[@ahmedsultani3028]

Starter.. Flint.. Firestarter Ha! RIP Flint, and hello my new favorite bread baking channel. love your work, brother. Very informative.

[@ChainBaker]

🐜🤘 welcome to the channel! 💥

[@creepymona]

thanks so much! I named mine Will Wheaton. Ive watched a lot of videos about making a sourdough starter and yours is the best 😊

[@ChainBaker]

✌️😎

[@BobSmith-vu3zm]

Thanks for this. Today I made my first sourdough after perfecting the white bread with a biga preferment. My loaf of sourdough didn't rise properly but that's ok because it still tasted amazing. I think it was because my starter isn't mature enough yet so I will be eagerly waiting to try again in a week or so. Using wild yeast has really cemented how important temperature control is. I normally glossed over it in the regular recipes but the effects are so pronounced when using wild yeast. Where I live 10 to 13C is normal weather so I had to put my starter on my computer to keep it warm 🤣

[@mahmodsaberi8989]

Thanks for your videos.

[@carolynmeehan1714]

Thank you for your channel - I love your videos! I love baking bread and your advice and recipes have truly made my baking improve! I started Norm (after comedian Norm Macdonald!) on 12 August… on day 2, Norm already bubbled and rose! My kitchen is HOT (28*) and I do bake often with commercial yeast, but the already washed jam jar Norm lives in was washed twice more before used and the spatula has never been used with baking before (but does live in my kitchen!) I was surprised I got such quick results! Morning of day 3 and it rose even more, has a fermented smell … my banneton basket hasn’t arrived yet! Lol I am looking forward to baking my first sourdough loaf!

[@ChainBaker]

Sometimes it can develop pretty quickly. Norm is ready to get baking ;D

[@ericaerts2158]

I started 4 days ago, it’s moving into the right direction, Thanks

[@googleuserg2685]

Oh Charlie I watched your sourdough basic videos, then went searching youtube for other sourdough videos just to gather as many tips as possible. None...and I mean NONE of them were as comprehensible and comprehensive as your videos. You really made sourdough baking much simpler for me especially the ones talking about how to start and maintain one and also differences between starter and leaven and all that..thanks a lot for your efforts!

[@ChainBaker]

🙏

[@williamhsantos19]

Thank you for that. Greetings from Brazil 🙃

[@jimwar1890]

This great info!! I mean GREAT! Every other instruction I’ve found for starter is so wasteful of flour. This smaller sized, alternate ratio method is much, much more economical, not to mention, faster (hands on faster, not chemical faster). Thank you, Mr ChainBaker!!!

[@afzanmohd9008]

yeayyyy your big fan now, should have watch this first!😄

[@ChainBaker]

😁👍🏻

[@loup9400]

Thanks. Well done

[@suyapajimenez516]

Almost ready for sourdough bread high hydration what I have made with einkorn flour in the past successfully despite its no easy to work delicate eikorn gluten, so, hopefully my starter is ready in a couple of days more. Thanks Charlie.

[@CocinaAncestral]

Nice Expnation my friend

[@honeybadger6127]

I tried to make a sour dough starter about 2 years ago.. based on your video... I quit too soon. Thanks for posting this video

[@richardthorstensen76]

Very simple, and thank you- straight away (alright, maybe couple of weeks).

[@ChainBaker]

Let me know how it goes :)

[@americanrebel413]

Awesome!

[@michaelurig3887]

I joined a FB group called Sourdough for beginners and there was a link to a woman making a starter with beer, SMH. After reading too many posts about why their starter is doing this or that I had to leave but I did leave a link or two to your videos. I'm going to make a blueberry and lemon zest bread tomorrow and if it comes out well I might make it again with the butterfly pea flower. Happy baking. BTW we made the NY style pizza and it was great !

[@cv5369]

Underrated channel

[@karolinasyska1393]

Thanks, I didn't know that I can do sourdough starter without special stuff

[@TheChefLady4JC]

I've been following Bake with Jack's no-discard scrapings method for nearly 3 years now and have had great success with it. It uses whole meal rye flour which has the highest enzymatic properties of all the flours. I named my first starter after him, "Sourdough Jack". But I have since branched out and now have a half rye and half whole wheat flour starter. I named this one "DOUGH RYE ME", after one of my favorite musicals, the Sound of Music's "Do, Re, Mi"!! LOL I have also experimented with a triple blend of rye, whole wheat, and bread flours starter, along with a half rye and half bread flours. Perhaps you can make one of your test videos using these 4 different types of starters? 1) 100% rye; 2) 50%rye and 50% whole wheat; 3) 50% whole wheat and 50% bread flour; 4) 1/3 each of rye, whole wheat, and bread flours Just a thought...🤷🏽‍♀️

[@ChainBaker]

I really need to get back into sourdough. That poor thing has been sitting in the fridge for months now 😂

[@sergiomontalvosoto8403]

hey love your contente i was wondering can you do a video on levant? explaining the ratio and the deferent types.

