Our sourdough starter contains nothing but organic hard red wheat flour, water, and the living plant bacteria that make it so special. You can use it for bread, pizza crust, cookies, even waffles and pancakes!
Our starter is different from typical sourdough starters. It’s much sweeter and makes a fluffy, beautifully textured bread, much like sandwich bread. Unlike most starters, which contain anaerobic bacteria and can be left on the counter, our starter contains aerobic bacteria which need to be refrigerated. None of this starter needs to be dumped out, and the “float test” isn’t accurate either; it will sink.
Organic
Non-GMO
Product of the USA
Keep refrigerated
Our live starter comes in pint jars and contains approx. ½ cup of starter (jar not full to allow expansion)
Our freeze-dried sourdough starter includes instructions on how to rehydrate.
Both come with care instructions and recipe card.
Our Starter Includes;
a well-established sourdough starter, started in May 2025
- Made with Organic Hard Red Wheat Flour
- Made with Filtered water
Directions
Once received, our live starter must be "fed" to stay alive. Pour starter into a clean bowl and add ¼ cup pure, non-chlorinated water and approx. ⅓ cup of hard red wheat flour. This is a suggested amount but use less flour/water (as little as 1 Tbsp. water/flour) if you don't want your starter to build up too quickly and if you don't plan to bake often. Mix together well and pour back into a clean quart (or larger) jar. The starter will rise in the jar, so allow enough room for rising. Feed daily and KEEP REFRIGERATED! As your starter amount increases to 1 ½–2 cups, you can begin feeding it up to 1 cup water and 1 cup flour (or a little more).
To rehydrate freeze-dried sourdough starter, first mix the dried flakes with warm, non-chlorinated water (often a 1:2 or 1:1 ratio by weight) and let it sit for an hour to soften, then add flour and more water, and repeat daily feedings until it becomes bubbly and active, usually taking 3-5 days, keeping it refrigerated for best results.
NOTE: Live Starter must be fed within 2–3 days of receipt and kept refrigerated, especially if shipped a long distance. Any separation of liquid from the starter is normal. Brownish liquid on the starter is normal as well. Just feed with water and flour as described above. To revive the starter more quickly after it is has traveled, try feeding it morning and night for a few days. You can feed it less each time (as little as 1 Tbsp. water/flour) if you don't want your starter to build up too quickly. Feed it an amount that works for your baking needs.
Recipe for one loaf of bread:
1 cup starter (cold out of the fridge)
1 cup pure, non-chlorinated water
1 tsp. salt, preferably Celtic or Himalayan (optional)
3–4 cups whole grain flour (or flour of choice, See notes below on flour)
Mix ingredients together, kneading well. Let sit in a covered bowl until size has doubled (approx. 4–6 hours). Form loaf and put in oiled loaf pan. Let sit until size has doubled again (another hour or so). Bake at 325 degrees for 40–43 minutes.
For best results use Hard Red Wheat Berries or Flour to feed your Bread Starter.
Other flours, such as hard white wheat, spelt, einkorn, emmer, or kamut, work great for making bread and will also work okay for feeding the starter, though the starter reacts the best to hard red wheat flour. This starter does not work well when fed gluten-free flours, but if you don't have a serious gluten allergy, we encourage you to try this starter! Feed it hard red wheat flour to keep it healthy and strong, then make the bread with spelt flour (which has a lower gluten content) and maybe a little gluten-free flour. If you can handle the bread fine, then gradually add more gluten flour to the bread dough and see how it goes. Most people who think they are allergic to gluten find they can eat this bread when it's made with regular hard red, hard white, kamut, or einkorn flours. It is best to increase the gluten content gradually so the flora in the gut can work up to handle the bread.
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