How To: Sourdough Starter Recipe with Einkorn

Step 1

Combine ½ cup einkorn flour + 4 tbsp of warm water in mason jar. Stir until it forms a ball (adding a little more water as needed). Cover lightly with mason jar lid and let sit on counter for 48 hours to ferment.

Step 2

After 48 hours has passed by, you should notice some air bubbles and a change in smell. The smell may resemble pickles or yogurt (ideal). There may even be a dark brown layer forming on the top of flour mixture – that’s ok! Scrape off the brown layer and throw it away.

Step 3

After throwing out the brown layer, scoop out and “discard” (throw into the garbage or save in another jar for discard recipes) half of the starter. Add ½ cup flour + 4 tbsp of warm water to the remaining starter and stir until it forms a ball. Cover lightly with lid and leave on the counter to ferment for 24hrs.

Step 4

After 24 hours has passed, discard half of the starter. Then, add ½ cup flour + 4 tbsp of warm water and stir until it forms a ball. Place back on the counter for another 24hrs. Repeat this process daily until your starter has lots of bubbles, rises and falls, and smells sweet and tangy. This may take 5-10 days.

Step 5

Once your starter has lots of bubbles, rises and falls, and smells sweet and tangy, it’s ready to make bread! Get started with this einkorn sourdough bread loaf or sourdough pizza.

Tips

A sourdough starter should be active when using to make bread. Feed it several hours before you plan to make bread so that it has the time to rise and form bubbles on top. This time period will vary depending on how warm it is in your kitchen, so you will need to test this out.

If you are planning to make 1 loaf of sourdough bread per week, you should feed your starter, let it ferment and rise overnight, then place it in the fridge until you will be using it again.

“Feeding” Starter – this is when you add water and flour to your starter. You’re “feeding” the starter. The flour is it’s food.

After starter has been created and can be called a sourdough starter, you will feed it flour and water just as you did when you were creating it. It’s not necessary to measure how much flour and water you feed the starter with going forward, but you should have a slightly wetter starter when making bread.

“Discarding” Starter − this is important because if you don’t discard (or remove part of your starter before feeding), your starter will grow out of your jar. There’s nothing wrong with your starter and you don’t have to throw it in the garbage. In fact, you should keep the discard in another container and use it for discard recipes like these homemade cheez-its in the future! Discard doesn’t go bad if stored in the refrigerator.

Getting starter ready to make bread after being in the Fridge

Remove starter from the fridge 1 day before you’re going to make bread. When its room temp, feed the starter with flour and water and allow it to ferment. Its active when its risen and bubbles have formed on top.