I'm super excited that you have "Flora" in your hands! You're going to love her, and if you treat her right, she'll love you right back! She's easy to please and tough to kill, so you should be all set. Sourdough is truly the gift that keeps on giving!
"Flora" originally came from Italy, where the original culture has been maintained for over 100 years! She has been well loved in my little home, and has made many-a-things!
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A few quick notes on your starter:
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She is like a pet! Once established and reactivated, she needs to be fed (flour & water) daily if she's kept on your counter at room temperature (70º-75ºF is her preferred temperature) or fed weekly if you keep her in your fridge.
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Using a "living" flour vs flour that has been heavily processed will yield much better results.
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What you will need:
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Clean jar (a quart sized mason jar works great)
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Water (non chlorinated and not distilled! If you have tap water with chlorine, leave a pitcher of water on the counter for 24 hours. This will evaporate the chlorine from the water. Using chlorinated or distilled water may kill your starter)
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Flour
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Stirring Stick (such as spoon, the end of a wooden spatula, a silicone spatula, etc.)
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Kitchen Scale (this isn't technically "needed" but I highly encourage it. Using a scale will give accurate measurements which will yield the best results. Not to mention most all sourdough recipes are measured in grams)
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How to reactivate "Flora":
Day 1:
- Add entire package of starter (which is about 6 grams) to a clean jar
- Add 20g (2 Tbsp) lukewarm water
- Add 10g (1 Tbsp) flour
- Stir everything together until it's all mixed well
- Cover with a loosely placed lid over top
Day 2:
- Add 25g (2 Tbsp) lukewarm water
- Add 20g (2 Tbsp) flour
- Stir & cover
*Note: On day 2 or 3 you may notice a few bubbles. This is a good sign that the culture is becoming active again!
Day 3:
- Add 60g (4 Tbsp) lukewarm water
- Add 60g (4 Tbsp) flour
- Stir & cover
Day 4:
- Add 100g lukewarm water
- Add 100g flour
- Stir & cover
Day 5:
"Flora" is ready for action! By now, she should be active, bubbling, and noticeably growing in size. These are all good signs that she is alive! Yay for living food! From here, you can bake with your starter. Use it for bread, rolls, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, crusts and so much more! If “Flora” is not looking quite ready for baking yet, don’t panic! Follow with the directions below for “maintaining” the starter! Patience!
From here, you will want to maintain feeding your starter. You will always save some of your current starter to start a new starter, using what you don't save (otherwise known as discard) for your baking. (Ex: Use 100g starter for bread baking, and save 10g of starter to make a new starter, putting it in a clean jar.)
Everyone feeds their starter a bit differently based on what works for what they need. It's all relative to the baker, that's you now! You fancy pants, you ;) I will tell you what I do from here, but if this doesn't work for you and you find yourself needing more or less starter, adjust accordingly.
Maintaining Your Starter:
- Take 10g (1 tsp) of "Flora" and put her in a clean jar
- Add 50g (1/4C) flour
- Add 50g (1/4C) lukewarm water
- Stir & cover
* This would be considered a feeding and will be your new starter. You can leave it on your counter to use for baking in 12-24 hours depending on the temperature or put it in your fridge to use for once a week baking.
* Whatever is left over after you take out 10g of starter (the leftover starter is called “discard”) can be used for discard recipes immediately or put in the fridge. You can continue to add discard to this refrigerated jar.
Helpful Tips:
- If your starter isn’t giving results like you are wanting, try adding in 10g of rye flour for a few feedings! You’d do 40g of the current flour you’re using and then 10g of rye, making the total to still be 50g of flour.
- When you feed your starter, after you have mixed your flour & water, scrape down the sides with your stirring utensil. This allows you to see where your starter is starting at & how much it has grown.
- Placing a rubber band around your jar directly after feeding will give you a visual representation of how much your starter has grown. Once you feed the starter and have scraped the sides down, place the rubber band level with the top of the starter. This will help be a guideline to know when your starter has grown.
- Be patient! Patience is sometimes the key factor here and what might make or break your sourdough starter. If you aren't getting the kind of activity you planned on, be persistent with feedings and practice patience.
- When you discard, you can discard new discard right in the same jar as the “old” discard in the fridge.
I hope you love "Flora" and I hope that she is able to bring people together. Share a warm loaf of bread with a neighbor. Bake some cookies for a friend. And don't forget to save some for yourself, too!
If you have questions about your starter, need additional help, etc. please reach out with questions via the Facebook group mentioned at the bottom of this page, visit my blog or email me at untamedfarm@gmail.com! I want to help you be successful!
You can use the hashtag #BakingWithFlora to inspire & share all of your sourdough creations with me and those who use “Flora” for sourdough!
I made a facebook group! Search “Sourdough with Untamed Farm” on Facebook’s groups & request to join! This is a special group for people who are working with Flora to share photos, recipes, ask questions, etc.!
