Gary, The Sourdough Starter

Rehydration:

• Place 10 grams (g) of the shards (1/3 of them) from the package into a mason jar or 4-cup jar that has a lid. Add 30g warm water to cover. Place the lid on top of the container but do not tighten. Let the mixture sit in in the water for an hour until soft and it starts to break apart. 

• Without discarding any of the mixture, mix well and then add 100g flour and 70g of 75-80 degree water and stir thoroughly. The result will feel pasty and thick, like muffin mix.

• Let everything sit between 75-80 degrees until it looks like it needs another feeding by the presence of bubbles and falling after rising at least double the height of where it started after mixing. Using a rubber band around the container to mark where it started will help see how high it has risen. Depending on the temperature, it could take anywhere from 4-12 hours to double. 

• Gary has a long peak time, which means he will stay in a risen state for 4-8 hours, which is when it's a perfect time to use him to bake!

• It’s important to keep the mixture warm during feeding time. Once you see sufficient maturity in the mixture - lots of bubbles throughout the mix and a drop down after 4-8 hours, perform a feed with your typical flour (we use all purpose) and water quantities.

Typical daily feeding cycle (every 24 hours):

• Discard all but 1-2 tsp of starter
• Add ½ cup room temperature water and stir
• Add 1 cup all purpose flour
• Stir until well blended and loosely place the lid on the jar
• Set it a warm place until you're ready to use or it's time to feed again!
• Email with any questions!

 You have your starter ready ....now what?!

Finding a good recipe that helps to understand how your starter works and what you need to change in order to produce consistent results can be hard to find. 

A lot of online recipes require you to go through their family's history of gut issues or something that is so boring to read you are ready to give up halfway to the ingredients list.

HAVE NO FEAR (well, maybe a little fear - but that means you care, right?!!) 

We've put together a short list of easy-ish recipes that can get you started to help find out what works for you and your starter. We chose "no knead" recipes so you can start understanding how sourdough works without throwing too many new processes at you all at once. Once you get the hang of a no knead recipe, you'll find a plethora of recipes out there with various shaping and kneading techniques that you can try out.

• King Arthur's Sourdough Discard Pancakes
• King Arthur's No Knead Sourdough Bread 
• The Perfect Loaf No Knead Sourdough Bread
• Food52 No Knead Sourdough Bread

Sometimes life takes you in a different direction for a bit, and that's ok!

You can give Gary a nice long nap in the fridge while you focus on something else.

Putting Gary into a cold sleep is a good way to take a 2 week break - which is great for vacations and just resetting yourself if you're not looking to bake regularly.

Starter Sleep Schedule:

• Get a 4 cup jar or glass container that has a lid 
• Place on a kitchen scale and tare to 0g
• Put 80g of room temperature water into the container
• Put 20g of unfed starter into the container - mix well
• Put 100g of all purpose flour into the container - mix well again
• Place lid tightly on jar/close completely
• Let rest on the counter for 30 minutes and then put him in the fridge

The mixture will be thick like a paste. This is what you want. You are feeding a high ratio of flour/water to starter so it has plenty to eat while in the fridge. The cold temperature will slow Gary down from eating through the food in a day, like in a normal 24-hour feeding, which allows you to take a break without any guilt. 

In 2 weeks, it's time to take him out and either revive him to a daily feed schedule or feed him again to go back into the fridge.

For either process, take Gary out of the fridge where he can have 12 hours to come up to room temperature and start bubbling (eating his food at a normal rate). 

Once he's in a state where he's ready to be fed, which should be after the 12 hours but it may take longer depending on the temperature in your kitchen, so plan your time accordingly. Next, either follow the typical daily feeding cycle listed above if you plan on baking soon, or repeat the starter sleep schedule to give him another 2 week break. 

That's it! That's the easy way to take a break from daily feedings!

A sourdough starter is a living culture made from flour and water that contains a balance of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria, which is used to leaven bread dough by creating carbon dioxide bubbles through fermentation. This results in a distinctive sour flavor in the final loaf.   

Key points about sourdough starter:

• Natural microbes: The yeast and bacteria present in the starter are naturally occurring from the environment and flour. 
• Fermentation process: When mixed with flour and water, these microbes feed on the carbohydrates in the flour, producing carbon dioxide gas that makes dough rise. 
• Flavor profile: The fermentation process also creates lactic acid, contributing to the characteristic tangy flavor of sourdough bread. 
• Maintaining a starter: To keep it active, you need to regularly "refresh" the starter by adding fresh flour and water. This is your feeding schedule.