I know – it’s unbelievable!
Everywhere you read, it takes days to make sourdough. Well I suppose if you follow directions, that may be true.
For me, recipes are guidelines. I tell my family, “If you like it, make sure you take seconds, because it may not ever come out like this again.”
I much prefer sourdough to regular bread since it has been soaked and is easier on the gut. Sometimes I don’t prepare enough ahead to have it ready in time, so we don’t eat sourdough as often as I’d like.
So I am thrilled to have stumbled on making quick sourdough starter.
How can I make sourdough starter quickly?
I’ve had kefir on the brain lately (read How to make Water Kefir), so I decided to combine some water kefir I had (the second ferment with cherry juice) with some whole wheat flour freshly ground in my grain mill. I combined this in a Fido, and set it on the shelf around 11pm. I was hoping to have biscuits with dinner the next day, and I had my fingers crossed that it would be ready in time.
I used 1 cup of each (water kefir and whole wheat flour) so I wasn’t wasting much if it didn’t turn out.
I was pleasantly surprised when I checked on the sourdough the next morning. There was starter!!
Below you can see how it looked after mixing and setting on the shelf around 11pm (you can see beet kvass on the left and water kefir on the right). I only had a 2L Fido available to use, andI have since transferred to a 1 L.
Now you can see the very active starter the following morning around 8am. no, my beet kvass didn’t turn into sauerkraut – I pulled it down to check on it under the light and put it back behind the kraut.
Technically, it only took 9 hours. It is realistic that you could whip up the sourdough in the morning and have biscuits with your dinner 
Isn’t it pretty?
How does it hold up long-term?
Two weeks later, I am continuing to use this. I leave it on my counter, grabbing out what I need, adding more flour/kefir to get a nice consistency, then leaving on the shelf until I need it again.
I love that I can just pull out what I need and bake it right away!
This has never been refrigerated, by the way. Between the Fido jar keeping oxygen out and the lactic acid bacteria in the water kefir keeping the spoilage organisms under control, there’s no need to refrigerate.
Is there a gluten-free option?
Yes. You can use sorgham. Spelt also works, but is not gluten-free.
Sourdough in Recipes
I can’t recommend Wardeh’s Sourdough A-Z ebook and Sourdough ecourse highly enough. Learn how to make everything from tortilla chips to Chocolate Sourdough Cake to pizza crust to gingerbread.
So what are you waiting for? Try it!
Join us over on the Fido Fermentation FB Group!
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| Lea Harris founded Nourishing Treasures in 2006. A mom passionate about her family's health and well-being, Lea believes education is power. Encouraging others to take baby steps in the right direction of health for their families, Lea's goal is to raise awareness of what goes into our mouths and on our bodies, providing natural alternative information that promotes health and prevents disease by using traditional foods and nature's medicine.
Lea is a Certified Health Coach graduate from Beyond Organic University, and a Certified Aromatherapist graduate from Aromahead Institute. "Like" Nourishing Treasures on Facebook, join the Nourishing Treasures Group on Facebook, follow @NourishTreasure on Twitter, and subscribe to our newsletter. You can also find me on Learning About Essential Oils forum, and Fido Fermentation Facebook group. Disclaimer: I use affiliate links wherever possible. So if you click on a link, and make a purchase, I might make a small commission, but it doesn't cost you any more. |
NICE! Wish I had seen this back when I was making my starter.
Does you think it still has all the same benefits and removing the antinutrients properly? I’m sure as it sits out over time it continues to work its magic, but just wondering about immediate use.
Yes, it does. Generally when you soak, it is 8 hour. This went 9. So it has been soaked and it good to go!
Thank’s for the info. It’s very helpful!
Visiting from FTF- hope you can stop by:)
http://myrecipecollection.info/2012/09/chocolate-donut-with-blue-sprinkles.html
Very interesting, but that would also mean you’d get kefir related pribiotics and not ones associated with straight sourdough, correct?
There are dozens or more bacteria involved, and I am sure they are not identical. However, kefir bacteria and sourdough bacteria are both lactic acid bacteria
Do you have to keep on feeding it water kefir? Or can you add regular water?
You can add water once you jump-start it with kefir.
I am using a 30 year old starter, but this sounds fun for those times I don’t have enough or maybe didn’t feed my starter in time. Thanks!
Awesome! This would be awesome since it’s never warm enough here to get past the initial bubble stage.
What do you think about milk kefir? Or using whey instead of water kefir?
I am sure milk kefir would also work
Do you use the entire amount in your recipe and is it the only flour used, or do you add more flour for the recipe? If you do, the added flour will not have been soaked/fermented. Since you didn’t say how you use it in your biscuit recipe, it’s hard to tell if you added flour in the morning then let it soak all day until time to bake or if you waited till time to bake to add more flour. You’re suggesting that it can be started at 8am and have it ready for baking in the evening, in which case you’d either use only the starter for the biscuits or you’d add more flour to finish out the recipe. How did you use it?
I just the starter only when I make biscuits. I just grab some and plop in a greased stoneware muffin pan. That’s it!