STEP-BY-STEP SOURDOUGH FOR BEGINNERS: How to Make Sourdough Starter & Sourdough Bread

[00:00] Today I'm going to show y'all how to

[00:01] make sourdough starter and sourdough

[00:02] bread for beginners step by step.

[00:05] Sourdough is one of those things where

[00:07] it seems really complicated, but it's

[00:09] actually one of the easiest things. And

[00:11] once you master like sourdough starter,

[00:13] not even sourdough bread, just sourdough

[00:14] starter, like you are unstoppable. You

[00:16] can make biscuits, pancakes, ficashia.

[00:20] Ficashia is one of the easiest breads.

[00:22] Honestly, even easier than like a bread

[00:24] loaf, which I'm going to show you how

[00:25] easy a bread loaf is. You're going to be

[00:26] like, your mind's going to be blown. And

[00:28] you can make like baklava ficasha,

[00:30] s'mores ficashia, um lemon blueberry

[00:33] ficasha, cinnamon roll ficashia. All

[00:35] those recipes are on my blog, by the

[00:37] way. Um I don't know what English

[00:40] muffins. Like literally the

[00:42] possibilities are endless. So let's just

[00:44] go ahead and get into it. First things

[00:46] first, we need to make some sourdough

[00:47] starter. Sourdough starter, for those

[00:49] that don't know, is this live culture of

[00:51] bacteria. It's good bacteria that is

[00:53] created by fermenting flour and water.

[00:56] Those are the only two ingredients you

[00:58] need. And it's basically a natural

[01:01] leaven natural. It basically helps your

[01:03] bread rise naturally without using like

[01:05] commercial yeast, which is still not bad

[01:08] and it's great when you're in a pinch.

