Starting your own sourdough starter can feel both daunting and like a big project, but the fact is that it is easier than many think, and definitely worth the effort! With just a few ingredients and a little patience, you can create a sourdough that can be used over and over again to provide you with wonderfully delicious bread. In this guide, we will go through how to step by step start a sourdough from scratch, how to take care of it, and suggest recipes to make with your sourdough.
What is sourdough?
A sourdough is a mixture of flour and water that ferments and rises without the addition of yeast. When the dough ferments, lactic acid bacteria and acetic acid are produced and proliferate, which act as a natural yeast. As the lactic acid bacteria and yeast fungi grow, a living culture is created and the dough's pH value decreases - hence the name sourdough.
When you bake with sourdough, it gives the bread a chewier texture and a slightly sour taste that is appreciated by many, unlike bread that is baked with regular yeast.
Recept på surdeg
Here comes a classic recipe for sourdough, perfect even for beginners! With just flour, water, and a little patience, you can create a sourdough starter that will be ready to bake with after a few days.
Du behöver:
1.5 dl all-purpose flour
1.5 dl rye flour
3 dl water
Så gör du:
Day 1
Mix 1 dl lukewarm water (about 40 degrees) with 0.5 dl rye flour and 0.5 dl wheat flour in a well-cleaned bowl with lid or glass jar. Mix the batter with a fork until you get a smooth and thick batter. If the batter is too thick or too runny, add more water or flour; the amount doesn't need to be exact, but the most important thing is to achieve a good consistency.
Store the sourdough mixture at room temperature with the lid slightly ajar so that air bacteria can reach the dough.
Day 2
Now the sourdough should have started to develop some air bubbles and a mild scent. Now it's time to feed the sourdough to make it continue to grow. Mix in 1 dl of water, 0.5 dl of rye flour, and 0.5 dl of wheat flour into the dough mixture and stir. Store at room temperature with the lid slightly ajar.
Day 3
Repeat the steps from yesterday and mix in 1 dl of water, 0.5 dl of rye flour, and 0.5 dl of wheat flour. Stir the mixture and store at room temperature with the lid slightly ajar.
Day 4
Now your sourdough should be bubbly and ready to bake with. When the dough is ready, you will notice that it almost moves on its own if you tilt or shake the bowl with the dough a little.
It's time to bake something really delicious with your sourdough!
How to feed sourdough - how to do it?
When you have baked with your sourdough for the first time, you need to feed it so that it continues to grow and be ready for the next baking. Save about 20% of the sourdough when you bake and add equal parts water and flour and stir. The amount is not so important as long as you use the same number of grams of water as flour. When you have fed the sourdough, it should have the consistency of a thick pancake batter.
Store the sourdough at room temperature with the lid slightly ajar and let it rise to double its size, this takes about a day. When it's time to bake again, save about 20% of the dough that can continue to be fed. If you do not plan to bake with the sourdough the next day, avoid feeding it. If the sourdough will not be used for several days, you can store it in the refrigerator.
Recipes with sourdough
There are countless things and varieties of bread you can bake with sourdough. Do you want to know how to bake a really good sourdough bread? Here you will find recipes for sourdough bread baked in a cast iron pot. Scroll down to find our best recipe for sourdough pizza.
Sourdough pizza
What is better than a homemade sourdough pizza? With this recipe, you will get a pizza with a wonderfully crispy crust that is appreciated by the whole family and can be topped with exactly what you want!
Ingredients:
200 g sourdough
350 g water
10 g salt (approximately 2 tsp)
470 g wheat flour (preferably Tipo 00)
1 tbsp olive oil
Tomato sauce
Grated cheese
Optional topping
Så gör du:
- Mix the sourdough with room temperature water in a bowl and stir.
- Add the flour and mix until you get a sticky dough without flour lumps. Let the pizza dough rest for about 30 minutes under a lid.
- Add oil and salt and knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes until it is smooth.
- Let the dough rise under a kitchen towel or plastic wrap for about 4-6 hours at room temperature or until it has doubled in size.
- When the dough has finished rising, divide it into portions depending on how many pizzas you want to make and shape the pizza dough into balls. Let it rest for another 30 minutes.
- Set the oven to 250 degrees.
- Forma the dough balls into pizzas with a rolling pin or with your hands on a floured surface until you have a thin pizza base.
- Spread with tomato sauce, grated cheese, and top with your choice of ingredients.
- Bake the pizza in the oven on a baking sheet or pizza stone for about 8-12 minutes or until the edges have a nice golden brown color. Feel free to use a pizzaspade to smoothly slide in and take out the pizza from the oven.
- Serve on a wooden pizza tray och njut!