Expert Advice on Keeping a Sourdough Starter
Ready to start making your own sourdough bread? Six bread experts share their best advice for starting your starter!
Getting into sourdough baking is intimidating. It’s why I’ve only tried to make my own starter once, and I promptly failed. The Mason jar bubbled over with unwieldy, slightly stinky gunk and I just didn’t know how to recover — nor did I have the patience. And so it went into the garbage, a forgotten kitchen failure from which I thought I’d never recover. Fresh bread would be something I’d leave to the pros, forever.
But I have found myself curious once again about whether I can become a person who bakes her own fresh bread every week, and I believe I’m ready to take on a starter. Luckily, I am able to get tips from those who know what they’re doing. I talked to bakers with sourdough starters in Canada, the U.K, New York City, Philadelphia, Houston, and Puerto Rico for their expert insight into how to make a starter and keep it alive.
Have no fear
It seems fitting to start here: “Don’t stress about it,” says Phoebe Connell, co-owner of wine bar Lois in New York’s East Village and the snack line Aida. “It is amazing how easy it is to grow and keep a starter.”
