How to make sourdough starter - it's easy!

The perfect bread only has 3 ingredients: Water, flour, salt.

That's all you need.

But to make a decent sourdough you need to make a starter first. And that takes about 5-10 days. Once done, it lasts forever. Literally centuries if you take care of it properly.

So how do you create the perfect sourdough starter? You should choose one type of whole flour and stick with it during the first few weeks. Later on you can switch to other flours. I used regular whole spelt flour in my dough.

First, mix half a cup of water with half a cup of flour in a jar. Cover with a towel. Let sit for 12 hours at room temperature - or if you live in a tropical place, outside. Then add again half a cup of flour and half a cup of water. Let sit for another 12 hours. Repeat every 24 hours. Next time you do this, you can remove a couple of table spoons of this doughy mass so the jar won't overflow. Make sure you leave at least half the jar empty at all times as the starter expands and contracts.

At some point the starter will start to smell a bit vinegary. This usually happens after a few days. Once it smells like sweet apple cider vinegar, you can use your starter for your first sourdough bread! Usually you will only need a tablespoon or two of your starter.

When it has reached the point at which it's ready to use, you can place the starter in the fridge where you only have to feed it every 4-5 days (it can also survive for up to 15 days, though I wouldn't push it). It's okay to just feed it 3 tablespoons of flour and water each.

And that's it! It really isn't that hard. Give it a try :)