Let me start by saying, you do NOT need to keep a lot of sourdough starter on hand to make bread. As a general rule, I try to keep about 25-50g "back-up" starter in my refrigerator.
That being said, there may be times when you need to increase (or bulk-up) your sourdough starter and I'm here to explain the simplest way to do this.
First, we must understand sourdough starter ratios (don't worry, it's not complicated). In general, your sourdough starter is made up of equal parts flour and water - this is known as 100% hydration because you have equal amounts of each. This is also referred to as a 1:1:1 ratio.
How to Increase Your Sourdough Starter
In order to "bulk-up" or increase your sourdough starter, you need to first decide how much you want to end up with, then divide that by two. For example, if you have 50g of starter and your end goal is to have 200g starter, then take 200/2 = 100. This will give you the amount of water and flour you'll need - so in this case, you'll need 100g flour and 100g water. Now just add the 50g of starter you have to the 100g flour and 100g water and you'll end up with about 200g of starter (and most likely a little extra - what to do with that below!).
Place any remaining starter in the fridge until you're ready to bake again, then feed it the ratio required to get to the amount you need.
Example broken down further:
50g starter
add 100g flour
add 100g water
** this will result in about 250g starter that you can store in the
fridge for later or feed again
How to Increase Your Sourdough Starter Even MORE
Let's say you only have 10g starter and you're still trying to get to 200g. In this case, you're just feeding it a higher ratio - 1:10:10. So you'd still feed it 100g flour and 100g water, but you're only adding the 10g starter, making it the 1:10:10 ratio. And with a ratio that high, keep in mind that your sourdough starter will take much longer to rise - because the yeast and bacteria have a lot more food to eat through!
Make sense?
Also, something to note, the maturity of your starter matters when trying to increase it -if you're using a very small amount of sourdough starter to build a larger one, it's ideal for your starter to be more mature. When your starter is young, you need to continue regular (smaller) feedings to ensure the yeast and bacteria continue building their little colonies.
Aren't sourdough starters amazing?! And to think they are all unique and different, just like us!
Upcoming Events:
Friday, March 8th 1-2:30pm
Saturday, March 30th 2-3:30pm
Saturday, March 9th 12-1:30pm - at One World Zero Waste
Online Sourdough Classes
Wednesday, March 11th 1-2:30pm (EST)
Stormhouse St Patrick's Day Market - Saturday, March 16th 4-8pm
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