Things bakers know: Sluggish starter? Add a little whole grain flour. (2024)
Consistency is not my strong suit. I have a terrible habit of picking up hobbies and putting them right back down. I declare a word of the year every January 1st and I forget it by January 20th. I still haven’t developed the meditation practice I promised myself.
This trend continues when it comes to my sourdough starter maintenance. (Shhh, don’t tell my coworkers!) I’m a forgetful sourdough parent, the kind who would leave it stranded at soccer practice because I didn’t remember I was on pick-up duty.
But that’s all fine, because I have a baker’s trick up my sleeve: Whenever I return to my starter, bashful at how long it’s been since I said hi, I give it a treat. And that treat is whole grain flour.
When we feed sourdough starter, we’re quite literally doing just that: feeding the yeast and bacteria that have been cultivated in this simple mixture of water and flour. This, in turn, helps them thrive so they can go on to both flavor and leaven our bread. And all-purpose flour works just fine as a food source, especially if you’re feeding your starter regularly (which you definitely should!). But like most living things, the yeast and bacteria in starter do especially well when they have more nutrients to snack on. “The minerals and other food present in whole grains help give a big feed, encouraging growth,” explains Baking Ambassador Martin Philip. “Using a small amount of that rocket fuel is a great trick to literally get things off the ground.”
According to Baking School Instructor Lucas Diggle, whole grains can also be helpful to encourage activity in a brand-new sourdough starter. “It’s not uncommon to begin a white liquid levain (the kind of culture that most home bakers tend to have) entirely with whole rye,” he says. “Whole grains contain exponentially more sourdough-friendly microorganisms than white flour.” Laura Valli, a doctoral student studying rye at the Washington State University’s Breadlab, adds that “rye, in particular, contains more free sugars that are easily accessible for the yeast and bacteria to feed on, and it has a higher content of starch-degrading enzymes. That all speeds up the fermentation.”
Photography by Kristin Teig; food styling by Liz Neily
If you’re like me and have neglected your starter for a little too long — perhaps you’ve been out of town or simply forgot it in the back of the fridge — you can use a little whole grain flour (such as pumpernickel or whole wheat flour) to feed your starter and give it a boost. Martin recommends 10% to 20% whole grain in proportion to white flour, but adds that “it's flexible — you don’t need to be super precise with this.” The small amount won’t affect your starter’s flavor, and you can still use it in any recipe calling for “regular” (not whole grain) starter.
This trick also works if your starter is merely acting a little sluggish. The whole grains in these flours will accelerate fermentation of both the bacteria and the yeast in the starter, like revving the gas. This step will help get yourstarter ready for use more quickly.
And remember, while this trick is helpful, it’s not necessary to achieving a healthy, thriving starter. “Mature starters that have been maintained with unbleached all-purpose flour will generally revive well with all-purpose flour, even starters that have been neglected in the fridge for an extended time,” says Barb Alpern, a bread expert on our Baker’s Hotline. Laura adds, “The fact that rye flour ferments quicker than wheat flour should not lead to the assumption that the slower-fermenting wheat starter is less healthy. Wheat flour just takes longer to reach the peak ripeness.”
Maintaining sourdough starter is a practice that requires paying attention, responding to your living culture, and giving it what it needs. And sometimes, what it may needis a little boost of whole grains.
Stock up onpumpernickel orwhole wheat flourso you can always have some on hand for your starter — andwhole grain bread recipes to make with it.
Cover photo by Danielle Sykes; food styling by Liz Neily.
The whole grains in these flours will accelerate fermentation of both the bacteria and the yeast in the starter, like revving the gas. This step will help get your starter ready for use more quickly. And remember, while this trick is helpful, it's not necessary to achieving a healthy, thriving starter.
Sometimes changing the flour you feed your sourdough starter with can give it a boost. This is particularly true of rye flour or other whole grains or organic flours. Rye is known as a super food for sourdough starters and will often wake up a tired, lack lustre starter with a hit of different yeast and bacteria.
The best flour blend for creating a new sourdough starter is 50% whole-meal flour (whole wheat or whole rye) and 50% bread flour or all-purpose flour. I recommend a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and bread flour.
Begin by discarding all but 1/2 cup of the old starter. Then, feed the remaining starter with fresh flour and water. The feeding ratio should ideally be 1:1:1 (starter:flour:water). Leave the mixture at room temperature until it becomes bubbly and active, which usually takes about a day.
The whole grains in these flours will accelerate fermentation of both the bacteria and the yeast in the starter, like revving the gas. This step will help get your starter ready for use more quickly.
Naturally rich in amylases, nutrients, and microbes, this cereal flour enables a starter to quickly convert sugars for faster, more efficient fermentation. Compared to whole wheat flour, rye flour is said to be the most nutrient- and amylase-dense option for a sourdough starter.
The process for feeding sourdough starter is so simple and takes only a few minutes. For refrigerated starters, feed once a week and start with step 1, but for room temperature starters, feed once a day and start at step 2 (or 3).
Ideally your strong flour should be between 12.5-14% protein and non organic, especially if you are new to sourdough as non organic flours are stronger and will make your introduction into sourdough smoother.
Kamut has a nutty flavor with kernels measuring two to three times the size of most wheat. The grains are light tan in color, while the flour is more golden than the typical wheat variety.
But some bakers occasionally add a little yeast with the starter to a sourdough loaf to give a boost to fermentation. Sourdough bread baking is a slow process, and even a small amount of yeast can speed it up significantly.
Keep feeding your starter, and you'll see normal activity (bubbles) return in a few days. If your starter has a bit of dark liquid on top, it's not dead! It simply means it's hungry and that it's time to feed it. Unless your starter has a pink or orange hue or is beginning to mold, you probably haven't killed it yet.
The World's 'Oldest' Sourdough Starter Was Made With 4,500-Year-Old Yeast. There's no bread quite like sourdough. In addition to being tasty as a sandwich bread, delicious as sourdough croutons, and even great just toasted with butter, sourdough's production process is decidedly unlike other breads.
This recipe uses regular, everyday all-purpose flour, but you can certainly make sourdough using whole-wheat, rye, or any other kind of flour. Wild yeast is everywhere, after all!
I recommend the following flours to make your sourdough starter: Gluten free: use brown rice, millet, quinoa, sorghum, buckwheat, teff or gluten free oat flour. Regular starter: use whole wheat, whole spelt, whole rye, khorasan/kamut, emmer, einkorn, oat etc.
Whole-wheat flour makes your baked goods denser and a lot heavier than those made with just all-purpose flour. You can start by substituting some whole-wheat flour for all-purpose flour, but no more than 25 percent of the total amount unless you're willing to really sacrifice the texture of your baked goods.
Sprouted flour is also great for making sourdough breads. I like to grow my starter using sprouted rye flour and adding sprouted wheat and spelt flour to my dough. A basic French bread recipe using sprouted wheat flour makes great baguettes, rolls, bread sticks, and buns.
Introduction: My name is Margart Wisoky, I am a gorgeous, shiny, successful, beautiful, adventurous, excited, pleasant person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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