How do you make a sourdough starter? What’s happening in a sourdough starter? What’s so great about sourdough bread? This video tells you all that and more. It is a video demonstration from Lesson 1 in the Sourdough eCourse and Sourdough A to Z eBook.
Our free sample chapter includes the print version of everything I said in that video. Fill out the form below and I’ll send it to you. 
You Can Do It!
Making a sourdough starter is easy, thanks to the already-present and abundant wild organisms on whole grain flour (the fresher the better). My two daughters have done it — I know you can, too! (You can get the instructions in our free sample chapter — see the form above.)
What’s Next?
Pretty soon your sourdough starter will be bubbly, active and ready to work. Use it in any of these yummy, easy, recipes, great for beginners or experienced bakers alike: fluffy pancakes, waffles, english muffins, crepes, chocolate cake, spice cake, or pizza crust — all free recipes right here on this blog.
The recipes linked above — as well as the additional recipes in the eCourse and eBook — use whole-grain flours. In addition, we always call for the entirety of the flour to be “soured” by the sourdough starter — ensuring maximum reduction of phytic acid and pre-digestion of gluten. You can bet that these recipes are the healthiest around!
Have you made a sourdough starter before? Now that you’ve seen why sourdough is so much better than modern bread baking practices, what do you think? What’s your favorite thing to make with sourdough?
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About Wardee Harmon
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I LOVE this! I’ve been wishing I could take your sourdough eCourse (too busy and not enough $$ in the budget right now…) as I enjoy baking with sourdough. I feel like my homework has been done for me in just this one video since on my to-do list is “research how sourdough works.” Thank you!! Will be posting a link to this.
Blessings, ~Lisa
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Lisa — I’m glad you found it helpful and thank for sharing it with others.
Thank you for your clear and easy instructions
This was very helpful.
Hi Wardee! Thank you for making this available for free! I would like to start some sourdough, but need a gluten free starter. Do you think I would have more success with oat flour or millet flour?
Thanks for the help.
Lydia
Lydia — I’m not sure. I will ask Sara Kay (our gluten-free sourdough guru) to stop by and advise you.
Hi Lydia!
I personally haven’t made starters with either of those flours. The GF starter recipe I use is here: http://glutenfreesourdough.blogspot.com/2010/01/boosted-brown-rice-starter-gluten-free.html There are also lots of tips in the Sourdough A to Z book, which I would highly recommend getting if you’re going to be doing lots of GF sourdough baking!
I suspect that you could use millet flour to feed the starter once you have it established, but I found that oat flour gave it a funny smell and taste when I used it with sourdough, not sure why? Do you have a particular reason for avoiding rice flour?
Thank you Sara!
I wasn’t really avoiding rice flour, it’s just that the bread I’ve made so far turned out best with millet and oats, however they weren’t sprouted or soaked. I’m just now getting into the soaking part of our food prep. I will check out the link you provided.
By the way, Wardee, I am planning on purchasing the e-books for fundamentals and sourdough. Just as soon as I have some pennies scraped together!
Thank You Ladies, God Bless you and your loved ones!
Lydia
Thank you Wardee. Your video added some more tips for managing my sourdough starter. I made the gingerbread from your sour dough book a few days ago. Sooo delicious and the sourdough shy members of the family didn’t even guess that it was sourdough!
I had a day in the kitchen recenty and had the starter sat near the woodstove which was fired up for baking. It was fizzing away and I was able to use some and refeed it during the day with just a few hours between feeds. It was like having a wee friend in the kitchen as I baked.
I was blessed with some mature starter from a good friend of mine and I’m really enjoying it! I’m going to have to find the extra $$ in the budget so I can take this ecourse. This video was very interesting! I’ve always wondered about the “mechanics” of sourdough.
Here’s a question for those who leave their starter out all the time: Do you find that your house has a yummy, sourdough-bready kind of aroma all the time? When my friend gave me that starter I took a big whiff and it smelled so good! I couldn’t wait to start making something with it. I think some people might think it doesn’t smell good, but I find it comforting and homey. When I walk into my house (through the kitchen) I am greeted by that lovely sourdough smell and I love it. It kind of reminds me of my grandma, although I’m not sure she worked in sourdough. She did teach me how to knead and make bread though and every time I make bread I’m briefly transported back to when I was a little girl, kneading along side my grandma and being fascinated with the dough rising in the round, white-enameled pans with the black rims….sigh…I’m glad she’s still alive, but I know she won’t be forever and I will always cherish those memories.
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GREAT Job with your video !
Sure helped this beginner !
Thank You…
Thank you so very much! I’ve always liked the taste and smell of sourdough bread better than regular whole wheat, but now I understand why! I can’t wait to get started on my Starter! Thank you for all you do!
Just wanted to say thanks!! I had been wanting to do this for a while and for homeschooling we are in the middle of learning about bacteria and fungus so this video will be the perfect lesson for tomorrow!
This was so helpful. I’m wondering what to do if my starter isn’t doubling in volume and forms a hard crust on top?
Sarah, it is okay if it forms a hard crust. Are you in a dry environment? Just stir that stuff back in. To get it to double in volume, you can make a thicker starter (they rise more). Keep up with the feedings and over time the organism concentration will increase and it will perform better.
Wardee Harmon recently posted… KYF #033: Listener Questions (botulism in ferments, tooth decay, rashes from cheese, sourdough challah, candida, and more)
I love sourdough bread but we eat bread so infrequently is one loaf a month that it is not economical to keep a starter. I have been baking with kefir as my sourdough stater. What is your experience with that? We like the kefir sourdough bread but it does not rise as well. Any tips for that ?
Hi, Kim!
My only thought is to add a bit of baking soda just before you shape the loaves. I haven’t tried it, but it could help give a nice lift. It will react with the acid in the kefir. Start with small amounts and work up from there. Also keep in mind that it is fast-action and once it rises, won’t rise again. So really you want to work it in quickly, shape the loaf, and let rise undisturbed, then bake. Just an idea… let me know if you try it and how it goes.
Wardee Harmon recently posted… KYF #033: Listener Questions (botulism in ferments, tooth decay, rashes from cheese, sourdough challah, candida, and more)