Sourdough Starter Guide

Who is Hermann?

In Germany, Hermann is a ‘Freundschaftskuchen’ (friendship cake). In essence, it is a sweet, yeasted starter dough, which continues to grow over time to a point where you give the natural surplus to your friends to use in a cake. It is basically an edible chain letter. But more importantly, it is the philosophy to pass something on, a cake but also a skill, that might last forever. That’s why a sourdough culture is also often called Hermann, just like mine.

What is it?

A sourdough culture is made from two ingredients: Flour & water. When combined, the otherwise dormant microorganisms (wild yeast  & lactic bacteria) become active and eat the sugars (enzymes) in the flour. As a side effect they create lactic acids, which causes the fermentation and gives acidity to the “sour”dough, and carbon dioxide, which makes the starter, and later the bread, rise and saturates the crumb with irregular air holes. It allows us to cultivate the yeast and bacteria so that we can use them in baking.

Why Sourdough?

Natural sourdough is said to be better for the gut as it’s easier to digest than bread made with commercial yeast. It will give your final bake a rich and complex flavour that varies with its environment and microbiological composition. Ultimately, it’s utterly delicious.

Ready to crack on?

Just follow the steps below to revive your very own sourdough starter.

Revive Your Dried Sourdough Starter

Day 1

Mix 500g of strong white bread flour and 500g of wholemeal flour in a large jar*. You will use this mix to feed your starter.

*Any gluten-containing flour will do for the first step, but try to replace as soon as possible as the recommended flours above allow your starter to kick off faster.

Mix the dried sourdough starter (15g) with 20g cold water and let it rehydrate for 10 minutes. Then add 50g of the flour mix and 50g of cold water and stir well. Store the mixture in a container/jar (not metal) and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Keep in a cupboard for 24 hours.

Day 2

Time to feed your starter. To do so,  scrape off the darker layer that might have built on the surface. Then discard roughly 80% of the remaining batter (keeping around 20g) and add 50g of the flour mix and 50g of cold water. Mix, cover with the towel and store again in the cupboard. Repeat this step every 24h until your starter doubles in volume 6-12 hours after feeding. Usually, this process takes 2-3 days.

Once it’s active…

You can see the sourdough starter as a living organism that needs feeding every 24h (if kept at room temperature) or once a week (if kept in the fridge). To feed it, take 10-20g of the old batch (discard the rest) and add 50g of the flour mix and 50g of cold water. Stir well and store.

Concerned about waste? You can use the leftover sourdough starter in recipes that don’t require the dough to rise (for instance pancakes or crackers).

Congratulations, your sourdough starter is now active and ready to go.