[@ChainBaker]

This might answer your question - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKuqZ2qGmK9qo9E :) And here is more info of different preferments - kzbin.info/www/bejne/e52td6xudqiqe6M

[@sergiomontalvosoto8403]

@@ChainBaker I totally miss that video thanks so much

[@woutermaes1311]

Hi, great channel , great video's! Really helpful! Question : can i choose the amounts i start with so to use as little flour as possible in terms of not waisting ? So for instance start with 10g flour + 10g water . Or will this slow the process down and turn those ≈14 days into a month? Thanks

[@ChainBaker]

You certainly can. I just like to use more to begin with because then the activity is more visible :)

[@lazaruscardoza8023]

Great video. Thanks. Can you do s video where I can create a firm/solid sourdough starter as opposed to a wet starter and how to maintain that?

[@ChainBaker]

You can adjust the amount of water to your preference. Here is guide on hydration and baker's percentage - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rGrXgYuKoceMrq8 Here is a preferment guide - kzbin.info/www/bejne/e52td6xudqiqe6M They are yeasted, but the same principles apply to sourdough.

[@lazaruscardoza8023]

@@ChainBaker thank you so much for the message. I've looked at those videos. Really helpful. Have a great weekend.

[@ricksta89]

I used the instructions to make the starter. I saw activity after 2 days. After activity, I fed the starter using the 1:10:10 ratio (5g starter, 50g flour, 50g room temp water) per the video and instructions but I saw no more activity after that (been over 12 hours). Did I mess something up? Did I feed it too early? Should I have continued discarding half and replacing equal amounts flour and water for a few more additional days before feeding 1:10:10? Thanks for your videos, they are very informative.

[@ChainBaker]

Perhaps you could continue for a few more days as in the beginning. You can still do that. Simply go back to the other ratio and continue. Then once you see it being nice and active after a few days try the 1:10:10 again.

[@zikriflanery7030]

You probably diluted your starter. So try to hold off the feeding and only stir it every 12 hours until you see activity. It works for me

[@ozzyaararon]

That's *exactly* what happened to me. I had to go back to the first stage and start again and wait a little longer before going to the strengthening cycle again. I'm both sad and glad someone else hit this problem :P

[@RedAlertXA]

Hi! Thank you so much for this super informative video😁 I’ve been watching your videos for a while and found that it’s one of the best baker youtube channel I’ve ever watched! After watching this I have some questions. I just started making my own starter. Mine doubled in size on day 2! So I fed it with 1:1:1 (20:20:20) ratio. After 12-14 hours, it rose around 1/3 so I fed it with the same ratio but after 12 hours, it didn’t rise at all but there’s some bubbles on top and it’s a bit runny so I fed it again with the same ratio. On day 3 I added a bit of rye flour (2g rye and 18g bread flour) to it hoping it would help. And today (day 4) there’s still no rise but it has some bubbles on top. Should I continue feeding it with 1:1:1 ratio every 12 hours? My house is around 28-30C. Any advices would be really appreciated! Thank you!☺️

[@ChainBaker]

If it rose so quickly it could be contaminated with commercial yeast. And that would explain why it is not rising well right now. I would suggest taking a new container and a spoon or spatula that has not been used for bread mixing before and starting over. Your place is so warm that it should get going pretty quickly anyway :)

[@RedAlertXA]

@@ChainBaker Thank you for the reply! I did sterilize my jar and spatula with boiling water before using😂 today is day 5 and there’s still no rise, only bubbles on top of the surface. I’m gonna continue feeding for another day but will start over simultaneously. Thank you!😊

[@Cieloazul85]

Trying this right now. I'm in day 2 and I see bubbles already. Can't wait 😅

[@foli3amoi]

I haven’t made sourdough in years but my starter has been started 😂 I hope to try to make a sourdough barbari…we will see!

[@ChainBaker]

That sounds like a tasty idea! Let me know how it turns out :)

[@foli3amoi]

@@ChainBaker I shall!

[@Debbie.L]

Thank you for making this video! I used unbleached plain flour for my starter. It's only been day 2 and it's already bubbling! Must be due to my location in tropical Malaysia. Should've moved on to the 1:10:10 ratio but forgot and did the day 2 routine instead. Will do it tomorrow. What ratio would you recommend if I wish to slow the process down for the flavours to develop?

[@ChainBaker]

Start with 1:10:10 and see how it goes. If it's still too active, then try 1:20:20 ✌️

[@ic4902]

My wife has a starter, but we never named it?! That would probably help our relationship!! Thanks for your videos!

[@ChainBaker]

😁

[@troy5659]

Hi Charlie, Thank you for your video's I think I'm on the right track and I'm feeling more confident watching your videos, we will see this coming weekend after I have spent the week making my starter stronger. So, my main starter is 226g and doubles in 6 hrs and is only whole wheat, it's a month old. I have been using it to make the levain with organic AP white flour to make bread, even though you don't recommend this will it still work to make bread? Also, I have been doing 1:50:50 and 1:10:10 everyday to make my levain stronger is a week long enough? and is there a point where you're just waiting flour in trying to make the starter / levain stronger? Thanks again.

[@ChainBaker]

It works just as well. I used to believe different things back when I made this video. You can use any flour you like :) It should be strong enough now. Use it and feed it as required. If you don't bake very often you can refrigerate it.

[@edupignatelli]

This is the best baking channel around to me. There is something I don't understand, though. If we are trying to catch yeast from somewhere in the kitchen, why no starting with a pinch a yeast directly?

