Barb at King Arthur

April 17, 2020 at 9:15am

In reply to by Laura O (not verified)

Hi Laura O, I've never made a sourdough starter with sprouted wheat flour, but I imagine it should work fine. However, I suspect the enzyme activity in the sprouted wheat may be causing fermentation to occur more rapidly, so your timing for feedings may end up being different than a for a starter maintained with regular whole wheat flour or unbleached all-purpose flour. We find it easiest to begin with whole wheat or whole rye flour and then to shift into feeding with unbleached all-purpose flour. This makes for a stable and versatile starter that is relatively easy to maintain, but if all you have available for feedings is sprouted wheat flour, then it should still work. I hope by now you're seeing some predictable rising, but if you're not, you might want to try switching to regular whole wheat flour. You could also try this alternative feeding routine, suggested by microbiologist, Debra Wink, which is meant to increase the acidity of your starter and pave the way for increased yeast activity:

1. Feed once a day.

2. Feed with whole wheat or whole rye flour. If you don't have these flours available, you can use AP flour. 

3. Feed with a ratio by weight of 2 parts starter : 1 part water : 1 part flour. For example, save 1/2 cup starter (4 ounces, 113g) and feed 1/4 cup (2 ounces, 57g) water + 1/2 cup (2 ounces, 57g) flour. 

Once your starter is rising predictably you can switch to feeding according to our regular sourdough starter recipe with the twice a day feedings, and equal parts by weight of starter, water, and AP flour. Don't be surprised if your starter lags a bit each time you switch up its feeding routine, as the organisms need time to adjust, but once the starter is rising predictably with this routine, then you should be good to go! 

I hope this helps! 

Barb

 

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