I know… I said that I was going to post udon noodles first… but then I realised that your first task must be to get your sourdough starter started. It takes 5 days to make a starter (you only have to do this once) and once you have your starter you can make bread, baguettes, English muffins, pizza bases, bread rolls etc.

It is well worth getting one going and once you have made it, it can live happily in your fridge without much attention… ready for action when you need it.

The sourdough starter only uses two ingredients:
• Flour (white plain)
• Water

And will take you five days to make

An important rule to remember about your starter:
Always add equal weights of water and flour

Find a large clean jar (I use one that had olives in originally). We use the starter a lot so we keep quite a lot in the fridge; however, if you are only making a single loaf every couple of days, a large jam jar should be OK.
Note: if you start with a jam jar and then decide that you need more starter, it is easy to upgrade to a larger jar (see below)

Day 1

Make sure your jar is clean (and that includes the lid).
Put into your jar 50g (or 2oz) of flour and 50g of water and mix well (it will form a smooth paste).
Place the lid on top – don’t tighten it (don’t turn it at all)… it is there to stop dust getting in… it must not be air tight (your starter is a living thing and it must be allowed to breathe).
Now leave it alone – place it on your kitchen counter and leave it for 24 hours.

Day 2

Take off the lid (not much will have happened over night).
Add 50g of water and mix well – this will make the paste much thinner.
Add 50g of flour (remember you must always add the same with of water and flour – none of this is precise… if you add 60g of both or 80g of both it will still be fine).
Mix well, replace the lid (don’t screw down).
Leave it alone on your kitchen counter for another 24 hours.

Day 3

Repeat day 2
Note: you might be thinking “this isn’t all going to fit in my jar”… It’s OK… the starter doesn’t all need to be kept. You are adding more flour everyday to introduce wild yeasts and to provide energy. If your jar is getting a little full, then spoon some out (you can put it into another jar and give it to a friend or put it on your compost – the worms will love it). If you want more starter, simply add more water and flour.
I try to keep my jar about half full:

Day 4

Repeat day 3

Day 5

Nearly there… add the water and flour in the same way you have for the past few days
You now have your starter made (you should notice that bubbles have appeared on the surface – this is the natural yeasts in the flour working their magic).

Your starter is ready to be used in bread making and at some point over the next 5 days I will post a basic bread recipe.
Either use the starter (see basic bread recipe) or put it in your fridge until you need it.

Now that you have your ‘starter’, it is important to keep it healthy – this is easy:

Looking after your starter
If you make bread at least once a week and follow my recipe, the starter will remain in tip-top condition.
However, if you decide to go without any bread for a week or more, then you will need to ‘feed’ your starter. Note: this happens anyway when you make bread, but if you aren’t making bread, feed the starter about every 7 days.

So, if your starter has been in the fridge for a week or so and you haven’t made bread, either make some bread or take out about two tablespoons of starter and put it on your compost. Add back in 50g (or 2oz) of water, mix and then add 50g of flour, mix to a smooth paste and leave out overnight and then put back in the fridge (Note: I have never had to do this as we use the starter every day or two).