How to make a SOURDOUGH STARTER & use it to make Sourdough Bread! 

After losing a 2-year starter, I now ALWAYS keep a half-pint backup jar of starter in the fridge that I feed every couple of weeks. My current starter is now about 4 years old, and I'm not taking any chances. 😅 So glad you were able to revive Old Faithful!

I’m going to be honest I’m 19, young Christian woman who’s very traditional and kinda a home stead. Pregnant with my first and looking to really bring my full potential to the table for my family. U got yourself a new subscriber! I love learning from someone who’s traditional ❤️

Yes! No scale! Scraping off excess starter with finger! Thank you for being realistic. It’s so easy to understand.

Your sour dough instruction was well done, and the most easily understood of the several videos I have seen on this topic. You had the forethought to do four different starter versions at the same time which was an outstanding educational moment for me. Sending you best wishes on your baby to be and thank you for putting out quality videos.

I started my own sourdough starter Jan 22 after watching this video and it’s still happy and strong! I’ve made pancakes, banana bread, muffins, dinner rolls, pizza dough and cinnamon buns with it so far. Discard has been a great egg replacer for me in vegan baking. Thank you so much for great videos and blog posts! Wishing you well with baby #5!❤

I’ve been watching this video over and over and over again for a week waiting for the perfect starter to be ready to bake your sourdough bread recipe! I made it today and it looks incredible!!! I took photos it’s so beautiful lol. This was the first time I ever grew starter and I’m so happy! If I can do it- ANY ONE CAN DO THIS! Thanks so much!!! 😘

I think you’re wonderful ! I think you’re doing a great job in repeating and repeating. As we spoke about on your last video after feeding my starter, for six months, not knowing what I was doing 🤷🏻‍♀️. I finally made my first and for Christmas my daughter bought me the Batten I guess they’re called batten baskets with a score and I was just so excited !!!! It’s the little things that make me happy now that I’m 62❤️❤️❤️❤️🙋🏻‍♀️

Came for the Laundry Soap; stayed for the Sourdough (and canning)!

After watching many sourdough videos, this is by far, the best explanations of sourdough! Thank you for taking the time, to explain so thoroughly!

I made your Pullman sourdough sandwich bread and my husband and I ate it all! It was amazing. I really appreciate you giving me the answers to all my sourdough headaches. I am very thankful. My husbands tummy is thankful too!

You made this seem so easy. We lost my grandmas sourdough starter (over 100 years old) and I want to keep the sourdough pancake tradition going. Thank you!

Today was my first sour dough bread,, I followed everything u taught us,, but I don’t have the tools and the baskets,, any wheeew,, I even followed another recipe that said to put a tray of water under the bread,, and it spilled all over the bottom 😞,, but I still continued your recipe,, I had company over,, but I stuck to what u taught me,, I just cut that bread that I was so doubt full for my first attempt,, and omg,, even with the water spill,, and the dough stuck to my towel😂😂,, it is the most amazing thing I have made all year🤩🤩🤩I could eat the whole thing😅 and this is now my future,, can’t thank u enough❤❤❤❤

I worked at a fancy place in the late 80's in my neighborhood. They served bread that was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I have not found that bread at any place since that time. I bought a loaf for $3.99 of plain white sourdough (said on the package) and it was not sliced. It was so pretty. I have used it for toast, egg in the hole, and just warmed it up for bread as a side dish. I forgot how awesome it was and since I live alone I can freeze it and use it when needed. I warm it up after I slice what I want in the toaster oven. If I had more than myself to feed I would make this for myself but since I am alone I just buy it. After it's warmed up or toasted it tastes like I just baked it. FYI for folks that are not able to make it or would rather not make it.

Thank you for simplifying sourdough! My starter is 6 months old but the recipe I followed has a lot of weighing and stretch and fold. I can’t believe how quickly yours comes together and made absolutely beautiful loaves. Making another two tonight

Thank you! Day 8 and my starter made bread this morning. I still can’t believe I made a starter without a scale. After eight days I learned how my starter is supposed to look like. Thank you again for your great video. God Bless you and your family.😊

Wow you explained this so well. I feel like I was in my big sister's kitchen as she loved me through her instruction and advice. Please share more recipes!

