I’ve been contemplating getting into sourdough and decided today was the day. Introducing Dough-phelia, fate to be determined. Give me all the tips!

by Amazing_Two9757

14 Comments

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  2. sbaghetticarbonara

    the fate of dough-phelia is going to be *chef’s kiss*

  3. Psychological-Ice276

    You will not regret! Such a relaxing activity!

  4. catmomlifeisbestlife

    Excited for you!!! And excited for Friday! 😂

  5. RecoveredGOMIUser

    My friend recommended that cookbook to me and I absolutely love it!

  6. take_a_seat

    Ahh how exciting for you! Not sure how much you’ve read, either in the book or on this subreddit, so I apologize if you already know all this.

    You don’t need to keep very much starter to have it grow. I discard all but 20 grams since I made mine a few weeks ago, and it still grows perfectly. You only need to up the feedings/amounts right before you actually bake with it.

    It will probably have a bloom somewhere in the first few days, but this is not from the good bacteria. It’s not ready to bake with yet.

    You can use whatever flour you have! I use rye and whole wheat, but tons of people have success with just all purpose flour and sometimes I throw that in too if I’m running low.

    It’s very hard to kill your starter. Shy of mold or forgetting it’s in the oven and burning it, it’s very resilient. People have revived starters they left in the back of their fridge for six months. Don’t stress too much unless you see orange/pink film on top, or black fuzzy stuff.

    What I see a lot of in this subreddit is that, when people are asking how to improve their loaf, the consensus is often that they’re underproofing. It may take a while to find the sweet spot and understand the feel/look of a nicely proofed dough, so don’t get down on yourself! Even if the crumb isn’t perfect, it’ll taste heavenly anyway.

    There are so many recipes with slight tweaks, it’s hard to tell which one to use. Those with a lower amount of starter will require much longer fermentation, but will have a stronger sour flavor. More starter can mean a quicker loaf with a more mild flavor.

    Good luck, and don’t forget the salt 🙂

  7. sweetannie52

    Good luck! The King Arthur starter directions are the only ones that worked for me. It’s been four or five years and still going strong.

  8. breeze80

    The Swiftie in me 🙋🏻‍♀️ high fives 🙋🏻‍♀️the Swiftie in you! ❤️‍🔥

  9. foundthehound

    This is how the Tortured Bakers Department starts. No, but really.

    Someone mentioned it already, but you really don’t need a ton of starter at first. I usually do ~30g starter + 30g water/flour on feeding days. Don’t get discouraged if your first loaf in a few weeks doesn’t rise much — environment plays a big role, and it can take a couple months for a starter to really get strong. Be patient

    For the first week or so you’ll want to keep tossing the discard, but after that you can definitely start experimenting with it. Pizza dough, cookies, and bagels are all super forgiving and a fun way to use discard while your starter is still maturing. Have fun!

  10. Have fun! But note that you should remove the clamps and rubber gasket on your jar, to allow gas to escape.

  11. Mysterious_Doctor722

    Ooooh, welcome to your latest addiction!😍

  12. BattledroidE

    Welcome to parenthood. You’re now responsible for a few million little creatures. 😀

    One tip for now is patience. It’s gonna be a slow week or two.