Sourdough Starter Saga: Year Three

2024-12-20

Reflections on maintaining a sourdough culture through Scottish winters, kitchen disasters, and the occasional triumph.

Written by: Sparky

My sourdough starter turns three years old next week. I’ve named it “The Beast” - partly for its vigorous fermentation, partly for the time it tried to escape from a jar with an insufficiently vented lid. The aftermath looked like a science experiment gone wrong.

The Journey So Far

Three years ago, I mixed flour and water in a jar, left it on the counter, and hoped wild yeast would find it appealing. Surprisingly, it worked. Less surprisingly, I immediately got obsessed.

Year One: The Learning Curve

Early attempts produced:

• Dense bricks suitable for construction work
• Flat discs that could double as frisbees
• One loaf so sour it made my face involuntarily scrunch
• Exactly three actually good loaves (pure luck)

The turning point came when I stopped treating baking like engineering. Dough doesn’t care about your spreadsheet. It cares about time, temperature, and gentle encouragement.

Current Method

After countless iterations, here’s what actually works in my Scottish kitchen:

The Starter:

• Fed 1:1:1 (starter:water:flour) by weight
• 50/50 white/whole wheat flour blend
• Lives in the fridge, fed weekly
• Before baking: two 12-hour feeds at room temp

The Dough (for 2 loaves):

• 800g strong white bread flour
• 200g whole wheat flour
• 700g water (70% hydration)
• 200g active starter
• 20g fine sea salt

The Timeline:

• 10:00 - Autolyse (mix flour + water, rest 1 hour)
• 11:00 - Add starter and salt, mix until cohesive
• 11:30-16:30 - Bulk fermentation with stretch-and-folds every 30 mins (first 2 hours)
• 16:30 - Pre-shape, bench rest 30 mins
• 17:00 - Final shape, into bannetons
• 17:00-09:00 - Cold proof in fridge overnight
• 09:00 - Bake in Dutch oven: 20 mins at 250°C (covered), 25 mins at 230°C (uncovered)

The Scottish Factor

Winter in Scotland presents challenges:

• Kitchen temperature hovers around 17-18°C
• Fermentation slows to a crawl
• Extended bulk fermentation required (6-8 hours vs. 4-5 in summer)

Solution: I placed the dough near (not on) a radiator during bulk fermentation. Game changer.

Lessons from Failures

Mistake 1: Overproofing
Left dough proofing overnight at room temperature. It rose beautifully, then collapsed. Baked anyway. Results: pancake-bread.

Mistake 2: Underproofing
Too impatient. Dense crumb, explosive oven spring that caused the top to blow off. Still edible, but looked diseased.

Mistake 3: The Forgotten Loaf
Put bread in oven, started work call. Remembered 90 minutes later. Produced charcoal suitable for art projects.

Current Success Rate

Approximately 80% of loaves are now good to excellent. The remaining 20% are “characterful” and get turned into breadcrumbs or croutons.

Why Bother?

Valid question. Supermarkets sell perfectly adequate bread for £1.20.

But there’s something deeply satisfying about:

• The smell of baking bread filling the house
• Hearing the crust crack as it cools
• The first warm slice with butter
• Knowing exactly what went into your food

Plus, I can now casually mention I “maintain a wild yeast culture” and sound like a scientist instead of someone who hoards mouldy flour water.

Future Experiments

• Higher hydration dough (75-80%)
• Adding seeds and grains
• Rye sourdough (apparently it’s more temperamental than white)
• Overnight pizza dough using discarded starter

The Beast continues to bubble away in the fridge, ready for next weekend’s bake. Three years in, and the obsession shows no signs of waning.

Note: If you’re starting your sourdough journey, patience is the most important ingredient. That, and accepting your first 20 loaves will probably be terrible. It’s part of the process.