Here’s a potato flake sourdough bread starter recipe that you can use to make a starter that will make yummy sourdough bread over and over again!
This sourdough starter recipe is similar to the Amish Friendship Bread and is a really yummy starter that you feed like you do other sourdough. (This recipe is in volume 1 of our Dining on a Dime Cookbook.) These starters are fun to start and I have done them off and on over the years but, I must warn you, you must not become emotionally attached to them!
I’m afraid I treated mine too much like a family member. I even called him Herman. I got quite stressed if I forgot to feed him. Then, if I didn’t get a chance to bake him I felt so guilty if I had to throw part of him away. When I really couldn’t use him anymore, what was I to do with him? Should I let him die a slow death in the fridge or throw him in the trash to die an even more cruel death. I really was torn. : ) : )
Ever since I had to kill my first Herman, I haven’t had many others. It was too emotionally exhausting for me. Now you know I have gone off the deep end. : ) : ) You would be going crazy, too, if you had just spent the last four weeks putting 5,000 eyeballs into gingerbread men! : ) : )
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this Potato Flake Sourdough Starter recipe!
-Jill
This recipe can be used to make not only bread and cinnamon rolls but also dinner rolls and pizza dough.
Check out our e-book Easy Sourdough Start to Finish for more delicious sourdough bread recipes!
Potato Flake Starter Bread
Sourdough Starter Recipe
1 pkg. or 1 Tbsp. yeast
1 cup warm water (110°-115°)
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. instant potato flakes
To make starter:
Mix starter ingredients in a glass jar or container. Cover loosely and let stand 24 hours at room temperature. Put in the refrigerator for three to five days. On the fourth day, feed it with 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons potato flakes and 1 cup water. Stir and keep at room temperature for 24 hours. You will use 1 cup of the starter to make the bread. Store remaining starter in the refrigerator and feed every four days. (If you don’t make bread, discard 1 cup starter before each feeding.)
Sourdough Bread
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cups warm water (110°-115°)
1 Tbsp. salt
1 cup starter
6 cups flour
To make bread:
Stir together all the ingredients except flour in a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add flour a little at a time to the other ingredients, mixing well. Knead 5 minutes. Put dough into a large, greased bowl. Turn dough to grease the top. Cover bowl with aluminum foil. Let rise at room temperature overnight for at least 8 hours. Punch dough down. Turn out onto a floured board and knead. Divide into 3 parts and shape into loaves. Put into 3 greased loaf pans*. Brush tops with oil. Cover with a paper towel and let rise 4-5 hours longer. Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes. Brush with butter and remove from pan. Cool and keep covered. Cinnamon rolls, pizza dough and rolls can also be made with this dough. Makes 3 loaves.
*If you don’t have 3 loaf pans, place in 2 pans and make the rest of the dough into rolls or cinnamon rolls.
Easy Sourdough Start to Finish! (Sale 50% Off!)
Click here to get the Easy Sourdough Start to Finish Cookbook, with tasty step by step sourdough recipes you can use to make lots of delicious treats like a pro!
I have never made a decent sourdough starter. It seems like the ones I have made and then used gave too much of a tangy taste to the the bread I made. I will have to try this one.
try adding a bit of soda to the starter if it gets too sour for your taste.
A friend of mine discovered she could spread out the starter and dry it. Then she powders it and seals it in ziplocs and sells it at the local Christmas fairs. It is packaged with directions for reconstituting and a recipe for sourdough bread.
I WOULD BE VERY INTERESTED TO KNOW HOW UR FRIEND DEHYDRATES THIS &THEN RECONSTUTES IT………THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR SHARING
I love love to know how to do that also!
What you do is to make up the starter, pour it on the plastic dehydrator liners or parchment paper Here is a you tube link (like you would fruit leather),let it dry, run it through a blender or grinder to make it into a powder
Wouldn’t it be easier to just put everything for the starter in a baggie minus the water… just saying.. would save a lot of time and energy…..lol
Part of the idea of dehydrating is you don’t have to do the 24 hr waiting period and some of the other steps and can use the starter right away. You can do like you say but you would have to let it set so long etc. before using.
I dehydrate mine also. I paint it on parchment paper (ripe starter) and dry it in my oven . When dry just twist the paper a little bit and it pops off. Careful not to heat it over 110 degrees or the heat kills it. The best way to powder it is in a blender or one of those little coffee grinders. To use it I take a forth of cup of the powder and add a forth cup water. Let it sit overbite then feed it the next day.
Jill, I’d like to know how to purchase your gingerbread people if you sell to the public.
Sincerely,
Tami Tietsort
My starter is very active; but has lost the sour taste; any suggestions
I don’t know what would cause that but if you have had it for awhile maybe you need to start a new one. Maybe one of our readers would know.
Tami I do sell to the public but I only once in awhile ship outside of Wichita because the cost to ship them is twice as much as what I charge for them plus I usually end up losing money because I don’t charge extra but it takes me sometimes 30 minutes to pack them up to make sure they ship ok without breaking which can be quite a challenge.
Jill
Hi, I was wondering where I can find a recipe for the homemade sour dough starter that you can dry and package? Anyone know? I would love to have that one. Thanks,Evelyn Simmons
I, too, would be very interested in the starter you can dry and package. Delores, do you think your friend would share the recipe and directions with you, and allow you to share with us?
If you have to dispose of “Herman” starter, so sad :(, it can go right into the compost pile. Those good enzymes help aide in decomposition.
