I perfected my sourdough recipe | How To Make Sourdough Starter + Bread from Scratch

Look at that crumb. Flour. Upper side of the bread. One of my most asked questions is how to make sourdough bread as well as, actually let's make that two questions, how to make sourdough starter from scratch. If you don't have like a family or friend to borrow some of their sourdough starter from. And it's been a hot minute since I made the original video for this, so I thought I'd do a little refresh. So let's get started. Let's start with the sourdough starter. For this video entirely, we are only working with three ingredients. Flour, water, and then when we go to make our dough, we're gonna need some salt. Now, you're gonna be like, well, how on earth is this bread gonna rise? And some of you already know the answer to it. It is going to be our sourdough starter. You could get your sourdough starter from a family, from a friend. My sourdough starter, where is she? She desperately needs some feeding, which we'll get to that in a minute. But I've had her for four years, so the flavor is this nice deep sour flavor. It also is very active and bubbly when I go to feed her. So that's like the best option, but you can always start your own to share with family and friends. So that's exactly what I'm gonna show you to do. To make your own sourdough starter, you're gonna need a jar with an airtight lid. So I'm just using a glass jar. I think this is 12 ounces. We're going to do equal parts flour to equal parts water. Some of you may ask if you can use like cups to measure. And the thing is, you really want a kitchen scale. She's been put to good use. A scale is going to measure everything properly, so everything rises properly. Because flour and water, they're going to measure differently. They're not going to be like equal parts a fourth of a cup to a fourth of a cup. So I highly recommend going and getting a scale. That's like the only equipment you need besides a jar. 12 ounces is a great like starter-based jar, but I would go for a larger one if you're going to continually be baking a lot with your sourdough starter, because you're gonna want more active sourdough starter to work with. To make sourdough starter from scratch, it's going to take about 7 to 10 days. And what we're going to do is feed it every single day, starting with day one. We're going to feed it 50 grams of flour. You can use all-purpose flour. Bread flour is best. And then 50 grams of warm water. The first day, we're just mixing these two together. Put the lid on and let it set aside in like a warm environment. I usually put mine near the stove top or near the window. Now, you'll let it sit for 24 hours. Then starting on day two, we're going to start actually using the mixture that we've made, our flour and water mixture. So we're going to take about 30 to 50 grams of it and then mix it with 30 to 50 grams, so equal parts, of fresh flour and then fresh water. So remember, it's always going to be equal parts when it comes to your sourdough starter. If I'm using 35 grams of sourdough starter, I'm going to use 35 grams of water and 35 grams of flour. So let's start this sourdough starter. The key is to make sure that all of the flour is completely absorbed and so there's no dry spots in the mixture. You can label it, name it, just don't forget about it because this is going to become your new little bestie in the kitchen. And listen, it's a lot. If you, once your sourdough starter is active and bubbly and ready to be used, which is typically after 7 to 10 days, which I'll tell you how to know that in just a second. If it's on the counter, it needs to be fed at least every 24 hours. If you are not planning on baking with your sourdough starter, then you can put it in the fridge for up to 7 to 10 days as well. I would just probably feed it for at least 2 days before you go to use it again so it can be nice and bubbly and active. So let's pretend it's day 2 or maybe day 7. We're going to take a certain, a larger amount of this, so like 30 to 50 grams and we're going to mix it with 30 to 50 grams, equal parts of fresh flour and fresh water. And whatever is left in here that we have not fed, we're going to discard it. Now, after 7 to 10 days, when it's nice and active and bubbly, that can be considered your sourdough discard. So instead of discarding it, you can add it to pretty much any baked good that already has a leavening agent. So like baking soda, baking powder, active dried yeast, instant yeast. It will help add a lot more flavor and some yummy little health benefits to your baked good, but it won't help it rise because it's not been fed or active. Now let's feed. This is, I'm not giving my sourdough starter a name. Let me know what I should name it. This one is 4 years old. I have one a little bit older than that, but I accidentally forgot to feed it for 2 days and went on, like went out of town. So we had to start fresh 4 