This EASY sourdough starter is on tap for this Trim Healthy Tuesday! Somehow, sourdough has never really held much appeal until now, but this woman wants some yummy homemade bread that’s Trim Healthy Mama friendly! And that means that it needs to be slow glycemic…either sprouted or sourdoughed. And it needs to be EASY. Because as you’ll see in my post, I can BOMB fermented stuff with the best of them.
I asked a friend how to get started with sourdough, and she recommended a sourdough starter kit from Breadtopia. I ordered mine from Amazon- they’ve since stopped selling the kit, but you can still get all of the components on Amazon: the breadtopia starter culture (with instructions), the super easy to clean Danish dough whisk (which I LOVE!), and the jar.
It came with this sweet little handwritten note on it! I love to support small businesses. ♥
The thing I love about this is that there is no ‘catching wild yeasts out of the air’ involved. The packet of proven, dried starter comes with instructions on how to create a jar full of sourdough starter. And let me tell you, this is GOOD stuff!
I’ll walk you through the steps, and pitfalls here on the Grain Mill Wagon blog in my Sourdough Starter: the Easy Button Tutorial! You’ll also be able to print out my recipe/method for making this starter.
If you’re not sure about sourdough, let me just put your mind at ease: this has AMAZING flavor…not really strongly pungent or sour. It’s got more of a nutty flavor. Next week, I’ll share how to make DELICIOUS pancakes with this super easy sourdough starter.
If you’re in a pancakes mood right now, then head over to Stacy Makes Cents, where she’s making Cottage Pancakes.
Stacy says
September 10, 2013 at 7:46 AMI’m weird and like to catch wild yeasts from the air. It makes me feel powerful like I should pound my chest and yell like Tarzan.
Its_Gwen says
September 10, 2013 at 7:03 PMYou go girl. 🙂 I just don’t trust whatever is wild in the air here. I’ve had bad juju from other fermentation experiments. 🙂
Rashel says
September 10, 2013 at 9:14 AMI wish they had a like button for comments, Stacy you are a hoot! Gwen, thank you so much for choosing my blog post from last week. I love your blog and have learned so much about THM from you here and on the group page. Thank you for all the time you spend helping others!
Blessings,
Rashel
Nanci Smith says
September 10, 2013 at 12:57 PMI love your pictures showing the progression.
I started a post on the THM forum asking about sourdough (http://trimhealthymama.freeforums.net/thread/1944/ready-give-on-sourdough?page=1&scrollTo=12426) because I was so frustrated with the recipe coming out like bricks and someone posted another recipe that is yummy and worked really well.
I used sourdough recipe for soft pretzels, too.
Stacy- your comments and your blog always remind me not to take life too seriously 🙂
Its_Gwen says
September 10, 2013 at 7:01 PMThank you for sharing, Nancy! I’m going to try it!
Amy | Club Narwhal says
September 11, 2013 at 9:33 AMOh goodness, I cannot wait to try this! I have been slowly dipping my toes into bread making and have always wanted to try making dough with a starter. And I adore sour dough! Thanks so much for co-hosting 🙂
Martha says
September 12, 2013 at 10:10 AMI read Serene uses only rye and spelt for her sourdough? can I use golden chemical free wheat – freshly milled or does that take it off the scale for (E)? still trying to figure this all out 🙂 sorry if that is a dumb ?. And can I just keep my pet in the fridge and make bread once a month? or do I have to use it every week and feed it every day?? plez say no…don’t have time for that.
Anna says
October 3, 2013 at 11:37 PMHey Martha, on Breadtopia they have videos that talk about how to start and maintain your sourdough starter. It also talks about keeping it in the fridge and feeding it. Head over there and Im sure they can answer your questions.
Di says
September 17, 2013 at 8:15 PMHi Gwen. I’m loving you and your recipes all the way down here in New Zealand. So thanks for your gwens bread!!! It’s really been a wonderful addition to me and my family! Thanks.
Now I am confused about which flour to use here on this one, rye or ordinary whole wheat or white or what? I’d love to follow suit….
