Refreshing Your Jovial Einkorn Sourdough Starter

Follow along as our founder, Carla Bartolucci, demonstrates how to refresh Einkorn Sourdough Starter!
Questions? Please feel free to chat with the Jovial einkorn baking experts at our Connecticut office: 877-642-0644 or email us at [e-mail].
If you've just purchased a new Jovial Einkorn Sourdough Starter, follow these steps!
1. First refresh: Scrape all of the of starter from the Jovial Einkorn Sourdough Starter jar into a small bowl.
2. Add 30 grams of warm (not hot) spring water
(not chlorinated, softened or alkalized).
3. Break up the starter with a fork into small bits and until
the water is cloudy.
4. Add 60 grams of Jovial All Purpose Einkorn Flour
(or 48 grams of jovial whole wheat flour).

5. Stir with a fork until it comes together in a ball-use the
edge of the fork to get as much of the flour and bits off
the side and bottom of your bowl.
6. Take the ball of starter into your hands and knead for
30 seconds until it becomes tacky and smooth.
7. Return to the bowl and cover tightly using plastic wrap
or a lid so your starter doesn’t dry out. Allow to rest at
room temperature for 8-12 hours. You should notice the
starter expanding and there should be visible bubbles
on the underside and small pock marks on the surface.

8. Refresh your starter again. Take 10 grams of starter and add
to a small bowl. Repeat steps 2 through 7. You will have
some left-over starter “discard” remaining. You can add
this to pancakes and other recipes. Having discard is a
normal part of maintaining your starter.

9. Your starter is ready to bake with when it expands & you
see bubbles on the bottom, within 5-8 hours of refreshing. Your starter may require multiple refreshes before it’s
strong enough to use. The faster your starter responds
to feeding the stronger it is!

10. Don’t over think it-if you see some activity it’s OK to get
baking! With every loaf your starter will get stronger and
you’ll see improvement. It’s a process enjoy the journey.
11. If you’re not baking regularly your starter should be refrigerated
and refreshed once per week or as needed for baking.
Note: DO NOT consume raw starter

[@deborahk.6113]

So happy to see Carla is still being shown doing this video. I miss her and learned how to bake bread from her videos. RIP

[@user-ot8qn5ui3t]

I wonder how many starters are named Carla in honor of this wonderful woman! I have watched many sourdough videos and read many blogs and recipes, her calm delivery and fantastic instructions are the best I have seen!

[@SA-gf8uq]

I recently just discovered this video. I’m so sad about her passing. What a beautiful lady she was and such a calm voice. 😢

[@WildBlueberries17]

Thank you, Carla. I named my very first Einkorn starter Carla.

[@susanjane8020]

How sad. She’s Perfect for instructions about Einkorn. A beautiful calm voice making newbies like me the courage to jump into sourdough bread. Her starter instructions are the {{Best}}

[@svstargazer]

Got my heirloom starter! Yea, Carla starter! Great name to tag to it! ❤

[@christinehbailey]

Just got my starter in the mail!!

[@user-sk5qf1og6z]

Thx! :D

[@91GT35rMK3]

How long do you keep the starter in the fridge? Do you only let it sit out when you’ve done a refresh?

[@JovialFoodsInc]

Your starter can stay in the fridge for several weeks before needing a refresh. Consider that it is slowly getting weaker the longer it goes without a feeding. When you are ready to bake, you should refresh to be sure it is strong. If it went into the fridge strong less than a week ago, you can just pull it out and bake with it.

[@betsytelford3107]

RIP Carla

[@mamaham5406]

I just received my starter (newbie here). I am not ready to bake bread today likely this weekend I will give it a try...is it ok to put the starter in the Frig until I'm ready to follow the process in this video or do I need to take that action now?

[@JovialFoodsInc]

Yes; refrigerate- always refresh as soon as possible and refrigerate otherwise. After traveling, it will have weakened; you may need to refresh 2 or more times to strengthen it when you are ready to bake.

[@adamenriquez6168]

I don’t have a scale 😢 I just got it today. How long before it starves?

[@JovialFoodsInc]

You can refresh with volume measurements until you get your scale- 30 grams of water = 2 tablespoons and 60 grams of flour = 1/2 cup of einkorn AP flour. This is a low hydration starter.

[@judypeterson9952]

So, when needing 1 cup of starter what would the ratio be?

[@JovialFoodsInc]

A jovial starter recipe yields 100 grams of starter. This can be used to make 3 levains and have 10 grams left over to refresh. jovial recipes use starter to make a levain; (our levain recipe is more like most higher hydration starter recipes). Please see our levain video to better understand the difference between starter and levain. If you are using a non-jovial recipe, this might be calling for a cup of starter?

[@judypeterson9952]

I have been refreshing my einkorn starter for about 3 months, using the 10-30-60 ratio, many sourdough recipes calls for 100% sourdough ratio, how do i get to that ratio?

[@JovialFoodsInc]

A 100% ratio would be 10 grams of starter, 10 grams of water and 10 grams of flour. Our recipes do not use this ratio.

[@Sen-rs9mv]

She passed away in 2021 😢

[@ThankYouJesusTheChrist]

What? Nooooooooo

[@Sen-rs9mv]

@@skylergrey3507 the cause was never revealed