[01:10] But you're going to start off with a

[01:12] glass jar. I highly recommend a glass

[01:13] jar. This one is I think 800 ml big. Um

[01:19] you can use one smaller. I also This is

[01:22] like a recycle jar. So you can thrift

[01:24] jars, you can recycle them from like

[01:26] when you buy

[01:30] like pickles at the grocery store. Just

[01:33] wash it out. Make sure it doesn't smell

[01:34] like pickles. We're going to put our

[01:36] glass jar on our scale and we're going

[01:38] to hit the tar button to cancel it out

[01:40] so that it zeros out. You're always

[01:41] going to want to use equal parts water,

[01:43] equal parts flour, and equal parts

[01:45] sourdough starter. Now, we currently

[01:47] don't have sourdough starter, so we're

[01:49] going to start off with 50 g of

[01:52] water. And we're going to hit the tar

[01:54] button to zero it out. So I went

[01:55] overboard and did 53 g. So we're going

[01:57] to do 53 g of flour. And now that we

[01:59] have equal parts flour and equal parts

[02:01] water, we're just going to mix this

[02:02] together. Going to add the lid. And

[02:05] we're going to let this sit for 24

[02:06] hours. The process of creating your own

[02:08] sourdough starter from scratch is going

[02:10] to take about 7 days total for it to

[02:12] become properly fermented, live, bubbly,

[02:15] active, and ready to naturally rise your

[02:17] all your breads. Literally whatever

[02:18] bread you desire. So, every day we're

[02:21] going to feed it once a day. So, let's

[02:24] pretend it's day two. Take 50 g of

[02:27] our made from scratch sourdough starter

[02:30] and discard the remaining sourdough in

[02:32] the jar. Kind of like to swirl around

[02:33] warm water until the jar is clean. The

[02:35] thing is, you never want to wash it out

[02:37] with soap as that will interrupt the

[02:39] fermentation process and it's not really

[02:41] good for the bacteria and it might taste

[02:44] like soap. So, just don't do it. Also, a

[02:47] tip is to get this sourdough starter out

[02:49] of your sink immediately because this

[02:51] stuff will harden like concrete. Just as

[02:53] with day one, we're going to add equal g

[02:56] of water. So, we did

[02:58] 52. Same ratio for flour. So, we're

[03:00] going to do 52. Basically, you always

[03:03] want that flour fully absorbed when

[03:06] you're mixing. I'm just going to add it

[03:07] back into your rinse

[03:11] jar. You're going to repeat that process

[03:13] for 7 days total. And you got to feed it

[03:15] every day. every 24 hours because it is

[03:17] now a living breathing organism. Maybe

[03:20] not breathing, but living. It's a living

[03:21] organism. So, you're gonna feed it the

[03:23] same exact ratio of sourdough starter,

[03:25] flour, and water. So, if you decide to

[03:28] keep 50 g or even 100 g of sourdough

[03:31] starter, you're going to do 100 g of

[03:32] sourdough starter, 100 g of flour, 100 g

[03:35] of water, kapish, tomato, tomato. I

[03:39] don't really know catchphrases that

[03:40] well. But if you want to save yourself

[03:42] some time, you could also just always

[03:43] ask your friends for a bit of their

[03:45] sourdough starter. I've given my friends

[03:47] so much sourdough starter and I love it

[03:50] because basically you can give them your

[03:52] discard and they can feed it same day

[03:53] and it's perfect. Or you can go ahead

[03:55] and feed it for them and they just start

[03:56] the process the next day. Also, I feel

[03:58] like the longer it firmness, the better

[04:00] it tastes. But this guy is bubbly and

[04:02] ready. I'll actually show you yesterday

[04:04] when it was like overflowing bubbly and

[04:07] ready. So, let's make some sourdough

[04:08] bread. So, we just need four

[04:09] ingredients. It's our sourdough starter

[04:11] that's active and bubbly, our flour,

[04:14] some lukewarm water, and some fine

[04:16] baking salt. My sourdough starter I

[04:18] usually feed about like 8:00 a.m. and

[04:20] then I'll start making bread about like

[04:22] 100 p.m. I'll even push it to 2:00 p.m.

[04:24] sometimes. Um, you can be really relaxed

[04:27] with yourself. Like, don't stress out

[04:28] about those certain times, but gives you

[04:30] kind of an idea of my time schedule.

[04:31] We're going to start off with 330 g of

[04:33] lukewarm water. Then, we're going to add

[04:35] 100 g of your active sourdough starter.

[04:39] And then 10 g of

[04:42] salt. Lastly, we're going to add 450 g

[04:45] of flour. I'm just using allpurpose

[04:47] flour, but you could use bread flour.

[04:49] Totally up to you. Guys, your hands are

[04:52] your best kitchen tools. So, you're just

[04:53] going to mix this. You could also use

[04:55] like one of those circular kneading

[04:57] tools, but I just mix it with my hands

[04:59] until all the flour has been

[05:02] absorbed. It also takes like less than

[05:04] 30 seconds. So, why am I going to waste

[05:06] a kitchen tool? There's like flour

[05:09] everywhere. You've done your hard part.

[05:10] Evade your sourdough dough. We're going

[05:12] to cover it with either Okay. I like to

[05:14] cover it two different ways. Don't hate

[05:16] me for the first way. Saran wrap. I know

[05:19] plastic. But it just like traps in the

[05:23] moisture and that's what we want. We

[05:24] want it to get like we want it to get

[05:27] nice and warm in there cuz you want cuz

[05:30] okay summertime is the best time to make

[05:32] sourdough bread in my opinion because it

[05:34] rises so much quicker and it's so much

[05:37] more bubbly in the summer time cuz it's

[05:38] nice and warm and you know how you want

[05:41] your dough to rise in a warm

[05:42] environment. Same here. Same situation

[05:44] here. The segway which I feel like you

[05:46] all appreciate is I'll wet this under

[05:49] like really hot water and then I'll ring

[05:51] it out so it's nice and it's just damp

[05:54] and then I cover it. Right now we're

[05:55] using a dry. We're going to set it aside

[05:58] for

[05:59] 30 minutes. After 30 minutes we're going

[06:02] to complete our first lift and fold

[06:04] process. So imagine the bowl is divided

[06:06] into four different corners. So we're

[06:08] going to lift up each corner from the

[06:10] center and the bottom and then we're

[06:12] going to fold it into the center. So,

[06:14] lift it up, fold, rotate. Now, an hour

[06:17] and a half has gone by because every 30

[06:19] minutes for a total of three to four

[06:21] times, you're lifting and folding those

[06:23] four corners into the center. So, we've

[06:26] trapped in all of this beautiful air.

[06:29] All this air to create those beautiful

[06:31] air bubbles. That's what I meant. And

[06:33] then we have the final folding process.

[06:36] So, this we're going to stretch out our

[06:38] dough like as much as possible, kind of

[06:41] shaking it underneath because we don't

[06:42] want to break the dough. We don't want

[06:44] to tear the dough. We don't want to

[06:46] flatten it or knead it. We want to keep

[06:48] all those air bubbles in it. And then

[06:50] you're just going to gently roll it up.

[06:52] And then kind of push it towards you to

[06:55] roll tightly. And we're going to put it

[06:56] in our flowered bread basket and leave

[06:58] it on the counter for another hour. And

[07:00] then we're going to put it away in the

[07:02] fridge. Also, I've left it basically out

[07:05] on the counter until I've gone to bed,

[07:06] which will be like 11 or 10 o'clock

[07:08] sometimes. And I feel like the longer it

[07:11] says I've room temperature, the more it

[07:12] gross. So, I think that's totally fine.

[07:15] I've never had a problem with it. But, I

[07:18] wouldn't put it in your fridge any

[07:19] earlier than like 8:00 p.m. And then you

[07:21] could bake it at like 8:00 a.m., 9:00

[07:23] a.m., even up to like 2:00 p.m. the next

[07:27] day. Now that our breads have rested in

[07:30] the fridge overnight, it's time to bake.