years ago, but she is strong. There we go. Sometimes I get the sourdough starter stuck on the lid. Oh, strongly sour smelling, which is perfect. So let's go ahead and feed it. I usually try to feed about 150 grams of my sourdough starter whenever I go to bake something. That way we have plenty left over to feed the next time. Now this right here is your sourdough discard. And as you can tell, I got plenty of it so I can add this to any baked good, but I don't plan on baking anything with it today. So I'm just going to go ahead and discard it in either the trash or the garbage disposal. So I just rinse it out with warm water until it is mostly cleaned out of any sourdough discard. You don't want to wash it out with soap because your sourdough starter will absorb that soapy taste. That would be kind of gross in your bread. I also, as you saw, like to wipe the rim because as you saw earlier, sometimes the lid can get stuck if any sourdough discard is left on the exterior here. So I have 150 grams of my sourdough. We're going to add 150 grams of warm water, which is just going to give it a little extra boost compared to cold water, and 150 grams of bread flour. And then mix this until there are no dry flour clumps. Then we'll add it back to our rinsed out jar. Add the lid. And so that you can tell how much is risen, you can take a ribbon, a rubber band, or a hair tie. Measure out where you initially have it started after feeding. So we've made a brand new sourdough starter together. We have fed my old sourdough starter. And we've added a little line of measurement so that we can tell when it's doubled in volume, maybe even tripled in volume. That's even better. The main goal is just to be able to have a visual cue to know when this is super strong and active and bubbly and ready to be used in our bread. So I usually feed my sourdough starter around 8, 9 a.m. and then I'll start baking my bread a little bit after lunchtime. So like 1 to 2 p.m. And then I'll end up putting it in the fridge when I go to close down the kitchen for the night. So like 8, 9 p.m. We'll get into more of that later. I'm a little bit loosey-doosey on that in the kitchen. I try not to put a strict schedule on it. And that way it's more fun and you're never feeling pressure when you make sourdough bread. I'll see you guys in a few hours when we begin the bread. As we can tell by our little line of measurement, our sourdough starter is ready. It is 2 p.m. on the dot. So perfect timing. For the sourdough bread, there's a bunch of different methods that go into real scientific detail. I'm not trying to make things, especially bread making, complicated. So here's what I do. I dump it all in a singular bowl. And then we start a lift and fold process. And it works out beautifully every single time. And it doesn't make you overthink things. So in order to have everything mix evenly, I'll start with our liquid ingredients. So we have 330 grams of warm water. Again, the warm water here is just going to give it a nice little boost. Because the warmer your environment with sourdough, the better it's going to rise. Although I know like mountain elevations, and if you live in Florida where it's extremely hot, that can have a different effect where it like can overproof more easily. Then we're going to add 100 grams of our active sourdough starter. And as you saw, it has doubled in volume by our measurement line. I can eyeball this, but I highly recommend using a... But I... Where did my scale go? But I highly recommend using your scale. And then 10 grams of fine salt. And your hands are your best kitchen tool. I will always say that. You're just going to give it a nice little mix. We're not looking for it to be smooth, just like mostly smooth, or just broken up at least, the sourdough starter. And then 450 grams of bread flour. You can also use all-purpose flour. I'll use it if I'm in a pinch and don't have bread flour on hand, and it still works out great. And again, we're just going to use our fingers to mix this all together until there's no flour clump. We want all that flour well absorbed. And your hands are going to look a little crazy, but you just pull it off. Our dough is going to be nice and sticky, and that's exactly what we want. So I like to use some like these wrap instead of plastic wrap, but you can also use a damp kitchen towel. So run it under like some warm water, wring out as much of that water as possible, and then lay it over. Works perfect, traps in the moisture. That is key. We don't want our dough to dry out, which is why we want it covered. I think you could use aluminum foil too here. We're going to let this rest in a warm environment. I'll put it on top of my stove or again by the window for 30 to 45 minutes, and then we'll begin the lift and fold process. In the meantime, you guys want to see something kind of cool. I was like, oh, I'll just pick like one or two tomatoes. I saw some red ones in