Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter made with Bread Flour

Recipe by Jonathan Brasil
Not Yet Reviewed

Our gluten-free sourdough starter makes it possible to bake great-tasting, naturally leavened gluten-free bread at home. If you’re familiar with traditional sourdough starter, this gluten-free version is not much different: Build it by fermenting flour (in this case, our Gluten-Free Bread Flour) and water, then “feed” it each day with more flour and water until it’s active and bubbly. Our Gluten-Free Bread Flour is ideal for making a starter from scratch because it contains gluten-free wheat starch, which helps recreate the fruity, lactic flavor of traditional starter and produces high-rising, chewy breads. 

Prep
15 mins
Total
7 days 7 hrs
Yield
sufficient sourdough for ongoing baking
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Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter made with Bread Flour - select to zoom
Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter made with Bread Flour - select to zoom
Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter made with Bread Flour - select to zoom

Instructions

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  1. Day 1: Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and water, stirring until thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl and let the mixture rest overnight at room temperature. 

  2. Day 2: Uncover the starter and stir it several times; a dough whisk is a helpful tool here. Re-cover and allow the starter to rest overnight at room temperature.

  3. Day 3: Discard half the starter (about 1 cup or 173g) and feed the remainder with 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (128g) cool water and 1/2 cup (60g) Gluten-Free Bread Flour. At this point, the starter can be transferred to a crock or large jar; a vessel with clear, straight-sided edges will make it easy to gauge the daily growth of your starter. 

  4. Days 4, 5... Repeat the process from Day 3. Sometime between days 5 and 7, you'll notice that several hours after feeding, the starter will have doubled in size and should be bubbling. At this point, it's ready to use in a recipe (like our Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread). If it takes longer than this, simply keep repeating the once-a-day feeding process until it matures fully, bubbling nicely and doubling in size within several hours after feeding. 

Tips from our Bakers

  • Once you’ve established a mature, healthy starter, it can be kept in the refrigerator between feedings. Be sure to feed it at least once a week for long-term storage.  

  •  Adjust how much you’re feeding the starter to ensure you have enough for your recipe. For best results, feed the starter about two parts water to one part Gluten-Free Bread Flour. (For example, to make about 300g starter, mix 200g water and 100g Gluten-Free Bread Flour with 28g starter.) 

  • To use French Sourdough Starter: Add 1/4 teaspoon French Sourdough Starter during the initial mix (Day 1) of this recipe. Your starter will become active faster and will initially have a different flavor than a totally natural starter. Breads made with this starter will rise a little slower than natural sourdough.   

  • If you feed your starter on a long-term basis with anything other than Gluten-Free Bread Flour (sorghum, teff, etc.), it will perform and look different (thicker or thinner, a different color) and may need a different ratio of flour to water depending on the absorption of your flour. Our experience with whole, white sorghum, for example, led us to feeding the sourdough with equal parts flour to water (by weight). Adjust the amounts of flour and water to achieve a starter with the texture of thick pancake batter. 

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