Tiny Oak Sourdough Guide

Welcome to the Tiny Oak Sourdough Family!

I am so excited to have been able to offer each of you a piece of my labor and love. With very little maintenance, your sourdough starter will last you lifetimes. In this guide I will discuss how to care for your starter, use your starter and discard, and share some well-loved resources. 

Buy your Tiny Oak Sourdough Starter Kit! 

Sourdough is naturally leavened bread, which means it doesn’t use commercial yeast to rise. Instead, it uses a ‘starter’ – a fermented flour and water mixture that contains wild yeast and healthy bacteria – to rise. This also produces the tangy flavour and slightly chewy texture you’ll find in sourdough. Sourdough bread contains higher levels of antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins than other breads. 

So I have my starter, now what? 

Simply put - you will keep your starter in the fridge and feed it about once a week to freshen it up and keep it active. If you have a dehydrated sourdough starter culture, you will first need to revive it. With an active sourdough starter you can make any sourdough recipe, as well as any sourdough discard recipe. 

But what happens if I neglect my starter and leave it too long without feeding it?! Have no fear - my sourdough starter is aged and resilient. It may develop some ‘hooch’ on the top if it hasn’t been fed in a while, but you CAN bring it back to life by scraping off the top and giving her a few good feedings in a row. So, don’t throw her away even if you think you’ve killed her! She’s an alive and thriving queen.

So you got your starter and it’s in the fridge…..you’re probably going to need to feed her in a few days! 

HOW TO FEED YOUR STARTER 

1. Transfer a big spoonful of your sourdough starter to a large mason jar (a pint will work) 
2. To your starter, add 100 grams of flour and 100 grams of water (1 cup / 1 cup). I use 50 grams of unbleached all purpose flour, and 50 grams of whole wheat or rye. Really, any flour will do. I would make sure it is unbleached flour though!
3. Mix it up and let sit at room temperature for 8-12 hours before returning to the fridge. At this point your starter should become very active, bubbly, and rise after 8-12 hours and then begin to fall. For sourdough recipes, you will use the starter when it’s at peak bubbliness! If you use some for a recipe, you will need to feed it again.
4. Return to the fridge when done using / feeding
5. When ready to feed your starter again, you will need to DISCARD some of it. Each time you feed, you will leave a heaping tablespoon of starter in your jar and discard the rest before feeding. You can throw the discard away, save it in a jar in the fridge for later, give it away, or use in sourdough discard recipes (crackers, crepes, pancakes, pizza dough….you name it). Discard is basically non-bubbly sourdough starter, after it has risen and then deflated.
6. You will want to feed your starter once a week-ish. 

HOW TO REVIVE DEHYDRATED SOURDOUGH STARTER

• Day One Morning: Combine 5 grams dried sourdough starter in a small glass jar. Add 25 grams (100°F/38°C) filtered water. Stir until the dry starter is completely submerged in the water. Cover with a lid and allow mixture to sit for one hour at room temperature.
• After an hour, add 20 grams bread flour and stir until thoroughly combined.  Cover with a lid and store at 76°F/24°C (or room temperature) for 24 hours.
• Day Two Morning: Combine 10 grams starter mixture (discard the rest), 25 grams bread flour, and 25 grams room temperature filtered water in a glass jar. Mix until thoroughly combined. Cover with a lid and store at room temperature for 24 hours.
• Day Three Morning: Combine 10 grams starter mixture (discard the rest), 25 grams bread flour, and 25 grams room temperature filtered water in a glass jar. Mix until thoroughly combined. Cover with a lid and store at room temperature for 24 hours
• Day Four Morning: Combine 10 grams starter mixture, 25 grams bread flour, and 25 grams room temperature filtered water in a glass jar. Mix until thoroughly combined. Cover with a lid and store at room temperature - check back in about 12 hours time
• Day Four Evening: Roughly 12 hours later, you'll notice many small bubbles on the surface and sides, and the starter should show signs that it is slowly rising. Continue storing at room temperature.
• Day Five Morning: At this point, the mixture should have nearly doubled in volume and there will be bubbles throughout. Allow starter to reach peak activity before proceeding with a feeding. If everything remains on track, you can get back to baking sourdough bread again.
• Once the starter has reached peak activity, start regular daily feedings: combine 5 to 10 grams starter, 25 grams bread flour, and 25 grams room temperature filtered water in a glass jar. Mix until thoroughly combined. Cover with a lid and store mixture at room temperature until starter reaches peak activity. Repeat.

Some of my Favorite Sourdough Discard Recipes: 

Sourdough Discard Pancakes - https://www.pantrymama.com/fluffy-sourdough-discard-pancakes/

Sourdough Discard Crepes - https://www.kierstenhickman.com/sourdough-crepes/

Sourdough Discard Crackers - https://littlespoonfarm.com/sourdough-discard-crackers/

Now let’s talk about the real deal…..traditional sourdough bread

Making traditional sourdough bread is a labor of love and patience. Taking 36-48 hours, and dozens of steps, to complete just one loaf. There are two ways to make sourdough - knead or no-knead. The options are pretty much endless as far as types of flour/grain to use, flavors, and hydration ratios (flour:water). My best advice? Get in there with your hands and get to KNOW your dough.

Joshua Weissman’s cookbook is my go-to for all things sourdough starter, bread, and for yeasted breads as well. On his YouTube channel, you can find a video that walks you through his sourdough recipe. I watched and followed along with this my first few times making it. 

Here is my favorite / easy sourdough sandwich bread recipe!

Here is a tried and true basic no-knead whole wheat sourdough recipe

The Farmhouse on Boone, and Little Spoon blogs are a favorite for all things sourdough as well.

If you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to reach out. 

I am so excited for those of you that are beginning your sourdough journey and wish you the best of luck! 

Kindly, 

Brianna, the Bread Lady