Tips & Tricks
How do I care for my sourdough?
How should I feed my sourdough starter?
See step 1 under “getting started”. Remove 3/4 from the jar (this is where you will make your bread) and feed what is left with flour and water, about 70-100ml/ 70-100gr of each. It doesn’t matter that much, as long as you make sure you have a nice, thick substance. If you make your starter too thin (watery), it will quickly become “hungry”. You can see this because there is a layer of water on top. Don’t hesitate to add enough flour & water so that you have a large amount in the jar so that your sourdough is less likely to be “hungry” and you always have more than enough for a loaf of bread.
How often should I feed my sourdough starter?
The more often you bake bread and use your sourdough, the more active it becomes and the better the result. In any case, it is wise to refresh your sourdough once a week. If you only refresh and do not feel like baking bread, then follow step 1 but then throw away ¾ of the content instead of making a starter here. TIP: instead of bread you can also make other things, such as pizza dough, banana bread, etc.!
How should I store my sourdough?
After feeding, leave your sourdough outside the refrigerator for 6-12 hours so that it can grow well. If you see nice bubbles, this means that your sourdough is very active and will also take up more volume in the preserving jar. After 6-12 hours, put it back in the refrigerator until you start working with it again. Note: if it is warm, it is possible that your sourdough is already sufficiently active after 2-3 hours and you can therefore put it back in the refrigerator then! If you bake daily, you can also store your sourdough outside the refrigerator, in the refrigerator your sourdough will remain good for at least a week without additional feeding.
I'm going on holiday, what now?
If you feed your sourdough once a week, there is no problem. Are you going on holiday for a longer period and do you have no one who can feed your sourdough once a week? Then feed your sourdough just before departure and leave the sourdough outside the fridge for 1-2 hours. Then put it in the fridge. Because you have not let your sourdough reach its most active point, your sourdough can now remain in the fridge for quite a long time without feeding! We have tested it ourselves for up to 4 weeks, without any problems!
Why is Dix Desem sourdough so much stronger?
The older the sourdough, the stronger it becomes and the less sensitive it is to not feeding it once, for example. If you make a starter yourself and forget to feed it once, there is a big chance that your sourdough will break. That is why we offer our more than 20 years old, super strong sourdough based on wheat flour so that you can bake bread with it for the rest of your life!