Thank you Steph. You are so inspiring.God bless you and your family❤❤

Thank God I found your channel ❤ This was my second attempt at making a starter. The first attempt was done following the method of most RU-vidrs/bloggers of equal ratio of flour to water plus had to use a scale (so tedious). I gave up on Day 7 after trying to troubleshoot it to no avail and decided I’d follow your method. It’s Day 2 and mine has risen to more than DOUBLE! The other failed starter did not rise at all so I’m excited for this one and praying I can bake with it in a few days 🙌🏾

I adore bread, as a portugese women our culture eat lots of bread , but i was so afraid of starting a sour dough starter .thank you so much for sharing. This was the est easy to follow video ive seen. 😊

Hands down BEST sourdough starter instructions I’ve seen, THANK YOU for taking the time to make this video, it’s helped me a lot, I’ve got 2 jars of starter in my garage (thats where to warmer for them) can’t wait to make bread soon!

Thank you so much for this. I've been wanting to start a sourdough starter for a long time and this is a detailed video that I can understand. I really do appreciate that you love the Lord and are young, love canning and have nontoxic recommendations as well.

I did the same experiment because, I wanted to know why all the newbies were having such difficulty getting their starter's going. Started Jan 7, 2024 & baked my loaf Jan 14. I posted it on a sourdough FB group hoping to help someone who was having trouble. Boy, oh boy did they chew me up & spit me out!!! "You are gonna die", "you are not following the science", "the experts", "there's bad bacteria in there", on & on!!! Just so you know, I had the exact same results as you & my bread was fabulous. There are so many that seem to be trying to make sourdough bread making difficult!!! I don't get it? They turned off the comments on my post saying I was giving out misinformation. I went ahead and deleted it. I hope they didn't come after you. I love your channel ❤❤❤

I've watched alot of videos by very reputable sourdough gurus and girl you just gave me the BEST TIP I'd never ever seen before!!!! plopping some presumably ready to use starter in some water to see if it floats? AMAZING!! love it! thank you so much! I'm a first timer to your channel and your 🤯 tip, your lovely kitchen, and your calm manner made me a subscriber! Thank you for your time and efforts, I can't wait to see more! Happy New Year to you and yours 🎉

Gosh! I’m so glad your video popped up on my feed! 😊 your instructions were so clear and gave me more confidence. I am at my 3 day mark, tomorrow will be 4 days. I’m a beginner at sour dough starters. I’m doing a cup of organic unbleached flour and a cup of water. Not sure if that’s too much! What I’m blown away by is like your starter u accidentally baked in the oven, you said you had that starter for 6 years! Now I hear other people say years and years, now does that mean you have just been constantly feeding? How do I know when my starter is ready to Bake with? And do I use the whole jar to make sour dough bread… I’m confused lol or maybe just an idiot haha! Anyhoo.. love ur video and ur kitchen!!! So beautiful! Thank you ❤

diving into all things sourdough is on my to do list, thank you so much for making this video!

I have watched this video at least 3 times. And I am finally starting my sourdough starter!!! I failed miserably trying to follow other people’s instructions. You explained this so well that it made me want to try again 😊as of Saturday I have been working on it!

24:51 Thank you for this comment. I’m definitely one of those that needed the constant repetition in phases and directions. I’ve been in a rabbit hole 🕳️ of learning how to make a starter, use it and keep it going but still feeling lost till now. Yes the is long and have watched all of it and thank you for this video!! I’m ready to try now!