[07:31] Now, I only have one Dutch oven, so

[07:33] we're baking one bread at a time since I

[07:35] made two yesterday, so we can bake them

[07:37] together. Um, okay. So, this one is a

[07:41] cinnamon swirl ch No, cinnamon sugar

[07:44] chocolate chip swirl sourdough loaf. I'm

[07:47] so excited for it. If you have a sweet

[07:48] tooth, this this is going to be your

[07:50] girl. Um, basically how I made it was I

[07:52] made my regular sourdough loaf that I

[07:54] just showed y'all, and then halfway

[07:56] through the lift and folds, I added in

[07:57] chocolate chips so that they'd be evenly

[08:00] distributed. And then right before the

[08:01] final fold, I sprinkled it with like

[08:03] some cinnamon sugar. And then I just put

[08:05] it in the bread basket to rest overnight

[08:07] and or do like its long fermentation

[08:09] overnight. Um, so now it's time to bake.

[08:12] So to bake our sourdough loaves, we want

[08:14] to set our oven to its highest

[08:15] temperature. Mine goes to 500. I

[08:18] wouldn't recommend going more than 500

[08:19] if your girls more than 500. You could

[08:21] also do 475, 450. And I like to preheat

[08:25] it for at least 30 minutes so it's going

[08:26] to get really hot. And then I also like

[08:29] to put the base of my Dutch oven in the

[08:32] oven while it's preheating so that it

[08:34] gets super hot. Um, and now we need

[08:37] parchment. A

[08:39] hint, crinkle your parchment paper and

[08:43] score your bread on your parchment paper

[08:45] prior to adding adding it to the Dutch

[08:46] oven to make your life easier. Your

[08:48] bread directly on your parchment. Ooh,

[08:52] this one got a little sticky

[08:54] overnight. If that happens, don't worry.

[08:56] You can wash this and you can just dust

[08:58] it with a little bit of flour. When you

[09:00] go to score your bread, you want to do

[09:01] like quick and deep slits. Oh, and I say

[09:04] that, but these chocolate chips are

[09:06] stopping

[09:08] me. We're going to do a little cross.

[09:10] Sometimes you can, if you want those

[09:12] edges to come up, you can kind of just

[09:14] scoop them up a little bit and this will

[09:16] help them rise better when

[09:21] baking. There we go.

[09:24] Now that our bread is in the oven, we're

[09:26] going to bake it about 20 minutes at

[09:28] like 475 to 500. This is going to with

[09:31] the cover because this is going to help

[09:33] create steam within the Dutch oven and

[09:35] that is going to help your bread rise

[09:37] and like get nice and big. So, when you

[09:39] take the cover off, you're going to

[09:40] notice your bread is like basically the

[09:42] size it's going to be. Um, I used to

[09:45] when I first started making sourdough,

[09:47] I'd look the cover and it would be flat

[09:49] and it' be like it'd be the most

[09:52] heartbreaking thing to see. But after 20

[09:54] minutes of baking with the cutter, we're

[09:56] going to remove the cover to bake

[09:58] another like 15 to 20 minutes at

[10:00] 450°

[10:02] F. I would tell you the calculations in

[10:05] Celsius, but my brain just isn't going

[10:07] to do that this morning, unfortunately.

[10:09] Maybe I'll put them right here so y'all

[10:10] can know. Um, and yeah, and then

[10:13] basically when you take the cover off to

[10:15] bake, that's when it's going to get

[10:16] super golden and brown and crisp on top.

[10:19] And I would just keep an eye on it after

[10:21] about 15 minutes. Um because every oven

[10:24] is different, especially like gas,

[10:26] electric, so it could get brown a lot

[10:29] quicker or a lot slower. You might have

[10:30] to go a little

[10:33] more. Look at the

[10:36] swirl. The smell of fresh bread smells

[10:39] amazing. But this is like the smell of

[10:41] like bobka, a chocolate chip cookie, and

[10:44] like a cinnamon swirl pretzel all had a

[10:46] baby with sourdough bread. That's what

[10:48] this smells like. You can see this

[10:50] theme.

[10:59] Okay, now the hardest part about baking

[11:02] bread is the waiting after you've done

[11:05] all the hard work to make it. That's so

[11:07] hot. Oh my gosh. Okay, you want to wait

[11:10] at least 40 minutes to an hour before

[11:11] slicing into it because it's still

[11:13] baking, guys. Like, that's why it's

[11:14] piping hot. It needs to cool down. It

[11:16] needs to stop baking. Um, and it's I

[11:19] promise you it is worth the wait.

[11:32] Some flaky

[11:36] salt.

[11:39] M. It's so

[11:41] chewy. The outside is

[11:48] crisp. I also cut my finger.

[11:51] I'm excited to chocolate chip love.

[11:53] Okay, ending the video on my phone, but

[11:55] if you guys have any sourdough

[11:56] questions, please let me know in the

[11:58] comments. I'm here to help. I'll also

[12:00] have full details written out on my

[12:02] blog. But until

[12:04] then, I'm going to eat some sourdough.

[12:06] up.