[@ChainBaker]

Cheers! :) Commercial yeast and wild yeast are different. Commercial yeast is designed to create lots of CO2 to rise the dough quickly. Wild yeasts and bacteria that develop in a starter have completely different properties. You want to do your best to not contaminate your starter with commercial yeast ✌

[@josephahmad5960]

Hi there chainbaker. Can I use normal yeast with my starter making focaccia bread

[@ChainBaker]

Sure, if you want to make it rise quicker. But don't add yeast to your sourdough culture only to the dough that you're making on the day.

[@camilaflorencio1958]

Hi! I'm here to thank you for these amazing tips. I'm loving your channel! ❤️ Well, I live in a pretty hot, humid region of my country, so Golias, as my friend suggested I call it, is extraordinarily bubbly since day 2. Considering that I wasn't really sure about the feeding ratios, I kept one jar with 1:1:1 and another one with 1:10:10 (5g yeast:50 g water:30 gr white flour and 20 g whole wheat flour) and both doubled in size in just only 9 hours! I honestly didn't think that the 1:10:10 one would grow that much 🤣 Do you have any additional suggestions? I'm thinking about going 1:15:15 to check if it grows less than this in such a small period of time. Is it a good idea? Or should I reduce the amount of water (and if so, how much should I put instead of 50 grams)? Oh, one more thing. I've been trying to get this recipe right for a very long time. The last time I attempted doing so, the sourdough yeast was beautiful and it had a very pleasant fermentation smell, but the bread I tried to bake didn't rise at all. At that time, I couldn't understand it, since the yeast was probably two or three weeks old and, as I said, I live in a very hot place. It looked promising... What could've happened? Anything in mind? Anyways, thanks in advance! You made me feel confident enough to give this a try again, after nearly two years without even looking at the recipe. Cheers from Brazil 😊

[@ChainBaker]

You can reduce the water. A lower hydration starter will rise more slowly. Try 1:10:6 and see how it goes. It could because of many factors. All you can do is try again.

[@seanglenson5826]

Hi and HUGE THANKS for the videos and in general job that you are doing, your chanel is dope!!! I have a question please! I made my first sourdough starter and to create ideal conditions (due to a cold environment) I put it in a proofer (Brot & Taylor) on 24°c. At the end of first 24h I already had a very active fermentation. Now, obviously, the proofer is contaminated with yeast from my previous baking and, probably, this is the reason. But the question is if i need to proceed with the same procedure or I shall slow the hell down and move the starter to 20-19°C ( my kitchen temperature)? And if this quick reaction may effect harmfuly my starter flavorwise?

[@ChainBaker]

Just continue at 19 - 20C and see how it reacts. If it's still too active then increase the ratio.

[@runstrumshoot7869]

I am trying to recreate my moms sourdough from the early 60s. Back then our mothers shared a little dough starter that looked like dough ready dough eg. not sticky, kept it in the freezer and brought it out for baking for special occasions. I am trying to make a starter in a hot climate, the Philippines. The flavour rapidly develops but it suddenly stops and it smells like store bought yeast. The flavorful starter makes a dough that is sticky, will not shape and collapses while cooking. My regular Italian simple loaf is quite popular but my friends here in the Philippines prefer the sour dough even though I concider it a failed loaf. I have been very careful with the water, insects and cleaneness. This is alot of work.

[@ChainBaker]

Using less water will slow down the fermentation and prevent it from over fermenting too soon. You can also keep a starter in the fridge. More videos about that in the Sourdough Bread playlist :)

[@vladimirlumbab8723]

Hi! Would just like to ask what was the room temperature while building the starter? Thank you

[@ChainBaker]

Around 22c.

[@vladimirlumbab8723]

@@ChainBaker Thank you! Been trying to figure it out

[@henjak448]

Thank you Charlie, I'm at day 4 and I see activity. I'm not sure but now I start in a new jar your combination of 1:10:10? Right? What do I do with the rest of my original starter? Throw it away? I have seen your video twice and read your article on your website and am not sure what to do. Thanks

[@ChainBaker]

Yes, throw the excess away. At the moment it is not great to use in any recipes anyway. In a week or so you can start using the discard in some recipes that you can find in the Sourdough playlist :)

[@henjak448]

@@ChainBaker THANK YOU.

[@henjak448]

@@ChainBaker I'm stuck again and want your advice. In your video on day 6 you feed your starter 1:10:10. Do you do this for 30 days? How do you know when your starter is strong? Thank you Charlie.

[@AnthonyCafarella]

@ChainBaker, my starters are just over 8 days old, but seem to be strong enough to be used at this point. I'm at work all day tomorrow and the next day, so I won't be able to feed them on their normal schedule. I was feeding them 1:1:1 every 12 hours, but I just fed them 1:10:10 hoping that will keep them sustained until late tomorrow evening (I kept the discard and put it in the fridge as insurance). Would abruptly changing the ratio like this cause any issues with the culture or overall strength?

[@ChainBaker]

It should be totally fine! ✌️

[@catpawsandplay]

Can I ask. Is day 6 same as making levain? I mean, after day 6 that is the day you maintain your sourdough starter right? With 1gSS 10gflour amd 10gwater to maintain it? But the levain is the starter you make for yeast for the bread? Sorry for my english and thank you so much!

[@nedcramdon1306]

Is that a laminate counter top. I like it!

[@poopymcpoop9945]

Again the phones are listening to us all, as I was having a convo about starter with a co worker. Alas the suggested starter vid from my current favorite bread dude appears. Thanks again man. Edit: I'm late to the party haha.

