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Seed Culture

The first step in making sourdough bread

From the book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

Total Time

4 days

Introduction

Seed culture is the first step in making sourdough bread.

Ingredients

	1	cup (4¼ ounces) dark rye or coarse whole rye (pumpernickel-grind) flour
	3	cups (13½ ounces) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
	2¼	cups (18 ounces) water, at room temperature

Steps

Day 1: Mix the rye flour and ¾ cup (6 ounces) water together in a bowl until they form a stiff ball of dough. Do not worry if the dough is very stiff, but be sure that all the flour is hydrated. Press this piece of dough into a 4-cup measuring beaker and place a piece of tape on the beaker to mark the top of the dough. Cover the beaker with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for 24 hours.
Day 2: The dough should not have risen much, if at all, during this time. In a mixing bowl, combine the sponge from Day 1 with 1 cup (4½ ounces) unbleached flour and ½ cup (4 ounces) water, mixing with your hand or a spoon until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough will be somewhat softer and wetter than before. Return this to the beaker, press it down, and replace the old tape with a new piece of tape to mark the spot. Cover with plastic wrap and ferment for 24 hours at room temperature. Do not be put off by the strong, unpleasant aroma of the dough; this will eventually brighten.
Day 3: Check to see if there has been a rise in the dough. There will probably be some fermentation but not a lot, perhaps a 50-percent rise. Regardless, discard half of the starter (or give it to a friend to cultivate) and mix the remaining half with 1 cup (4½ ounces) unbleached flour and ½ cup (4 ounces) water, just like on Day 2. It will be a little wetter. Again, return it to the beaker. It should press down to the same height as on Day 2. Re-tape the beaker to mark the top of the dough, cover, and ferment for 24 hours.
Day 4: The sponge should have at least doubled in size; more is even better. If it is still sluggish and hasn’t doubled in size, allow it to sit out for another 12 to 24 hours. Otherwise, repeat as on Day 3, discarding half of the starter and mixing the remaining half with 1 cup (4½ ounces) unbleached flour and ½ cup (4 ounces) water, returning it all to the beaker as before. Cover and ferment until it at least doubles in size; this may take 4 to 24 hours. It is OK if it triples in size, but because it is now fairly soft and spongelike, it will not be able to sustain that large of a rise without falling. If it falls easily when you tap the beaker, that is the sign that your seed culture is ready to be turned into a barm, or mother starter.

Notes

Read more about making homemade bread in Melissa Lion’s essay, “The sourdough apprentice.”

This content is from the book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.

Sourdough made simple

How to make your own starter

Barm

The second step in making sourdough bread.

‘Sourdough fever’s got me’

Making starter at home

Basic Sourdough Bread

Tags

baking,
bread,
sourdough,
techniques,
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There are 19 comments on this item

Unrated

15% recommend this recipe

1. by Syd on Nov 20, 2008 at 7:49 PM PST

Not sure I have the patience though I love the science.

2. by Nicholas on Nov 20, 2008 at 8:09 PM PST

Can I use soft whole wheat flour for the wheat flour portion, or is the gluten strength important here? I’d think the bread flour would compensate if I used soft wheat flour.

3. by VideoSexGuides on Nov 20, 2008 at 8:34 PM PST

The San Francisco Bay Area has special yeast in the air, hence San Francisco Sourdough. When I ferment, everything tends to go faster and has more flavor. . . especially when it is foggy and moist outside!

4. by Lee R. on Nov 21, 2008 at 8:55 AM PST

This is useful AND timely! I’d been wanting to begin some starter in our new house and these recipes and detailed instructions are right on time. :)

5. by tslubner on Nov 21, 2008 at 11:10 AM PST

We have some great Russian bakeries in our area that bring me the bread from my childhood, but at $4 a loaf, I decided I needed to start making my own, so I’m trying to make my first starter now. Thanks for the article!

6. by tandek on Nov 21, 2008 at 12:04 PM PST

I love freshly baked bread and I always found the directions for making starter confusing. But after reading the article on seeding, I think I will try this. Her instructions are very clear and simple. Thanks, Toby

7. by AsTheNight on Nov 21, 2008 at 2:09 PM PST

I’ve always thought making sourdough was a complicated, difficult process but I see it’s just something that takes time and patience. Thanks for explaining the process.

8. by Tesia on Nov 21, 2008 at 5:01 PM PST

This post reminds me of my recent trip to San Francisco and the Boudin Bakery and museum. Sourdough bread has an interesting history there. Boudin Bakery

9. by anonymous on Nov 21, 2008 at 5:08 PM PST

I’ve gone through two bread making binges in my life, but am always disappointed in the results and go back to the store bought stuff. I’ve never heard of a “seed culture” before.. maybe this is where I went wrong..

10. by anonymous on Nov 21, 2008 at 8:47 PM PST

Love the science--great info.

11. by faither on Nov 22, 2008 at 5:01 AM PST

Have a starter on the kitchen counter at this very moment, which appears to be a colossal failure. So, will try her seed culture and barm to see if there are any better results. Love the taste of sourdough.

12. by anonymous on Nov 22, 2008 at 10:24 AM PST

Making a starter is so intimidating to me. But she lists the steps so concisely, that it does give me courage that I, too, could bake bread from scratch.

13. by blueviolet on Nov 23, 2008 at 12:08 PM PST

I had no idea there was this much preparation behind sour dough bread. My appreciation for it has increased tenfold now!

14. by anonymous on Nov 23, 2008 at 2:31 PM PST

These instructions are so clear that maybe I will finally try to start a sourdough starter.

15. by anonymous on Nov 23, 2008 at 3:39 PM PST

I’ve seen tons of sourdough recipes. This one lays the steps out so nicely. Having to make a “starter” is what’s always stopped me from baking sour dough. But, I’m going to try this one.

16. by anonymous on Nov 23, 2008 at 6:27 PM PST

I’ve made sourdough before (love it), but never with a rye flour starter. These instructions are superb and I look forward to trying this method!

17. by catbird0203 on Nov 24, 2008 at 8:13 AM PST

This sounds so interesting. I’m going to have to try it and see how it comes out.

18. by dbkagrayson2002 on Nov 24, 2008 at 9:28 AM PST

I have tried to make sour dough bread many many times over the years and I just figured out where I was going wrong. Thank you so much for this information! My husband will be thanking you as well.

19. by Lawrence Cowsar on Feb 10, 2010 at 11:29 AM PST

Seems to be an important correction by the original source at http://peterreinhart.typepad.com/peter_reinhart/2006/07/sourdough_start.html regarding the use of pineapple juice in the early steps.

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