Thank you! I tried a starter a couple of weeks ago and it didn’t work😢 but now that I’ve found you I’m inspired again!!! Praying that it works ❤

I actually cooked my Sourdough starter also 😂 Thank God I was able to revive it 😊 I had very little liquid, but I actually took some of the cooked starter and soaked it in a bowl filled with water and just kind of dissolved it with my hands. I still have my starter 😊

This is the first time I've ever done this and your video was excellent! So helpful and I love that you repeated things a bunch to really help us newbies get it in our head. ❤

I’m starting this recipe today and I’ll be back tomorrow to follow you to day 2! I used Einkorn flour so I hope it works just the same. Day 2, I got bubbles!

How do you store sourdough starter once mature? Can it stay on the counter for weeks? Additionally, where does the salt come in this process and do we need keep our starter somewhere warm during the 7 day maturing process? Thank you for this great video!

From a sourdough newbie, thank you for this video!! It's very helpful and you explain things so well. The end product with your scoring and how it was facing the camera reminds me of one of those big pink pigs with the floppy ears that fall over their eyes 🤣 even looked to have a little round snout and i love it!!

Thank you I watched other start videos that were too in depth for no reason. Love how you talked it out x

Yes!! I had a feeling you would have a sourdough starter video 😍

I’m so excited that you are doing this. I’ve been wanting to know how to make a starter. Thank you!! Yea your 6 yo starter survived 😊

Thank you soo much for this informative and amazing video. I am new to the sourdough bread-making and starter process. I love how you simplify this process. I do it a little differently but at this point in my sourdough journey more instinctively. Some need this explained in soooo much detail. It’s not that complicated

Followed this during my starter journey!! Happy to report I have fabulous starter now! Thank you for all the tips ❤😊

Finally after so many months I finally have a rye sourdough starter. I have not made a recipe yet. I will follow you and hopefully, you will make a rye bread with my starter.

I love this! This is a great video for beginners for sure! I made your Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies today. So good!!!❤ thanks:)

I went and bought that same dutch oven from aldi’s after your post about it.. glad I did. needs a little elbow work sometimes to get clean but it’s a the go to item here. thanks for that heads up!

Started mine tonight with King Arthur All Purpose! Fingers crossed, ha ha. Excellent video. As a newbie, this really explains it. Thank you!

Thank you for the detailed video. I just made my first ever sourdough starter and your video is really helpful, I will follow it till my starter is complete!

After you've got your new starter sharted , what I have done in the past was instead of feeding my starter once a week I started feeding it once every 2 weeks ,, and then 3 weeks , and at that point one time I forgot about my starter in the refrigerator and I left it for about 5 weeks without feeding it , at that point I was starting to want to make another loaf of bread so I pulled the starter out and there's a bunch of the liquid sitting on top of it and it had real strong sourdough smell to it so I went ahead and fed it again for what I was keeping out to make a loaf of bread with and the rest went back in the refrigerator and it held just fine , and whenever I made that loaf of sandwich bread out of that sourdough it was some of the very best tasting sourdough and completely reminded me of the sourdough my mother used to make LOL so you can forget about them in the refrigerator for a little while and then feed it make it happy again LOL and I'm just started a brand new starter because I haven't had a starter in my refrigerator in about 3 years now but it's always best to start it with a whole grain flour and I mix mine so it's not really super thick and not really super thin and it works just fine for me

A great video with precious footage (for the old faith)!!! I just started my sourdough starter journey, hope everything will be fine since it's a whole new things to me! BTW, your little one is absolutely adorable!!!

I’m sooo intimidated to try this but it’s one of my goals this year. I just think it’s such a cool skill to have. Loved the video and the way you explained everything! ❤

I have had the rye in freezer for years! Wasnt brave enough to try till watching this!🌹

How long should I take it out before baking with it? How often should I feed ? After feeding it do I leave it out for 24 hours and put back in the fridge again ? Just found your account and LOVE the way you explained everything!

Hi I just found your channel, I really loved how you explained the process of beginning your starters, thank you very much. The sourdough loaf looked fantastic in the end and your son is super adorable 🥰🫶🏻

Thank you! I have been wanting to learn how to bake bread, and this sourdough lesson is just so interesting from start to finish! Thank you, you have a new subscriber for life..

