Sourdough Starter & Sourdough Discard Crackers

Yep, we’ve jumped on the sourdough bandwagon.

I used to keep a sourdough starter about 15 years ago, but didn’t take him along when I moved countries, since it wasn’t practical. And then I tried starting one again and didn’t work out and I gave up.

But since we’re now home for a while, trying again seemed like a good idea. So here we are, this is George (that’s the name of our starter).

Sourdough starter

Day 1

Time to start your starter, and give him a name.

In a clean 1 litre jar (I used some vintage Weck pot we rescued from the in laws’ attic), mix:

• 120 gr flour (I used 60 gr rye + 60 gr white bread flour)
• 120 gr lukewarm water

Cover loosely with the lid (if it’s screw top, just put it on top) and let sit on a warmish place, out of the sun, for a day.

Day 2

Feed your starter!

In a clean jar, mix:

• 120 gr of the starter you made the previous day (discard the remaining starter)
• 120 gr white bread flour
• 120 gr lukewarm water

Cover loosely with the lid and let it chill out in a warm place for another day.

Days 3 – 6

Your starter should be a creamy dough with some bubbles, and smell lightly like yogurt. It’s time to double-up on the feedings. You’ll be feeding him morning and evening. Yes, it’s like a puppy, take care of him and he’ll give you loads of love in the form of warm steamy bread.

So, morning and evening (about 12h apart), take a clean jar and mix:

• 120 gr of the starter you made the previous day (either discard the remaining starter or use it for a discard recipe like the crackers below, if it’s already lightly active)
• 120 gr white bread flour
• 120 gr lukewarm water

Cover loosely with the lid and let it chill out until the next feeding. Keep feeding George until he’s strong, bubbly and about doubled in volume. Then it’s time to make bread!

If you’re bad at judging if the volume has doubled, you can draw / tape a small mark at the starting level, to then compare where your starter has reached.

For ourselves I made a handy cheat sheet to remember when we need to feed George and how much. Do you want to use such a cheat sheet? You can download it here:

Feeding George to use it

The day before you want to use your starter, give it one feeding. In a clean jar, mix:

• 120 gr of the starter you made the previous day (either discard the remaining starter or use it for a discard recipe)
• 120 gr white bread flour
• 120 gr lukewarm water

Cover loosely with the lid and let him chill out on the counter for 8 to 12 hours. Then you can measure however much starter you need for the recipe (about 200 gr), and feed the remaining 120 gr starter for storage, see below.

Feeding George for storage

When you want to store your starter for a while, you can do so in the fridge. Give your starter a feed like usual, so, in a clean jar, mix:

• 120 gr of the starter
• 120 gr white bread flour
• 120 gr lukewarm water

Let George get bubbly for about 1 hour in his loosely covered home. Then transfer George’s home to the fridge to chill for about a week.

If you’re not using your starter regularly, you still need to feed him regularly. Every week, give him his regular feed, mixing in a clean jar:

• 120 gr of the starter
• 120 gr white bread flour
• 120 gr lukewarm water

Sourdough Discard Herb & Olive Oil Crackers

Tired of throwing away the nice little Geordies (Geordie is the diminutive of George)? Try some discard recipes such as these lovely (and very adaptable) crackers.

Ingredients

• 200 gr of discard starter (or about what you’d normally throw away after a feeding)
• 112 gr of flour (you can use a mix of flours, like whole wheat, white bread, & rye; the total weight of all flours should remain the same – I used 60 gr rye & 72 gr white bread flour)
• 1/2 tsp fine table salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp dried herbs (you can use one herb, such as rosemary, sage or thyme, or a mix, such as Italian herbs, or Herbes de Provence – I used za’atar)
• 33 gr olive oil
• flake salt, for topping, optional

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients except the flake salt until you get a nice pliable dough.
2. Divide dough in two, wrap in plastic, and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
3. Take one half out of the fridge, divide in 4 parts, and roll out to about 1,5-2 mm thickness (I used a pasta machine to roll it out, going down from setting 7 – thickest – to 5, depending on which herbs you use, you might be able to go thinner).
4. Optional: brush top of crackers lightly with water and sprinkle flake salt.
5. Bake at 175°C in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until blistered, golden and crisp.
   Do not let your crackers come too close to the top element, or they’ll get more brown than golden (ask me how I know!)
6. Remove from oven, let cool and break into bite-sized pieces.
7. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
8. Serve with a tasty tasty dip