[@ChainBaker]

I'm a bread psychic sending you the right videos at the right time 😁

[@poopymcpoop9945]

@@ChainBaker sure are haha

[@helenbugsynelson]

Discard is basically just flour and water so it can be used to thicken gravy or anything else flour and water based. It’s a great way to thicken home made soup.

[@ChainBaker]

👍

[@wolfgangreichl3361]

I wonder that you mentioned temperature only once in passing. My kitchen is heated only by my cooking and can be quite cold in winter (10-12°C). My first attempts - years ago - at sourdough were frustration laden. I basically knew of, but totally underestimated the temperature effects, thinking they might add 10-15% to time. None of my breads really worked the only rise I ever got was my Irish. I restarted baking after I watched your videos with the incessant emphasis on temperature. Now my dough rests in my (home) office, and my success rate is far better.

[@ChainBaker]

Fair point. I should have added more about temperature. I have made more videos about temperature control specifically since this one. It is certainly one of the most important parts of the process :)

[@nehasingh2452]

50kg of starter…. Haha … i love how you anticipate all my questions❤️

[@himmel2436]

what do with the discarded mixture? do you throw it away or feed it too? can I keep the discarded mixture and feed it ? I live in tropical country which air temp between 28 - 32 sometimes 34 degree celc., do i have to keep the fed mixture in a room or in the refrigerator?

[@ChainBaker]

While your are building the starter the discard should be thrown away. Once the starter is active you can use the discard in recipes. Or you can store your starter in the fridge so you don't have to feed it all the time.

[@Alpemomi]

Thanks for that mate! I've been sourdoughing succesfully for several months but man is my starter management a pain. So the tip is awesome: Jar 1 for the Starter. I named mine Inochi, Japanese for Life. Jar 2 for the Levain, for the baking. Keep 'em coming!

[@kayprins6779]

I am trying to make a starter with 100% wholegrain flour (ground at home, with a millstone grinder), but in a 100% hydration it looks very dry, do I need to adjust the ratios for this flour? thank you for all your very informative video's

[@ChainBaker]

You can increase the hydration. Whole wheat absorbs water quite a bit better than white flour does.

[@kwjan]

Hello! What do you do with the discarded flour during the first seven days of feeding the starter? Can I make a levain out of it? Thanks!

[@ChainBaker]

There is not much you can do. It goes to waste. The that accumulates later on after the first week can be used in recipes. You can find a couple examples in the Sourdough playlist.

[@mazenlababidi4925]

Hi , thnaks for the great videos you are doing . I have 2 questions : 1- what happens if the dough over hit a little, you keep worning of that 2- what you mean by overfermented , what happens exatly does the yeast die?

[@mazenlababidi4925]

sorry , for 1- ... over heat

[@ChainBaker]

The warmer it is the quicker it ferment and your run a risk of it over proofing. Less fermentation time = less flavour too. The yeast does not necessarily die but it eats through all the simple sugars in the dough and thus can not rise the bread any longer. Gluten can also become weak and break down if over fermented.

[@anthonynastasijr]

I've been baking my Italian loaf and using some of your techniques. I have a couple questions. I want to have a more pronounced ear and some sourdough taste. Can I use the same Italian bread recipe with a starter? If so, how much starter? Another question: can I get as much of an ear with yeasted bread as a sourdough bread? Like I said, I'm new to this. Thank you so much.

[@ChainBaker]

Use 10% - 15% of the total flour to build a leaven, and then add it to the dough when mixing. You should get as good of an ear as ever. The leaven can make the dough slightly looser depending on how it ferments, so if the ear is not popping you can try and lower the hydration of the dough by a couple %

[@JBC100]

Hi mate...I'm living in Australia 🇦🇺..my starter ( whole wheat flour)culture doubles in 2nd subculture itself or 3rd day so...so can I use that directly for baking? Some KZbin channels says I need to maintain at least week or more to strengthen it, can i take " Doubling" is the indicator for ready ?what you think?

[@ChainBaker]

You can try using it in bread dough. But still keep feeding and refreshing it to build it up.

[@JBC100]

@@ChainBaker ...Thank you

[@johncipolla8335]

I am going to try making the starter this week. I don't have any glass jars only plastic. I know glass is preferred. why? and can I do a mix of rye flour and APF?. the only thing I don't understand is this ratio how much in grams is it? 1:10:10 ectra.

[@ChainBaker]

You can use plastic for sure. It should not have any negative effects. A mix of rye and APF will work well. It might ferment even better. The grams are up to you. The ratio is the main thing. To not waste too much flour I use as little as possible. 1:10:10 could be 1g starter : 10g water, 10g flour. If you want to increase the amount, then simply multiply.

[@niveanoreen9382]

Hello! Thank you so much for this detailed video. I tried making it three days ago and I noticed that my sourdough doubles in size after 12 hours then by the time I feed it at 24 hours, it has already collapsed and isn’t as high any more. Is my starter still okay? Do I go on feeding it for the next 4 days? 😅

[@ChainBaker]

It's nice and active. Great! 😎 Keep feeding it, but change the ratio so that it does not rise too soon.

