Fried Sourdough Starter Recipe — Meadowlark Journal (2024)

FAQs

Can you fry up sourdough starter? ›

Begin by preheating your cast iron skillet to medium heat with 1 Tablespoon avocado oil in the skillet. In a small mixing bowl combine sourdough starter, salt and pepper. Mix well. Once the skillet is piping hot and preheated, pour the starter mixture into the skillet and cook for about three minutes.

You can start feeding the sourdough once you see lots of bubbles. To feed your sourdough, I recommend a 1:2:2 ratio. This means that for every 25 grams of sourdough, I'm feeding with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water.

A 100% hydration sourdough starter is a culture which is kept and fed with water and flour at equal weights. Like for instance 5 oz water to 5 oz flour. A 166% hydration starter is fed with equal volume of flour and water, which most typically is one cup of water (8.3 oz) and one cup of flour (5 oz).

The only things that are gonna kill your starter are if you heat it up to > 110F or if you neglect it so badly that it starts growing pathogens that it can't get rid of itself (mold basically). Feeding your starter will never ruin it. Feed it 6x a day if you want!

In 2020, Seamus Blackley, the creator of Xbox and a seasoned baker himself, baked sourdough bread from dormant yeast samples that are 4,500 years old, according to the Atlas Obscura website.

All-purpose Flour

It strikes a perfect balance of softness and structure, making it an ideal choice for various recipes. Due to its wide availability and affordability, all-purpose flour is often my top recommendation for creating and maintaining a sourdough starter.

If you don't get rid of the excess, eventually you'll have more starter than your feedings can sustain. After a few days, your daily 1/4 cup flour and water won't be enough to sustain your entire jar of starter, and your starter will be slow and sluggish, not much better than discard itself.

If you have too much starter compared to the additional flour and water you're adding, your hungry starter consumes all the nutrients and then it's not as bubbly.

Things that WON'T kill your sourdough starter

METAL: Stirring your starter with a metal spoon or placing it in a metal bowl won't kill your starter. While we don't recommend making or keeping your starter in contact with reactive metals like copper or aluminum, stainless steel is harmless.

Levain goes by different names. For instance, you may see the term levain used interchangeably with “sourdough” or “sourdough starter.” In most ways, levain and sourdough starter are the same: both are made from flour, water, and wild yeast, and both are used to ferment and flavor bread dough.

What is the best ratio for sourdough starter? ›

Sourdough starters should be fed a minimum ratio of 1:1:1, meaning equal WEIGHTS of starter to flour to water. If you feed your starter this way and keep it at a consistently warm temperature 78ºF, your starter should peak and become active/bubbly in about 3-4 hours.

If your starter is well past peak (a few hours) and visibly falling, you can give it a “refresh” feeding to reactivate it.

Compared to whole wheat flour, rye flour is said to be the most nutrient- and amylase-dense option for a sourdough starter. Overall, it has a lower gluten protein content than wheat flour, which means it produces slack, sticky, and dense doughs.

Yes, there are actually several health benefits to using sourdough discard in your cooking and baking. Sourdough discard is rich in probiotics, which can help promote a healthy gut microbiome and improve digestion.

Similar to case #2, above, discarded sourdough is used in recipes with no additional flour called for, so it can be baked immediately. The discarded starter's flour is already fermented and it adds sourdough flavor to the recipe.

Some of the many health benefits from using a Sourdough Starter include: Less likely to spike blood sugar & has a lower glycemic index. Feeds good gut bacteria for easier digestion. Keeps you fuller for longer.!

What is sourdough discard? As the name implies, sourdough discard refers to a portion of the sourdough starter that is set aside. This step is undertaken prior to feeding – adding fresh flour and water – to regulate its growth and rejuvenate the acidity levels.