Ideally, a glass container should be used for the starter's home. I've had the best luck with an wide-mouth, amber 1qt mason jar (a clear jar would be fine, as well). I typically leave my starter on the countertop and use a coffee filter retained by the metal band in place of the metal lid.
The starter will grow happily on a 1:1:1 or 2:2:1 ratio (by weight) of flour:water:starter (I typically use 2:2:1). For example, if your usual bread recipe calls for 150g of starter, a good feeding mix would be:
- 150g water
- 150g All-purpose flour
- 75g previous starter
An important note with sourdough it that, if you are using straight sourdough, it will take much longer to rise than a dough made with instant yeast. I typically have found that I get a 2x rise in 6-8 hours. If you are short on time, you can decrease the amount of flour/water in your bread recipe while increasing the amount of starter (in near 1:1 ratio), and add some instant yeast for a faster loaf.
Sourdough baking is as much of an art as it is a science- It may take some time to learn how your starter behaves in it's new home!
If you're doing more frequent baking, and the starter is living on your countertop, it should be fed once to twice daily. King Arthur recommends that if the sponge has flattened out and if the top of the start is a smooth surface with lots of small bubbles, it should be fed before use. I've just used a longer rising period for the dough in place of this, however, and it's worked out well for the most part.
I typically keep my starter in an wide-mouth amber, 1qt mason jar. The metal lid is not used and a coffee filter (or several layers of cheesecloth) is used, and retained by the metal band.
If your baking is infrequent, the starter can be kept in the fridge and fed on a weekly basis. The same 2:2:1 ratio may be used. It is important to not use a cloth lid while keeping the starter in the fridge- it allows other molds and bacteria to infiltrate the starter, and it will evaporate off too much water. Instead, either use a metal mason jar lid, or some plastic wrap, and loosely secure it with the metal band. You do not want a tight fit here since the starter will produce CO2 as a byproduct and you want any excess gasses to be able to vent out.
I've found this is an easy, and solid base, recipe for a sourdough loaf. This is a 50% hydration loaf (2:1 flour to water ratio), with a 2% salt level (2% of the flour mass)
- 250g bread flour
- 250g all purpose flour
- 250g water
- 150g well-fed starter
- 10g salt
- 25g canola oil
- other oils can be used here- canola is a relatively neutral oil, olive will give a more savory flavor - Experiment!
this step give the flour a chance to rehydrate and for enzymatic activity to break apart some of the starches before adding the salt, yeast, and other ingredients. This can give a richer flavor and chewier texture, but is not required
- Combine 200g of water with all the flour. Gently mix until all ingredients are combined. It is important to not knead the bread at this point- you want the ingredients mixed, but you don't want to build gluten mechanically yet.
- Cover the dough, and let it rest for 30m to 2 hours. This is a pretty wide time range, so experiment and see what differences you see in the loaves.
- I personally use between 30m to 1h
In mixing & kneading, it is important that the salt not come into direct contact with the starter. Either sifting the salt into the flour beforehand, or adding it into the water before combining the rest of the ingredients is a helpful approach
- If you performed an autolyse rest: a pair of latex gloves will be really helpful here
- Combine salt, oil, and remaining 50g of water and work into flour & water dough
- Once the other ingredients are incorporated, add the starter and work into the dough
- If you did not perform an autolyse:
- Sift flour and salt together
- Combine water, starter, and oil. Mix thoroughly
- Lightly dust a clean, flat surface with all-purpose flour, and turn out the dough onto it.
- also set aside 1/4 cup of flour for dusting purposes
- Knead the bread for 10-15 minutes, lightly dusting the surface and your hands as needed to prevent excessive sticking.
- After the kneading is complete (the dough should be smooth, and have an almost silky texture), lightly coat the inside of a glass or stainless steel bowl with oil
- Form the dough into a ball, place it into the coated bowl, cover it with a layer of plastic wrap, and place into a warm area to rise until it reaches twice its original volume.
- depending on how sour you'd like things, you can always punch it down and do a second (or even third!) rise. I typically make the dough the night before, then cook it in the morning before work- typically a 8-10 hour rise
- Preheat oven to 425°F
- Gently remove the dough from the covered bowl and form into a ball
- Apply a light coating of a neutral, high smoke point oil (canola works well) to the interior of the dutch oven
- Add a layer of cornmeal to the bottom of the pot, and gently place the dough ball into the vessel
- Score an
Xinto the top of the dough - Lightly spray or flick water onto the dough (there doesn't need to be much, just enough to lightly wet the suface)
- Place the dutch oven, uncovered, into the oven and bake for 30m-40m
- Preheat oven to 425°F
- Gently remove the dough from the covered bowl and form into a log
- Apply a light coating of a neutral, high smoke point oil (canola works well) to the interior of the loaf pan
- a layer of parchment paper works great, as well
- Add a layer of cornmeal to the bottom of the pot, and gently place the dough log into the vessel
- Place a shallow baking sheet filled with 1-2 cups of water on an upper rack
- Place the loaf pan, uncovered, into the oven on a lower rack, underneath the baking sheet and bake for 30m-40m