Thanks Diana
Its_Gwen says
September 21, 2013 at 11:56 PMI used ordinary wheat flour for my starter. Working on new ideas with this as well!
Patti Patterson says
November 1, 2013 at 9:04 PMI am confused. I thought on THM we could only have sprouted bread or low glycemic bread like your Sourdough in a glass jar. I would love to try this real Sourdough with starter from Breadtopia. But would it be E or S?
Its_Gwen says
November 9, 2013 at 11:07 PMFermented breads, like true sourdough, or the Easy Bread recipe (which ferments with baking yeast) are on plan as an E.
Tracy says
December 7, 2013 at 12:25 AMSo…where is the sourdough bread recipe? I already have starter…now I just need a THM friendly sourdough bread. TIA.
Its_Gwen says
December 18, 2013 at 7:00 PMTracy, I’m in a really busy season right now and haven’t had a chance to really properly work with sourdough recipes. If you find a good one, I’d love to hear about it! 🙂
Kerri says
September 16, 2015 at 10:00 AMI’m still trying to find a recipe for bread as well, and I have a pin on Pinterest that uses a dutch oven to get an amazing crusty, no knead bread, I’m wondering if we can try our bread this way, if I can find a recipe! Thanks for all your wonderful recipes and tips Gwen 🙂
Gwen Brown says
September 16, 2015 at 10:01 PMSure, Kerri! I want to play with that method too. 🙂 Let me know how it turns out!
Jina Ezell says
January 11, 2015 at 1:11 AMThanks for all your amazing posts, Gwen, you are so many of our “go to resource”. So I’m one of the weird ones, I love the authentic artisan-ness of the hand-me-down starter, so thats what I use. A bunch of my friends are VERY CONFUSED about the wheat portion…do you believe that we can use whole wheat for this? Or, what is your thoughts? Thanks in advance! Jina
Gwen says
January 12, 2015 at 12:12 PMI personally use all whole wheat to keep the bran in and keep it compliant with the Trim Healthy Mama plan. I only use it for flatbreads & pizza crusts at this point. I wasn’t getting a nice enough rise from the blended flour to make loaves. I need to spend some time playing with it to try for a nice loaf. 🙂
Teresa says
March 3, 2015 at 9:25 AMJust ordered starter, jar and whisk….excited and scared! Is this bread S or E?
Gwen Brown says
March 3, 2015 at 9:28 AMGrains are E. 🙂
Carrie says
March 3, 2015 at 9:58 AMsooooo…. Where is the starter dough tutorial? I can’t find it!! Lol. Thx for sharing!!
Gwen Brown says
March 3, 2015 at 6:06 PMThere is a link, but I’ll put a big visual button. 🙂
Kathy Judson says
March 4, 2016 at 1:04 AMI just wondered if doing so for thm do you need to use rye and spelt or can you use regular wheat?
Gwen Brown says
March 4, 2016 at 2:58 PMYou can use any of the above. 🙂 Depending on what your final recipe calls for. 🙂
Rebecca says
July 21, 2016 at 5:36 PMDo you have any recipes to go along with this? 🙂
Gwen Brown says
July 22, 2016 at 11:44 PMI do! 🙂 I have a sourdough pancake recipe here, and a sourdough tortilla here.
Katie says
September 6, 2016 at 9:00 PMAren’t you never supposed to use metal for sourdough? The Danish whisk has a metal end!
Gwen Brown says
September 7, 2016 at 3:02 PMHi Katie,
It was recommended to me by a friend who is a pro at sourdough. 🙂 I don’t think you want to let the sourdough ferment in a metal bowl, and sit against it for long periods, but a quick mix with the whisk hasn’t had any negative effects for me.
Marian says
March 7, 2018 at 2:03 PMThis looks so much simpler than trying to catch wild yeast. My experiment with that didn’t go so well. This might be a silly question, but I was wondering if there is something about this jar that makes it better than others for sourdough starter? Or is it just a preference? I have so many jars already, and I hate to spend money for another one if I don’t have to.
Gwen Brown says
March 16, 2018 at 2:45 PMYou can use any jar that you like! 🙂 I just like the ones that allow air to “burp” instead of screw down lids for fermenting.