[@ClashClash89]

o.O that damn Jedi-mind-trckx at 2:29... ^^D The clock arm that indicates the seconds running backwards really had me for about 2-3 seconds... (until i realized that its probably the result of the timelapse-setting. that resulted in taking a picture every 59 seconds)

[@ChainBaker]

😁

[@sbettybop]

Is there a difference with making the sour dough starter in cold weather and hot weather? In the summer, do I need to place the starter in a cooler area to rise?

[@ChainBaker]

The warmer the quicker it will ferment. I would either place it in a cooler area, use cold water, or adjust the ratio. Lower the hydration to make it ferment a bit slower.

[@kimberlytollinchi7123]

Can you take the discarded one and add more flour and water and make extra?

[@ChainBaker]

Sure!

[@saxydude1533]

Awesome tutorial as always! I’m currently In high school (secondary school hahah) so I wouldn’t be able to feed my starter every 12 hours. Is there anything I could do to help with that? If not it’s totally fine and I can wait till summer when I have time off but I just figured I’d ask!

[@ChainBaker]

That must be an intense school! I was never gone for more than 9 - 10 hours :) You can do irregular feedings. One in the morning before you leave and then another one as soon as you come back. Or get someone else to do one.

[@saxydude1533]

@@ChainBaker well my school is only about 8 hours long but I’m in a lot of organizations so it seems like I always have a reason to stay 😂 but thank you so much I appreciate that!

[@wekencook]

I'm about to get someone's sourdough starter so I wanted to ask once I made the levain for sourdough, whatever starter is left is what I need to maintain correct? If so, do I do a small amount like did in the video (2g starter 20g flour, 20g water)? The other part I don't use is considered the sourdough discard then right?

[@ChainBaker]

You're exactly right on all of the above 👍

[@wekencook]

@@ChainBaker Thanks for the follow up! Let's see how this turns out.

[@HonorOP]

I saw activity after one day and it already risen x2 and had sweet scent (maybe even a bit alcoholic). I moved it to the fridge to gain more time to think what to do. Today I'm on two days after I first made it. Should I move to 1:10:10? or is it too late and I need to start over again?

[@ChainBaker]

There is never a need to start over. I would keep it at room temperature and adjust the ratio. See how it reacts and work from there.

[@chiletroche9664]

Great informative video … and I’m almost embarrassed to ask this question .. when you say one part starter to ten grams water and ten grams flour, then the one part of starter is only one gram ?

[@ChainBaker]

It is 😉

[@endreaja]

Help! I followed the instructions from the video. I started on the 16th and ben halving the starter every day. It's wholegrain, store it in a dry dark place everyday and geographically I'm in the north of Portugal, so it's quite humid at the moment. Today I checked on it and the 2dl Weck jar was full. The starter is bubbly and fruity. I wasn't expecting it to come alive so fast. Am I doing it right, am I missing something?

[@ChainBaker]

Great! Your starter is alive and active. Now change the ratio and keep feeding it :)

[@StayPrimal]

Whats up my baker, hope you having a great week end so far. Quick question man. So I started a whole wheat sourdough starter 24 hours ago, and kept the bottle in a warm place (+- 23 C.). Sheesh, after only 24 hours I can see that it is fermenting in there, I can see bubbles all over the place. Is it normal that in 24 hours I already see activity? It smells good in there and everything looks normal, just quicker. Maybe its because whole wheat react faster? Cheers my dude, have a nice day.

[@ChainBaker]

Yeah sometimes it can be pretty quick especially with whole wheat flour. Change the ratio a bit to see how it reacts. Use less starter in relation to flour and water in the mix.

[@StayPrimal]

@@ChainBaker Thank you very much for answering all my questions! Much appreciated. Its my first sourdough I am BEYOND excited.

[@ChainBaker]

@StayPrimal good luck 😎

[@joecj840]

Can you do the same thing with rye flour?

[@ChainBaker]

Yes. It works the same way.

[@lamatsam]

thanks for the video i have a question,after 5 days mine was ready,i used 100gr,and i continue to feed it ,20 gr at day...even i wait more then a week ,and smell like beer,i didnt see any bubble anymore...u think still is chance for him?Bob ,on my case ;-)

[@ChainBaker]

It's still fine. Just keep feeding him. If nothing changes you can adjust the ratio. Use more starter in relation to flour and water and see how it reacts.

[@lamatsam]

@@ChainBaker Bob ll survive.yeah...so ..u keep in the frige on case u stop baking.i ll try it

[@alexmed2646]

Hello. Is it normal for my starter to triple in size in its 3rd cycle? It made small bubbles even from 1st turn. What should i do next? Get to the phase with 1:10:10?

[@ChainBaker]

Yes. Switch to 1:10:10 and continue feeding daily.

[@alexmed2646]

@@ChainBaker thanks. I never thought im gonna be into baking, but you made it easy, clear and fun. You and the bread code are the only ones i watch .

[@varitpon]

Hi Charlie. I live in Thailand and mine has risen up on the 2nd day! What should I do? Should I feed it 10 to 10 now?

[@ChainBaker]

I would say stay with 1:1:1 until it starts over fermenting. Then switch to a higher ratio. We want it to be nice and active before moving on.

[@varitpon]

@@ChainBaker thanks heaps for the advice. Hopefully I will be able to make my sourdough soon.

[@kattykakes8135]

I’m so excited! I started my sourdough starter yesterday and I’m beyond happy. I named her ‘🩷Sweet Pea🩷’ because that’s what my daughter calls me. 🥰 Question: I already messed up by adding too much water on Day 2. I added 25g flour and 28g room temp water. Should I start over or just watch her? She was somewhat bubbly when I started feeding today.

