Congratulations on getting your hands on this lovely gluten-free sourdough starter.
Use these instructions to get you going and tweak around once you’re confident to personalize your sourdough journey!
Hydrating and Maintaining Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter:
Ingredients:
- Your pack of Tea Shop Malta Freeze-dried gluten-free sourdough starter
- Gluten-free flour (such as rice flour or a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend)
- Filtered water (room temperature)
Instructions:
Day 1: Hydrating the Starter
- In a clean glass container or jar, mix all your starter with 60g of flour.
- Add water to the mixture. The consistency should be similar to thick pancake batter. Start with an equal amount of water as the flour you added (60g), then adjust as needed to achieve the desired consistency.
- Stir the mixture until well combined. Ensure there are no dry flour pockets.
- Cover the container loosely with a clean cloth or wrap to allow airflow. Do not seal the container tightly as the starter needs to breathe.
- Let the mixture sit at room temperature (around 70-75°F or 21-24°C) for 24 hours.
Day 2: First Feeding
After 24 hours, check the starter. It should show signs of fermentation, such as bubbles forming on the surface.
- Add flour and water to your starter like the day before, but this time double the amounts to 120g each of water and flour.
Alternatively, Discard half of the starter (or use it in another recipe) then add 60g each of gluten-free flour and water to the remaining starter.
- Stir until well combined, cover loosely, and let it sit at room temperature for another 24 hours.
Days 3 and Beyond: Regular Feeding
- Repeat the previous feeding process every 24 hours, keeping all the starter or discarding half of the starter and feeding it with equal parts of gluten-free flour and water.
- As the starter becomes more active and mature, you can adjust the feeding schedule to every 12 hours if desired.
- Continue this feeding routine for at least 5 to 7 days, or until the starter is consistently doubling in size within 4 to 6 hours of feeding. This indicates that the starter is active and ready to be used in recipes.
Maintaining the Starter:
Once your starter is established and active, you can maintain it by storing it in the refrigerator and feeding it once a week. Remove it from the refrigerator, let it come to room temperature, discard half, and feed it with equal parts of flour and water. Allow it to ferment at room temperature for a few hours before returning it to the refrigerator.
With regular feeding and proper maintenance, your gluten-free sourdough starter can be kept alive and active indefinitely, ready to use whenever you need it for baking.
It is now to bake!
You can find many recipes online that will guide you into making lovely gluten-free bread.
Follow this link for one of my favourite recipes, https://www.bakerita.com/gluten-free-sourdough-bread/
Browse online for more recipes such as gluten-free sandwich loaves, cinnamon rolls, and much more!