Ok I'm jumping on the sourdough wagon. Recently started making bread for my family on a weekly basis now I think I'm gonna go for the sourdough 😅

Best & clearest video ever!!!! Thank you!!

Thank you so much for making this easier!!! I've been so stressed out trying to get starter to work.

Great video! I have an einkorn sourdough starter going as we speak!

Awesome. I've been wondering about this process. Maybe one day I'll give it a try. Thank You!

You have convinced me to try making my own sourdough starter. Thank you!

you rock thank you learning the old ways for the times to come.. Even learning how to do this with fruit. god bless you

Love this video! Thank you for explaining.

Your XL jar, that you're keeping your flour in is so gorgeous!! Can I ask how big that is? I think it's a great idea to keep on the kitchen bench and save my back every time I bend down to get the sack from my pantry.

Just one thing please …..how do you maintain your sourdough starter after the ten days?

Thanks for the tips, Steph!

I cover my starter with paper towel and a hair band lol I lost my first one to a vacation followed by illness and only restarted a new one about 6 ish weeks ago... she's happy and healthy and I'll be taking some to my sisters in law on my next vacation since they want to bake with it but one has a new baby and the other travels a lot for work... starting with a bit of my starter will give them massive head stats. I'm not great at making beautiful bread yet but it tastes really good and I don't even prefer it to my "every week " bread and the loaf I make of sourdough in my dutch oven I bake mostly for my fiance

At 19:35 you started to contaminate the newer batches with the mother starter 😅. Love the video!! Very informative

Thank you for being so detailed for us beginners!! Every question I had you answered. So grateful 🥲🍞🫶

Thank You! So so much. I've watched so many videos made difficult. You are the best Thanks

Wow this is super helpful. I can’t wait to try this out tomorrow.

Love that you are Demystifying the starter process. Wish I would have found you when I started my journey 2 years ago during COVID. Now I understand and realize how forgiving and resilient this biomass is. I’m thinking your mature starter that you revitalized may have inoculated the others with the use of the same spoon? Can you clarify re: mixing in any “ hooch” that develops in your starter or pouring off? I’ve done both but feel I’m probably discarding lots of good stuff! Thanks so much.

Thank you for being so detailed!!🎉🎉

Hello I hope you are having a lovely day. I have made and successfully killed several starters but still trying my best to keep Lola-my latest one alive. I took your advice and added a little rye & also went back to just the scrapings in the jar and refreshed from there. I think that made all the difference. I am wondering if you have your proofing box set on 90 in this video. I kept stopping it trying to tell but wasn't sure. I have had a great deal of trouble getting my dough to rise in our very cold house. We got a proofing box last week but I have been keeping it on 80. Thinking if you trust it to be on 90 then I am changing mine next time. Thank you so much for your time.

I came back for the "hooch" I knew I heard of it on this video, and was nervous, but is good to know is nothing bad, my starter is just hungry 😂

When you start baking with it, do you bake what you discard? Or first discard and then use what's left for baking? Also, when you discard for pancakes, do you leave it on the counter at room temperature or put it in the fridge? Very new, I had started my starter about a week ago using your guidance. I appreciate you! god bless 🙏💗🥰

This is a great informative video! One question once the mother starter is mature do we only feed it after we use it? or we still need to feed it daily? I'm learning to eat healthier so have recently gotten into eating sour dough bread and now decided I an make this myself. Will go and get the costco organic AP flour and rye today and start my starter!

How great!! Thank you!!❤

I had my started in the oven also, took it out today and mine looked the EXACT same way. Thick crusty film on top. Trying to save it now🤞🏽

I needed this

Loved the video, I couldn’t find the bread recipe that you made.

In the sourdough Facebook groups, I’ve been sharing my sourdough starter I started making and I’m being told I need to use a scale. It’s been 11 days and I’ve been doing basically what you are doing. I use a 1/2 cup of flour and a 1/4 cup water. It’s a great consistency and I’m getting action! But people keep saying I need a scale and measure in grams. Is it really necessary for a newbie like me? My head is spinning with all the different advice everyone gives.

