Tracey and I (clearly it’s Jo here) have been buying authentic sourdough from our markets for years. It’s about $8 a loaf (I have been known to spend $12 before) but we find it’s worth it.

Authentic sourdough is fermented bread, it has lower phytate levels which makes it easier to digest so we find that we don’t bloat like we do with traditional bread. It’s become a bit fashionable to eat sourdough these days, but this bread has been around for centuries, it’s not a new-age fad!

Unfortunately though, because sourdough is now hugely popular, a lot of companies are making loaves that we call ‘the fake stuff’. They are a cheats version and do not hold the same fermented properties as an authentic loaf. You might as well be buying plain wheat bread and save yourself the money.

Authentic sourdough should only contain four base ingredients – flour, water, salt and sourdough culture (it may also contain seeds, depending on the type). It should NOT contain yeast, soy flour, added vitamins, canola or vegetable oil, emulsifiers and thickeners. If it does, it’s not authentic.

Anyway, I’d been to the markets and decided that now is the time, I’m going to try and make my own so I put a call-out on our Instagram stories, asking if anyone had a sourdough recipe they’d like to share. I’ve tried to make sourdough starter before but every time it failed!

We had dozens and dozens of messages with all sorts of recipes – thank you!!

Tracey read a heap of blogs and came up with her own recipe (pictures below) but I used this one from Homestead and Chill which had grated apple and larger quantities of flour.

Then I set a challenge between the two of us… we might be just a bit competitive – so game on, sister! But the results of my poll were in the favour of Tracey!! This only gave me more of a drive to win, so thank you for that… ;)

Tracey’s starter journey pictured ?

Jo’s starter journey pictured ?

The truth is, both Tracey and I had wonderful looking starters for the first week, but after that, we just couldn’t get it to grow and go ‘bubbly’. So Trace popped her’s in the fridge and wondered if it was ready.

I let mine sit out on the bench, I fed it again and it grew a bit but not a heap. It then dropped down and got a watery layer on top. I thought it must be ready since it grew a bit and it had been brewing for the required number of days according to the recipe so I tried to make a loaf of bread, but what an EPIC fail!!

I used this recipe but I don’t think it that was the problem, I think it was because my starter was in fact NOT ready!

So I cracked it. I wrapped my starter up in a tea-towel not covering the top, left the lid ajar and sat it on the bench. A couple of days later I’d had enough and went to throw it in the bin and to my utter shock, it was GROWING!! Clearly, it just needed a little timeout… haha

Hints and Tips For An Active Starter… We can’t really call ourselves experts just yet, but we did learn a lot! Here are a few things we wish we knew when we started. It would have saved us a lot of time Googling.

• It will smell, that’s normal.
• Use a long glass jar, like what I have. A jug or bowl doesn’t work as well.
• Try and keep it warm but not too warm. It likes to be around 24ºC.
• If it’s too warm it’ll grow a liquid on top which is fine, but that means it’s hungry and needs feeding again.
• ‘Feeding’ means discarding some mixture so you have about 1/2 a cup left. Then add 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup slightly warm filtered water to your ‘saved’ mixture and stir through.
• Once your starter becomes active, keep the discard. We have been loving these crackers!
• If your starter doesn’t bubble over like many of the images on Pinterest don’t worry. As long as it’s growing and bubbly it’s ‘ready’ or ‘active’.
• It will lose some of its smell once it’s active.
• You need to feed it every day, so if you’re not ready to use it, store it in the fridge. It will put it to sleep.
• When you are ready to wake it up (get it out of the fridge) feed it twice a day for 48 hours, then it’ll be ready to use.
• Recipes will vary because it will depend on the climate you live in. Your starter will take longer to become active in a colder climate.

Now that my starter was actually ready I decided to give making a bread another go. I used the recipe above for the second time and nope – fail. ARGH!

But stubborn is my middle name so I tried again. A lovely follower of ours said to try this recipe, so I did and it worked a treat! (meanwhile, Tracey still hasn’t given bread a go… who’s winning now – huh?? #justsaying #competitivemuch haha).

Hints and Tips For Bread Lovers… * Make sure your starter is ready. It must be otherwise your bread will not work. * Using a bread proofing basket will help as they’re made especially to get airflow into your bread. You can get these online or in most homewares stores. * Don’t let it over rise on both first and second rise. On the first rise you don’t want it to more than double it’s size. On the second rise put it in the fridge overnight. It’s ready to bake when it’s risen by 20-30%. * Wet your hands when working with your dough but don’t overwork it once you’ve shaped it for the second rise. * Score the loaf properly before going into the oven. This is a good YouTube tutorial. * Cook the bread inside a preheated dutch oven or make sure you have a tray of water in the oven to create steam.

Recap This starter recipe we found was the best.

This sourdough bread recipe worked the best for me.

Here is a tutorial on how to score a loaf before baking.

Using a dutch oven is best. I have a cloche by Durant Water Filters which is good but a little small.

Be patient, give yourself weeks to activate a great starter and at least two days to make a loaf of bread.

As soon as it’s cooled completely down slice it and freeze (or eat!). It will only stay fresh for 24 hours due being preservative-free. This is a good thing!

And finally, yes, I think we can all agree that I actually am the winner… ?

I hope you’ve found this blog useful? We’ll keep updating it as our journey progresses but in the meantime have fun making your own sourdough and please tag us on Instagram when you give a loaf a go. We’d love to see it.

Jo x

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