Creating a “WILD” sourdough starter

There are many amazing videos and websites that give advice on how to “start” a starter. I’m going to assume that you have looked at some of those, but I will give links to videos and or blog posts below that helped me out. Major thanks to Alton Brown, whose video and recipe was the basis of my method. (His tip about the wooden chopstick was a game changer!).

What you need:

Distilled or Filtered Water – you don’t want chlorine or or other additives in your water)

Unbleached Whole Wheat Flour (there is a LOT of discussion on the internet about flours. I found after trial and error that Whole Wheat works best for me and increases the whole grain content of the final loaf, which adds texture and flavor).

2 clean small pint jars with lid (I use Kerr canning jars with a “straight” neck.

A digital kitchen scale

A wooden Chopstick (like you get with takeout)

2 rubber bands

A tea towel

The beginning (day 1-3)

  1. Put your jar on the scale, check to make sure you are using grams (g) as measurment and use the “Tare” function to reset the scale to zero.
  2. Measure 105 grams of water into the jar.  I find that using a measuring cup with a ml scale on it works best as milliliters are approximately but not exactly equivalent to grams.
  3. Using a small spoon measure 105 grams of whole wheat flour into the jar.
  4. Using your chopstick combine these ingredients into a rough paste. Try to get all the flour hydrated.  It won’t be perfectly smooth, the hydration will even out as it sits but try to get it reasonably uniform. When the starter is evenly hydrated, scrape down the sides of the jar and poke at the starter to get it relatively level in the jar.
  5. Mark the level of the starter by putting a rubber band at the level of the starter.
  6. Cover the jar with the tea towel and secure with the rubber band.
  7. Put in a warm dry space for 2-3 days until it starts to bubble and has grown to approximately double in size.

Strengthening your starter (day 4-9)

  1. When the starter has started to bubble and has increased in size (It may not be quite double, it may be more than double. It’s a mystery – just go with it) you will want to grab your 2nd clean jar and place it on your scale, tare the scale.
  2. You may need to scrape the slightly dry bit off the top.  No big deal, just throw it in the compost bin.
  3. Measure 30 grams of the starter into the new jar using the chopstick to drag the taffy-like substance from one jar to the other. You can go a gram or two over, but get as close as possible. Discard the rest of the original starter into the compost bin.
  4. Add 90 grams of filtered water and stir with your chopstick to roughly combine.  This will help with distributing the starter throughout the flour/water mixture.
  5. Add 90 grams of whole wheat flour and combine as you did when you were first creating your starter. Add your rubber band marker to the outside of the jar and loosely attach the lid to the jar and return to your warm dry spot.
  6. Repeat steps 3-5 every 24 hours for 5 days.  If it’s still bubbling up and roughly doubling in size every day, you are ready to bake.

Link: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/wild-sourdough-starter-7480403