Buying a Sourdough Starter vs Making your own
We would never discourage bakers from making their own sourdough starter! However many of our customers have reported a lot better results getting a head start with our famous 150 year old San Francisco sourdough starter as well. No wrong answers with sourdough -- As long as you are baking and having fun.
First: What is a sourdough starter?
A sourdough starter is a living culture that is used by bakers to leaven (raise) bread and other baked goods. It's a mixture of unique starter culture, flour, and water that, are combined and left to ferment, and the develop into a robust colony of microorganisms.
These microorganisms interact to create the delicious flavours, textures, and rise of sourdough bread.
A sourdough starter is usually kept in covered jar in your kitchen, and one usually gives it a name and talks to it once in a while. It is like a very useful pet! For more information see What is a sourdough starter? (and why you should want one!)
Making a Sourdough Starter from Scratch
The good news here is you don't have to buy anything assuming you have a jar, some flour, and some good non-chlorinated water. The lactic acid bacteria and wild yeasts required come from the air believe it or not! Your task is just to capture them and create the conditions for them to flourish.
A bit of patience is required, and if you are brand new to baking there could be some uncertainty involved, but the end result should be your very own starter that you can use as much or as little as you wish to bake delicious bread, bagels, pizza dough, english muffins, focaccia, etc etc....
How to make your own sourdough starter
I will refer you to the amazing resource that is Weekend Bakery who have lots of information on all things sourdough to go with their fantastic recipes.
Rye sourdough starter in easy steps
The above recipe is for a rye sourdough starter, however the same principles apply for an All Purpose flour one, and making a starter does not have to be an overly technical process! There are often many paths to getting the unique microorganisms into a viable starter and only a few things that can go wrong along the way. Please take a look at our Tips and Troubleshooting article for a bit more information!
Buying a sourdough starter
The crucial difference between buying a starter as opposed to making your own, is that with our starter you are getting a "head start" with billions and billions of our unique lactic acid bacteria that are essentially asleep.
Kensington Sourdough customers are essentially waking up a starter culture that is pre-established and hopefully raring to go, as opposed to cultivating a starter from the air. Our starter culture are carefully dehydrated while quite active to preserve the microorganisms and allow easy activation in the future.
The two processes are similar in that the micro-culture needs the same things to flourish, ie flour and water and a warm environment.
