Learning to Make Sourdough Bread from My Mom

 Starting about two years ago, my family decided to be more mindful about the ingredients in our food. Around the same time, my mom decided to start making bread for the family instead of buying it. Inspired by my sister-in-law, who had already mastered the craft and gave us our first bit of sourdough starter, it quickly became my mom’s Sunday ritual. One that the whole family (and plenty of friends) got to enjoy.

Over the last few months, the loaves started coming a little less often as life got busier. Coincidentally, I have Sundays off from work and am usually looking for something to do, so I thought it might be a good time to finally learn how to make sourdough myself. Not only would it be nice to help keep the family tradition going, but it also feels like a fun new life skill to learn and carry with me.

Today, my mom and I decided it was time to bring the starter back to life and get it ready for baking again. Since I’m hoping to make my first loaf soon, I thought I’d document the process here and hopefully I’ll have a successful loaf to share next!

Day 1: Feeding the Dormant Starter

First things first: we had to find the starter, which had been sitting in the very back of the fridge for a little longer than we’d like to admit.

Here’s what we did:

1. Locate your starter. Find the jar of starter that has probably been looming in the very back of your fridge.

2. Remove the hooch. Pour off any dark liquid that has collected on top. (This is called hooch, and it’s a sign that your starter is hungry.)

3. Transfer 15g of starter into a clean jar.

4. Add 15g of warm water and stir until combined.

5. Add 15g of unbleached flour and stir again until you have a thick, even mixture.

6. Leave it somewhere warm and let it do its thing.

7. Repeat every 12 hours until the starter is bubbly and consistently doubles in size after feeding.

And that’s it for Day 1! Now we wait, feed, and hopefully watch our starter come back to life.

Next up: getting the starter ready to bake with + (hopefully) making my first loaf!