[@ChainBaker]

Don't worry. It's not an exact science. A few grams here or there won't make a difference 😉

[@kattykakes8135]

@@ChainBaker 🥰TYSM! I appreciate your answer. Really, I wasn’t stressing too much but I’m just learning. I’ve learned so much from your channel, you inspire me and so many others! Btw, I’ve been looking at websites all over the place for a wire-handled spatula like yours. Do you have a product suggestion?

[@ChainBaker]

You can find a very similar one in my Amazon store ✌️

[@kattykakes8135]

@@ChainBaker it arrived today and I had to wash it 4x to use for the next dish 😂😂 looks like I’m going to have to get another 1 or 2 haha!

[@FrostBitn]

Hey Chain Baker, I’m super confused... What is building the levain? And how is it used differently from the starter? I thought that whole first month of feeding, the starter you remove daily is what you can use in your bread, but you said that’s what building the levain is for, so what is the starter for? To use for baking, do I have to do the first month, then start removing a bit and doing 1:2:2 ratio (building the levain) to start baking with it? And at the same time, I have a second off shoot of the starter at 1:10:10 ratio for regular starter?

[@ChainBaker]

Here is a video about it - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKuqZ2qGmK9qo9E A starter is fed every day. A leaven is made from the starter whenever you want to make bread. I like to keep them separate. You can of course just feed the starter and then use it to leaven the bread with. It's important to note that a sour starter will produce a strong leaven and a sweet and bubbly leaven will make the bread rise well. That is another reason you may want to keep them separate.

[@FrostBitn]

@@ChainBaker thank you. I am definitely wanting a deep sour flavor in my loaf. Is there a way to control the flavor?

[@ChainBaker]

Loner fermentation = more flavour. Do the final proof in the fridge 😉

[@FrostBitn]

@@ChainBaker Awesome, thank you so much!

[@lroberts2478]

If I use 30 g of starter for my levain can I rebuild the starter when I’m done by adding 15 g of water and 15 g of flour immediately?

[@ChainBaker]

Definitely 👍

[@lroberts2478]

@@ChainBaker starting today! Thanks for the video

[@capperm72]

Really enjoyed the video but do have one query, you talk about strengthening the starter for the first 30 days and you say the ratio 1:10:10 works best for your kitchen. What signs would I look for to confirm I am using the correct ratio for my kitchen. So I feed the starter and wait 24 hours, what should it look like? And what would I see if my ratio was too high or too low. Any help would be much appreciated.

[@ChainBaker]

See how active it is. If it's not rising, then use more water and flour in relation to starter. 1:5:5 perhaps. After a few days you will notice how it changes and how it's rising.

[@capperm72]

Thank you

[@valeriexoxo]

@@ChainBaker do you mean less flour and water in relation to starter? Once you switched to 1-10-10 what were those measurements in grams? I’m kinda confused because you said 2 “parts” to 20g to 20g in the video. Thanks

[@dua829]

I'm little bit confused .. If I want to use a portion of my starter (stored in the fridge) to build the levain should I do the discard and feeding thing first and see if the starter activates in the next hours , and only then use it to build the levain? -Or can I take a portion of the non active starter to build the levain, since the levain will be fermented later anyway? -Can I bake with active starter without building the levain?

[@ChainBaker]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqHGaIKuorhmkLs yes, you can bake with the starter instead of making a leaven. Just use it at the right time. To build a leaven you want a sour, well-fermented starter. To make a bread you want a sweet smelling leaven at its peak. So, the starter must be like the leaven in order to work well.

[@supplepaws]

I'm not sure if i made a bad mistake but I've been failing ot make a sourdough starter for about 4 months now. I've been troubleshooting all areas, from water to flour brand to jars, to temp. I made a sourdough starter way back early last year. My very first starter was a monster, it would commonly and regularly grow to 3, 4 times its height and would devour levains, usually ready in just 8 hours. I enjoyed that one for the better part of the year, until someone accidentally broke the jar and it was gone. During winter I didn't bake bread, so I tried to make another sourdough starter this year, in february, and they all died. Currently i have a sourdough starter I made with rye flour that has been fed for about 7 weeks now, and it won't double in height. It actually just stays exactly the same height after about 16 hours and will sometimes grow like 20%... i keep feeding it daily, hoping for a miracle. On the side, I tried your video to make a seperate starter, which has been about 4 days now. Just yesterday it doubled in height, but I fed it 1:5:5 by accident. This morning I realized I should have done the 1:10:10, so i tried to do a refeed (its been 12 hours) with the 1:10:10 and I noticed that all of a sudden, the starter has a prominent film of water on the surface and smells like strong cheese... I hope I didn't lose another one. I just labeled and set the jar in my kitchen. Here's to hoping..

[@ChainBaker]

This video should ease your worries - kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppqWnXqmeqd6rq8 The layer of grey liquid is called hooch. It's totally normal. A rye starter will not rise as much as a wheat one, but it should puff up a bit for sure. Try adjusting the feeding ratio and see how it changes. Perhaps use slightly warmer water.