there. And it's always good to pick your tomatoes, your cucumbers, basically anything in the garden every one or two days because it could stop the blossom production, which stops fruit production. I was not expecting to pick this many Genovese heirloom tomatoes. I mean, this basket goes very deep. So my Nana's going to come over on Monday, it's Saturday that I'm filming this, and help me can. We're going to can some diced tomatoes, some lemonade concentrate, some green beans. We're going to go through like water bath canning versus pressure canning. What else are we doing? Peach applesauce. My peach trees are full of peaches. And by the time I pick them, because they're a little bit of late bloomers, it should also be entering into apple season. So it'll be perfect time to make peach applesauce. Some pickles. Oh, and some tomato jam because I have more tomatoes than I know what to do with. I also have some marble tomatoes and San Marzano tomatoes and green tomatoes. I made some fried green tomatoes and ribeye steaks for lunch. And my green beans didn't do as well this year, but we got some from a local farmer at a farmer's market this morning too. So we're going to can all these pressure can those. And then this was really fun. I got, I picked my first mini cantaloupe, mini melon. It smells so sweet. That's like one of the key ways to tell if your melons are ready is if their skin turns from like a bright green to a mellow yellow. A mellow yellow. We're going to stick with that. And if they smell very sweet. And then I also picked my first jack-o-lantern pumpkin, which is really funny. I think I just planted a few of my jack-o-lantern pumpkin vines a wee bit early. Usually you plant them like June, July. I planted them in May with everything else, which was my fault. But I did just plant some butternut squash vines. So those will be ready to harvest in proper timing. Because usually you want them to have like a sweet period because that will be what sweetens them up and really enriches their flavor. But I think I'll still be good. And maybe we'll have like a little early fall moment. Okay. I'll see you guys soon. It's been the resting period. So now it's time for lift and fold. Basically, you're going to imagine this bowl divided into four corners and starting one corner at a time. We're going to scoop our hand underneath, lift up as high as possible, and then fold it over into the center. What this is doing is trapping air into our sourdough bread so that we can have that iconic sourdough crumb. And you're just going to rotate the bowl and repeat it for every single corner. So you'll repeat it for a total of four times. And then you'll once again cover it, set it aside in a warm environment. And you want to repeat that process at least four times, preferably six times. And then after you've done your lift and fold process, you'll just leave it on the counter until like eight, nine o'clock. And then you'll shape it and put it away in the fridge for a long, cold fermentation, baking in the morning. But here's the thing. I'm not super structured when it comes to baking bread. I don't think you have to be. I don't want you guys to stress out. I want you to enjoy it and have fun. So what I'll do is I stick with the 8 to 9 a.m. sourdough starter feeding. And then I make the dough around 1 to 2 p.m. And then I just do the lift and fold process whenever I'm walking through the kitchen. And it could be an hour apart, 30 minutes apart, 45 minutes apart. If I've gone somewhere, maybe an hour and a half apart. But as long as I've done at least four to six of those lift and folds, I know that we're going to have lots of air bubbles stuck in our dough. And so we're perfect. Don't stress yourself out about it. And maybe just stick with the normal timing for your first time making it. And then you'll be a master. You won't even think twice. You'll have it memorized like the back of your hand. And also over time, it's still going to be sticky at first. But over time, it's going to have more structure to it and less sticky. If you don't want it to stick on your hands, just run your hands under some warm or cold water. And then do the lift and fold process. And it'll just make it a lot easier. After you've done all your lift and folds, and it's time to put it away in the fridge, you're going to transfer out your dough onto a clean surface. You don't really want it floured because you want that surface to work with you. You're going to gently stretch the dough from underneath so that it creates this semi-large rectangle. Again, don't beat yourself up on an exact size here. And then we're going to roll it up kind of like a burrito. And then we're going to let our non-floured surface work with us to use our fingers to roll it up into a really tight, smooth surface on top. Then we'll place it into our floured bread basket where the seam side is up. And then we're going to cover it and place it in the