HOW TO MAKE SOURDOUGH AT THE END OF THE WORLD: A THREAD

(title after Natalie Loveless)

Going to start walking through the process of making a sourdough starter on Monday—here’s what you’ll need to follow along:
-flour (I’ll use all purpose since that’s probably what you have in your cupboards)
-dechlorinated water
-a jar or container to keep your starter in

the only thing you need to prep before Monday is the water. With sourdough, we’re trying to encourage bacteria and yeasts, so using chlorinated water will work against us.

The good news is that you can still use tap water—you just have to leave it uncovered on the counter for at least 24 hours. I keep my sourdough water in a 1 litre Pyrex measuring cup, but literally any vessel that holds water will work!

So: put some water out, and check back in on Monday for Day 1.

One clarification: we’ll just need 3 tablespoons of water and five tablespoons of flour each day (aka 45 grams of each). It makes things easier to dechlorinate a big batch of water at once though so you’re not constantly refilling your supply.

DAY 1: mix equal parts flour and water in a container.

If you have a kitchen scale, do equal weights (I did 42 grams today—aim for somewhere around 40-50 grams). If you don’t have a kitchen scale, 3 tbsp water and 5 tbsp AP flour will get you to around 45 grams of each.

DAY 1: I like to use a glass jar, but any clear or transparent container is great. Using a pice of tape, I mark where the starter is now—we’ll use this mark to see how much rising is happening. An elastic around your container at the level of your starter works too!

DAY 1: cover the jar (with a lid, a small plate, a kitchen towel—were just looking for something to keep debris from a getting in the jar, so it doesn’t need to be airtight) and set it in a warm place (on top of the fridge or in the cupboard above your stove are great options)

DAY 1: and now we wait! we’ll check back in ~24 hours for our first feeding.

DAY 2: time to check back in on our starters! Here’s what mine looks like after 24 hours—it’s risen a little, but there’s not much visible activity otherwise.

DAY 2: this morning, me do something called discarding—basically, it’s where we get rid of most of the old starter and replace it with fresh food for the bacteria and yeasts to digest. Scoop out most of the starter, leaving a generous tablespoon in the jar, and get rid of it.

DAY 2: Here’s what my jar looks like after I’ve discarded.

DAY 2: If you want to save your discard for baking, you can keep it in a container in the fridge until you’re ready to use it (here are some of my go-to discard recipes: https://www.theperfectloaf.com/my-top-3-leftover-sourdough-starter-recipes/)

DAY 2: otherwise just put it in your compost or garbage bin...that’s usually what I do.

DAY 2: Now it’s time to refresh the starter! Add equal parts water and flour to your jar of starter and mix until combined. We’re basically doing the same thing we did yesterday, except that this time there’s a little day-old starter in the mix too.

DAY 2: Mark your starter level so we can see whether we have any activity throughout the day, and leave it in a warm place to ferment!

(just pulled some fresh sourdough from the oven—we’ll make loaves like this in a couple weeks!)

just noticed that the thread is broken. Here’s where it picks back up: https://twitter.com/emilyhoven/status/1242642016636243969?s=21