[@spankey2858]

Hello, I noticed in the LEVIN portion (very last) your "scale" read 210 starter 400 water and 805 flour. Was this grams? or another measurement.. for 1:2:2

[@ChainBaker]

Not sure what the scales said. Just follow what I said in the video and the written instructions and that will be correct 😉

[@Nostalgia18689]

Hello dear, Thank you for all your precious amazing videos I learned a lot actually and for the first time I feel that baking is something to understand I have a question, actually a long question I am trying to make my first sourdough starter Ive started one week ago In the first 2 days everything was going alright In the 3rd day I noticed that my starter became wet and a little bit liquidy I thought that could be due to high temperature in my kitchen, around 30 c during the day and around 22-24 during night, and thought that the bacteria and yeast are feeding on higher rate I started feeding the starter twice a day by removing 50 g of the starter and displacing it with 25 g flour and 25 g water every 12 hours Now for the next 3 days the starter rises just a little bit, it forms bubbles but not rising too much Should I continue the feeding twice a day or should I return to feeding once daily? And what should I do with the high temperature in the kitchen? Thank you in advance

[@ChainBaker]

Hey! Thank you so much :) I would suggest feeding it once a day for now. It can be a bit unpredictable in the beginning especially due to the high temperature. Keep it in the coolest part of your house. Perhaps in a closet or even in the bathroom. You can also use cooler water when you make it. Another thing you can do is decrease the amount of starter that you keep in the jar thus decreasing the ratio. So instead of having 100g in total and removing 50g every day and replacing with 25+25, you can have 80g and remove 60g and replace with 30+30. This will reduce the amount of starter in relation to the fresh ingredients and make it rise more slowly.. If it is still rising too fast perhaps it's fully developed. Do an experiment by taking 1g of starter and mixing with 20g water 2pg flour and see how it rises in 24h. If it comes up nicely then your starter is ready. To slow it down and control it better you can also decrease the hydration % of the starter to 80% or less. So try feeding it 1g starter to 20g water, 25g flour. Less water means less activity. Hope some of this will help 😉

[@Nostalgia18689]

@@ChainBaker thank you so much I'll try to fix it and do the changes you suggested

[@ChainBaker]

Let me know how it goes 👍

[@Nostalgia18689]

@@ChainBaker hello dear, I think I fixed my starter Thanks to your recommendations Everything is looking great right now I feed her with a 1:10:10 ratio since 3 days and it doubles in size nicely The last time doubles in 8 hours I have 2 questions, the first is that I don't bake on daily basis, mostly once or twice a week, When can I put the starter in the fridge? Can I do it right now or should I wait more and feed it outside the fridge for longer time ? In video you continued feeding outside for 1 month before putting it into the fridge The second question is when should I feed my starter before putting it in the fridge and for how long should I wait before doing so? Thank you alot in advance :-)

[@ChainBaker]

Hey! I'm glad it worked out :) it would be best to keep feeding it for a few weeks so it gets nice and strong before refrigerating it. Now it is still young and unstable. You should let it rise at least half way before refrigerating it when you do so. I have a fridge storage guide in the Sourdough Starter playlist for more info 👍 The best thing though would be feeding it every day even if you do not bake. That way it will always be ready and always active. I feed mine every evening nowadays. 1g starter, 10g water, 12g flour. It does not produce a lot of waste and does not take much time either 😉

[@zvezdoblyat]

I messed up my fiest starter, it started growing green mold on the 7th day 😅 I was eyeballing ot since I dont have a scale. I'm thinking maybe I should wait until I get one to avoid wasting flour

[@ChainBaker]

Definitely! Scales are essential 😁

[@briannabrittany3127]

Can I use sourdough instead of yeast to make pretzels? What would be the ratio of sourdough starter (100% hydration) to flour and water (assuming a final total hydration of 60% for the pretzels)?

[@ChainBaker]

You certainly can. I would suggest making a leaven and prefermenting 10% of the total flour in the dough. So for a 500g batch that would be 50g of four plus 50g water plus starter to make it rise. Then use the remaining 450g flour and 250g water to make up the final dough along with salt, malt, and anything else you may use.

[@loganmclenahan2340]

Can you combine the 50g you remove each time into another container together?

[@ChainBaker]

For what purpose? It would just go rancid the longer you keep it.

[@cloudtam9931]

Hi ChainBaker, I need help. I started to cultivate my sourdough last week. I started from 10g flour and 10g water, and so on. From day 2 or 3, it smells like vinegar. I found a few problems every day: 1 it didn't rise at all. 2 the flour sediment to the bottom, water at the top. 3 it still smells like vinegar now on day 7. Do you I can still use it, like tomorrow? Thank you very much. 🙇🏻‍♀️

[@ChainBaker]

Try changing the ratio. You could be so active that it is over fermenting. Use less starter in relation to flour and water. Maybe 1:5:5 and then see how it reacts 👍

[@cloudtam9931]

@@ChainBaker I'll try, thanks a lot.

[@cloudtam9931]

@@ChainBaker omg, I applied your suggested ratio, and it had risen double in a few hours, and even overflowed out of the jar in the morning. 😱 thank you so much. 🙇🏻‍♀️

[@julifor0022]

👌COOL

[@gildedvibrations8927]

Can I use multigrains for this?

[@ChainBaker]

Sure!

