Snow - a sourdough starter

Dried flakes, passed hand to hand. Here is how to wake them up.

You have a packet of flakes. Now what?

Those dry papery bits are a living sourdough culture, dehydrated and sleeping. Add flour and water, keep them warm, and in about a week you will have a bubbling starter that can raise a loaf of bread.

A jar of bubbling sourdough starter beside a bag of flour and a kitchen scale. Start here: revive the flakes →

The short version

  1. Soak the flakes in warm water until they dissolve.
  2. Stir in an equal weight of bread flour.
  3. Keep it warm and loosely covered.
  4. Feed it once or twice a day, throwing most of it away each time.
  5. When it reliably doubles in size within about 4 to 8 hours, it is ready to bake with.

Expect 3 to 7 days. Sometimes 10. It almost always works, it just takes patience.

Meet Snow

Snow is a sourdough culture that came to me through a baking class in town, and was named by my daughter. A starter is just flour and water hosting a stable community of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria - the yeast makes the gas that lifts your bread, the bacteria make the acids that give it flavour. Your job is to feed them and keep them warm.

More about where Snow came from → - including how to name your own, which matters more than it sounds like it should.

Where to go next

About SnowWhere it came from, and naming your own. Revive the flakesDay by day, from dry flakes to an active starter. Keeping it aliveCounter or fridge, ratios, and how to go on holiday. The methodFolds, bulk ferment, shaping, scoring, baking, storage. RecipesA basic loaf, add-ins, and things to do with discard. TroubleshootingGrey liquid, odd smells, and when to actually worry. Pass it onDry your own flakes and give the culture to someone else. GlossaryLevain, hooch, hydration, oven spring.

One small thing, if the bread works out

It is Give Month, and the flakes are free. If the starter earns its keep, consider five dollars to a charity that feeds people - yours, or one of a few suggestions on the give page. Entirely optional, and nobody is counting.

A note on measurements

Everything here is in grams. Sourdough is much easier when you weigh rather than scoop, because a cup of flour can vary by a third depending on how you pack it. A basic digital kitchen scale is the single best thing you can buy for this.

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