Sourdough Starter

Looking to nail your sourdough recipe? Queen of sourdough, Feng Chen, shows you how to perfect your method, from starter, to dough, to bake.

Recommended Oven
Dome, Dome S1, Arc XL, Arc, Roccbox
Prep Time
7 days
Cook Time
dependent on final recipe
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Ingredients

Makes
a sourdough starter

Total quantities needed to establish a starter:

  • 175g dark rye flour
  • 175g water (or unsweetened pineapple juice)c

Equipment Needed

  • Arc

    Arc

  • Dough Tray

    Dough Tray

  • Dough scraper

    Dough scraper

  • Dough Cutter

    Dough Cutter

  • Acacia Wood Pizza Peel & Server

    Acacia Wood Pizza Peel & Server

    View

Instructions

Prevent your screen from going dark as you follow along.

How to establish a starter

Step 1

In a jar mix together 25g / 0.8oz dark rye flour and 25g / 0.8oz of water (or unsweetened pineapple juice). Place the lid on and leave at room temperature for 24 hours. You can add a rubber band to the jar to monitor the growth.

Step 2

After 24 hours add a feed which is another 25g / 0.8 oz dark rye flour and 25g / 0.8oz water (or unsweetened pineapple juice) stir and place the lid on and leave at room temperature for 24 hours. Repeat this process for 6 more days.

Step 3

Your starter is now established and can live in the fridge, you only need to feed it when you need it.


How to use the starter in a recipe

Step 1

For Feng’s sourdough pizza recipe you need 30g / 1oz of starter so will need to make 35g / 1.2 oz total so you have some seed for next time, you will need a 1:1:1 feeding – 1 part starter, 1 part flour, 1 part water (or unsweetened pineapple juice).

Step 2

To make 35g / 1.2oz total you will need roughly 12g / 0.4oz of each, mix this together in a small jar and level it out to see how it grows, you can use a rubber band to track the growth and see the peak to see how long it takes for your fermentation to double or triple in size.

Step 3

Your large jar of starter can be used in bread or waffle or any other sourdough discard recipe – just remember to keep it in the fridge. You will now be using the smaller jar as your pizza sourdough starter.

Author Feng Chen avatar
Feng Chen

Pizza Maker

Thailand

Pizza maker and creative living in Bangkok, Thailand. Queen of puns and pizza.

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