fridge overnight, at least 12 hours up to 48 hours. After our bread loaf has had its long cold fermentation in the fridge, I usually just do overnight. You could do 12 to 24 hours, which is best. Or you could do up to 48 hours if you'd like a more pronounced sour, sourdough flavor. But I have the oven preheated to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. And I went ahead and put my Dutch oven that I'll be baking our sourdough loaf with in the oven as it preheats. It takes about 30 minutes for my oven to get there. If yours is a monster machine and preheats faster, I recommend just a minimum letting it have that 30 minutes of preheating time so it's nice and hot. I didn't want us to wait until tomorrow for a bread loaf, so I went ahead and prepped one yesterday. And we're going to go ahead and bake it. First, we need parchment paper. A little trick, crinkle up your parchment paper and then lay it flat on your surface. This is going to help it like bend easier into your Dutch oven. I also like to score my bread before I put it in the Dutch oven. And then because our top side is actually on the bottom, we're just going to invert this onto the parchment paper. Then you want to rub off any excess flour on the tops and sides and to give it a singular deep slip on the upper side of the bread. Kind of like to flick the top little flap open. I personally like to add about a fourth a cup of hot water because we don't want our very hot Dutch oven breaking with cold water. And I'll add it to the outside of the parchment paper. Immediately cover it and then put it back in the oven. And I also let my bread loaf sit on the counter as the oven preheated as well. This is going to help initiate the steam, which will help it rise. That's going to cook covered for 20 minutes. Then we're going to remove the cover and let it cook another like 15 to 20 minutes as well. The visual cue to know when it's done is a deeply golden crust on the exterior. And then we're going to let it rest for one hour. Don't get impatient because the crumb is still setting itself and you want it to be nice and chewy and fluffy and airy. And that's going to come by letting it rest properly. And then we can actually enjoy the fruits of our labor. Got a little toasty on top. All right, she's rested for an hour. And are we ready to slice into a beautiful homemade, very rustic loaf of sourdough bread, which I don't normally get breaks on the sides unless I score it that way. So it's an extra special one for you guys. Oh, look at that crumb. The crumb is so perfect. It's always so rewarding when you bake bread at home or like cakes or any, honestly anything because you know exactly what you put in there and you know that it's good for you or just maybe, you know, good for you mentally a little sweet treat never hurt nobody. I especially during fall and winter love like sourdough bread with a little butter and jam during pretty much all year round. But especially during like the fall and winter seasons, just that with coffee is just so cozy. And especially when you only let it rest one hour. And what's nice is that it only needs one full hour to rest for that perfect crumb. And it's still slightly warm so it can melt butter easily, which is exactly what we're going to do. Okay, I got my bud. We're just gonna slide that on. And you can see it melting because it's still slightly warm. It's perfect. Actually, another thing about this, this one makes. I love sourdough bread. You know, with the tomatoes in front of me, I'm being reminded of just how good tuna melts are on sourdough. It's my favorite form of bread for tuna melts. I also have a sourdough sandwich bread loaf recipe on my blog, which is very similar. It just has the addition of avocado oil or olive oil and then honey, which helps to enrich the dough with a little bit of a softer flavor rather than so much sour flavor. And it's also baked in a loaf pan and it turns out much softer than with like sourdough that has a nice crisp exterior. So it's truly whatever you prefer in making sandwiches. But sourdough bread is just superior of any kind for any sandwich. Growing up, I remember going to my papa's during the summer and he would make tomato mayo sandwiches. And that's like, that just came to my mind. I'm adding also a little bit of salt. I also never really loved just a tomato mayo sandwich. Like I get the concept. It's really good. And then you really enjoy a thick slice of tomato. But I prefer a little more substance, like a little tuna salad situation, chicken salad, maybe even a little cheese on it. I don't know. My personal preference. Time to enjoy. We can never go wrong with sourdough. Truly so good every time. Well, that's pretty much it, guys. We made sourdough starter from scratch. We fed our sourdough starter. We've made sourdough bread from scratch together. And now you're masters at sourdough. And I will see you guys next week for our next video. Bye.