[@gildedvibrations8927]

@@ChainBaker Thank you. I'll reply further with how it goes

[@gildedvibrations8927]

@@ChainBaker Howdy, I made the multigrain sourdough starter with flax seed meal, rye flour, and white flour. I made it into a pizza dough. The pizza was delicious. I am very grateful for all I've learned from you! Blesséd be

[@kevinzky88]

can i make my sourdough starter from all purpose flour? also can i feed it with bread flour later when i get my hands on bread flour?

[@ChainBaker]

Yes and yes!

[@TheJoeGillam]

I started my starter on Saturday Ive only fed it once on Sunday and now on Monday it's doubled in size, there's a sour smell and there's bubbles. Is it normal for it to become this active after only 2 days and will I be able to build a levain with it? Or should I feed it one more time just to be safe it'll be ready for a levain?

[@ChainBaker]

Feed it a few more times and then change the ratio. It can develop quickly sometimes and that's great news!

[@TheJoeGillam]

@@ChainBaker perfect thank you

[@TheJoeGillam]

@@ChainBaker a bit of bad news I've had to start again with the starter. I just checked it and way over fermented and is like a milkshake now

[@ChainBaker]

You don't need to start over. Just feed it again and it will be fine. If it's fermenting too rapidly, then just adjust the ratio to less starter in relation to flour and water.

[@TheJoeGillam]

@@ChainBaker oh ok sound I'm glad I didn't throw it away now. Once O feed it again would it better to put it in the fridge seeing as it's fermenting a bit too quickly?

[@_amnann8046]

Hi I live in Cambodia such a very hot weather here. Do you think I can make sourdough in such hot weather like this? If yes, How do we store our sourdough? Thank you for your answer in advanced !

[@ChainBaker]

I would make the starter following this same method. But once it is ready and active I would lower the hydration. Less water makes it less active, so you would lower the risk of constantly over fermenting it. Perhaps a 1:10:10 ratio could be switched to 1:10:6. So, 1 part starter, 10 parts flour, 6 parts water. That would make it a 60% hydration starter. You can also use cold water when you make it and keep it in a cool area in your home.

[@Irene-ws9kk]

@@ChainBaker that is a useful tip for me too, My starter tripled after 24hours… also may I know if it is odd to detect a kind of alcoholly smell?

[@davidhatfield4648]

i have successful starter named "the dog". I feed "the dog" before bed and have an active leaven the next morning. I'm working one loaf at a time. I need enough to make 6 loaves at one time - can I scale up in a single feeding? i'm worried about off flavors. thanks.

[@ChainBaker]

I love that name! :) Yeah just scale it up. A larger amount may ferment a bit more rapidly, so you may need to lower the temperature of it or perhaps use slightly less starter in relation to water and flour.

[@davidhatfield4648]

@@ChainBaker Yes! Scaling up DID increase the fermentation rate - thanks for the warning. So I used cool water and divided it between quart size jars and there was no overflow. The Dog stayed in his kennel! I made 8 beautiful loaves. Thanks again.

[@paulwarren6062]

I couldn't believe it, but on day 2 (18 hours later) my starter already had bubbles. I gave it the day 2 feeding, and 4-6 hours later it DOUBLED and TRIPLED. This is WAY faster than any video I've seen. My starter seemed ahead of schedule, so decided to feed it again 12 hours later, rather than wait 24. However this time it didn't double in size, it still did rise a bit but nowhere near as much as last time. Which was disappointing, but now I'm confused. Should I just continue feeding now after 12 hours again? or wait and return to the 24 hour feeding schedule I originally planned to do?

[@ChainBaker]

I guess I'm a bit late here. How did it turn out?

[@paulwarren6062]

@@ChainBaker Being in a tropical country. The starter went faster than expected. Right now my starter seems healthy. I just fed it today and it doubled in 6 hours. I'm in the process right now of doing your no knead sourdough recipe actually. I'm already into the 3 folding stage, and the 3 hour bulk ferment. I can tell already this dough feels much better than what I did last week doing your beginners recipe. Thanks!

[@mamtashah7307]

Can we use a multigrain or whole-wheat flour in place of bread flour

[@ChainBaker]

You can use any flour you like as long as it will be the same flour that you use for making bread. It is always advisable to feed your starter with the same flour that you use in baking.

[@brandywalters2271]

@@ChainBaker I was hoping to use up a bunch of whole wheat flour that I have making the starter. What will happen if I use whole wheat flour to get it started and then use bread flour in the bread?

[@ChainBaker]

You can do that. You could also make the bread itself with both white and wholewheat flour. It's not a rule as such. But from my experience I have noticed that using the same flour for the starter as for the bread works best. But if you use different flour it will work fine too 👍

[@Val-hu4yg]

I live in a really hot place (30-35*C) and there’s always water on top of the starter, should I add less water?

[@ChainBaker]

Yes. I would suggest lowering the hydration of your starter to around 50% - 60%. A low hydration starter ferments more slowly and is more suited for a hot climate. You can also use cold water and even chill the flour.

[@Val-hu4yg]

@@ChainBaker thank you so much for your tips! I have lowered the hydration and it’s looking way better now :)) only downside is that now there’s some kind of crust forming in top of the starter.. any idea what that means 😅

[@ChainBaker]

It's because of the lower hydration. Covering it with plastic wrap could help.

[@Val-hu4yg]

@@ChainBaker I’m so grateful for your wisdom. I’ve done exactly what you suggested and it looks like my sourdough is really to be used, I’ll be using all of your tutorials from now on! you’re really the best