I have a question! I tried to have a sourdough starter a couple years ago. I am from Wisconsin and during the fall winter and spring, keep the house temp at 62 degrees. Does that affect the starter? I felt like it was never bubbly and fluffy. I know they say to place in a warm environment. Do you have any tips to help me? I want to start it back up!

On day 3 it looked good for me and I started the feeding process for days 4-7 and it just looked like pancake batter didn’t do anything anymore not sure what I did wrong.

This is incredibly helpful thank you SO much!!

For the discard, is it ok to keep it in a separate jar on the counter until I have enough for a recipe? I did this for days 2 through 4 and it smelled pretty strong. I was a little concerned to use it so I thought I would ask. Also, I’m on day 4 and there was water in the bottom of my starter. Is that normal, or does it mean that it just needs fed?

Can you share the ratio you use for your starter using Unbleached organic flower and Rye Flour

Hi and thank you for your detailed instructions of sourdough starters. Can I ask 2 questions ? I live in Scotland and with the colder weather will this make my starter take longer to mature ? Also if using a whole wheat flour as a starter can I once mature use this when baking an all purpose sourdough loaf ? Thank you for reading and hopefully commenting. 🙂

Hello from Florida! New to your channel. Thank you so much for your help with sourdough. I was looking for your recipe for the artisan loaf you made but didn’t see it on your website. Also you look like a childhood friend. But she would be in her 60’s haha maybe your mom or aunt!

I saw a lot of videos on sourdough but this finally might be one I'd like to try. Sounds easy enough. Thank you!! Do you ever put it in the fridge or freezer if you don't want to use it for a while??

Can you start another jar of starter with the discard?

Very first starter from you is ready, day 7! So excited. Thank you so much. I want to make sweet biscuits. How much sugar should I add? Had these years ago and they were delish! Thank u

Really enjoy it!!! I was nervous about starting sourdough!! But you really made it look easy... so the discard you do every day you can make pancakes and cookies? Do you have to have the right measurements of discard to do a recipe? If your short the amount!! Please do more about sourdough!! I have been wanting to do this for a long time but was so intimidated!! Your bread looked beautiful ❤😊😍

Apparently whole weat tends to have a much more acidic smell due to more activity due to the addiddtional bacteria etc that was on the hulse of the grain. it will loose a lot of its acidity during the baking process.

I really love your sour dough starters they are so easy and successful! I do have a question. I have the rye flour starter going half white half rye. Do you have a recipe for the rye bread, or do I follow the same as the artisan bread? Thank you!

I don't know if I missed it, but tomorrow is my day 7. What do I do after that?

I did the exact same thing with my starter, I accidentally baked my starter too! I felt like it was my baby - I was super sad! I got a little bit of starter from the very bottom and was able to revive it!

Very informative! Thank you!

I have another side hobby, making mead, and it uses yeast to ferment honey into alcohol. One of the things we do is add yeast nutrient, I wonder if that will kick start a starter?

I am new to bread baking… I started my sourdough starter Sunday using a pint jar, 1/4 cup of all purpose unbleached flour, a tbs of rye flour, and about a 1/4 cup of warm water. Left it on the counter for 24hrs and it didn’t really rise. But, I still discarded half and fed it 1/4 cup of the same flour, a tbs of rye and less than a 1/4 cup of water (warm?) it rose beautifully the next day (Tuesday). Discarded half and repeated the feeding process the same way. Wednesday, no rise. Repeated the discard and feeding process. Thursday, no rise. I transferred at this point to a new jar but only about 2tbs of the “starter”, and the fed it the same amount. Friday, no rise. I am super discouraged and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong..

I am not sure if you realize this but you used the same spoon from old faithful in all the jars. Thus putting the yeast in all from it into all of them.

Thank you for the information. Could you use bread flour instead of all purpose flour??

Beautiful tutorial!!!

New at making a sour dough starter… thank you for the info…

I use Bob’s Red Mill flour