Winter sourdough starter tricks
What to do to speed up your sourdough starter so you can bake sourdough bread ASAP👇
Feed it flour that it loves
There are some flours that the starter loves because it has high amounts of a protein called amylase that helps the starter break down carbohydrates.
These are: rye flour, sprouted barley flour, King Arthur white bread flour (includes the amylase enzyme and/or barley flour)
Add a little more water
The more hydration a starter/dough has, the faster it will ferment. And the less water it has, the slower it will ferment.
Increase the temp
The higher the temp = the faster the fermentation. So put your starter in a place where it will be super warm. Like 88-98F warm.
Increase the humidity
Humidity will also increase your fermentation —but especially high temp + high humidity combined.
Put it in a proofer
If you have a proofer like I do, that would be the way to go. You can control the temp and humidity at will.
Put it in the oven with the light on
The closer environment and heat source is enough to increase the temp to make your starter happy.
Leverage thermal mass
Here’s the absolute golden tip:
Boil water and put it in a big metal container —put this in small, enclosed area —your microwave/oven/closet and put your starter next to it. Not touching, just next to it.
Why? Because water is good thermal mass (the ability of a material to absorb, store and release heat)
Doing all of this ☝️ has turbocharged my starter regardless of any winter temp.
📣 That being said, if you’d like the starter feeding schedule that I use to bake all my sourdough bread that I sell in my sourdough bakery, go here:
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