You can get a starter from the following web page if you send them a SASE:
http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/
Their brochure also has instructions for drying. Basically, spread out thinly and let dry for a few days, then run through coffee grinder or similar.
hey Jill Don’t throw your starter away mix it with potting soil or clean compost in an open container then inn spring lightly scatter it over your garden or even make a tea.
My five cents (I’ve been making 99% of my bread from scratch, and make at least two loaves of sourdough every month.)
–I wouldn’t sweat it too much about using wild yeast for a starter. Even if you start the starter (how Zen…) with a commercial yeast, in a few months (especially with a “pancake” batter 166% starter, versus a doughier 100% version) your local wild yeast will have taken over anyway. (It’s very romantic that people in, say, Iowa, can talk about using a 200-year-old starter from France, but in truth, after a few weeks/months everybody winds up using their local bugs regardless.) The situation’s similar for potato or grape starters — after a few months, the local yeast take over. If you want to keep the flavor of a particular starter, you’ll need to refresh it with more potato or grapes every few months.
–I’ve never thrown out starter. I like mine quite sour, so I keep a batter-style starter, and feed it about 1/4 cup each of water & flour once a week, unless I’m baking with it. In that case, I feed it to replace what I’m using. Throwing out a cup every week (or, using that “discarded” cup of starter to make crumpets — yum!) will make it less sour, as can throwing out the “hooch” (the main source of the sourness) and replacing that liquid with plain water. There are probably as many ways to raise a starter as there are kids; in the long run, so long as you get enough bubbles to make the bread rise, and so long as you’re getting the flavor YOU want, you’re doing it “right.”
To clarify…
A “batter” starter is equal amounts flour & water by VOLUME, aka. 166% water to 100% flour.
A “dough” starter, aka. a “boss” or “grandmother” starter is equal amounts flour & water by WEIGHT, aka. 100% water to 100% flour.
When in doubt, do whatever you grandmother did.
PPS: Check out the FoodWishes “Follow the Sourdough” series on YouTube. He shows the whole process, including starting the starter (which still strikes me as Zen).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpeijFtGO1I&feature=related
To make sourdough crumpets, add 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt to one cup sourdough starter. Cook on a griddle, with rings if you have them. To make pancakes, add enough milk to make a thinner batter. Either option’s yummy.
Looking forward to trying this. I’ve made crumpets before but not with sour dough. For rings, I saved cans from canned pineapple. Cut out both ends. I used pliers to hold onto them because they can get quite hot as you cook.
i have always gotten confused on making breads with the starter part (like the sourdough) .. it kinda reminds me of when i made that homemade soap (remember jill!?! heheheheheehe :D ) …
i told my daughter that i was going to do this and she told me “mom please! why???” and she says this with these pleading looks in her eyes bc she knows that i will make something like that and it will probably explode in the fridge (sorta like when lucy and ethel made bread, remember that episode?) .. and i will have her taste test it .. hehehehehe :D .. or will have her come over and help me clean up the exploding bread dough coming from the fridge while my cat empty’s out her purse and lays on her stuff and “nests” (he does this and purrs super loud and he has this facial expression that is like “i have ur stuff and i am hiding it .. hehehe “… sorta like that cheshire cat look from alice in wonderland .. hehehehe :D ..
yes a true site to see ..
thanks for posting this .. hopefully one day (and i am hoping) that i will be able to make homemade sour dough bread! .. :D
i did buy the box mix one (for the bread machine) and asked the clerk stocking the shelves if i could make the dough and just put it in the oven and bake and he said yes ..
i went home and did that .. and after i baked it i could have used that bread for a brick! .. thats how hard it was .. not sure what i did wrong but decided that from now i will just buy my bread until i figure out what i am doing wrong (this has happened many times in the past) …
:D
I’m going to give this a try…..never made sourdough starter or bread before. It’s one of my January goals.
I am unclear on when you keep the starter in the fridge and when you leave at room temp. Also, since I bake bread once a week, after I take out a cup of starter for my bread dough, how/what do I replace it with?
I love that the starter is named Herman. Since you do feed and let him rest!
Let it sit out while it’s growing. Then in the fridge when it’s not. Replace with 1 cup flour.
Can you make this recipe in a bread machine?
How do you modify your cinnamon roll and roll recipe to use the starter. Since there is moisture in it do you eliminate some liquid? Do you have a recipe that uses this starter for the pizza dough. If not can you just give some general guidelines? When you use your one cup starter in the cinnamon roll recipes, what happens to the other ingredients list? Thank you!
I’m not exactly sure what you are asking Emily so forgive me if I get it wrong. Do you mean modify it for your own personal recipe that you have? If so I know the main difference between my regular recipe with yeast and the starter recipe is 1/2 cup less liquid (in a 6-7 cup flour recipe). But what I find works best is to just take the bread dough recipe we gave in the article and use it to make the cinnamon rolls or pizza dough or what ever you want.
I not sure again what you mean about what happens to the other ingredients list. Again if you mean your own recipe you can either adjust the liquid or add a little flour although I have found it usually works best just to use the recipe specifically written for the starter like we have posted but you could try something else.
I am sorry I wasn’t clear. I was trying how to figure out how to modify your (Tawra’s) cinnamon roll recipe (https://www.livingonadime.com/cinnamon-rolls-2/) by using the starter.
Your comments were still helpful to modify my own recipes. Thank you. Also I didn’t realize you used the regular bread recipe for pizza dough and rolls.
Thank you
I’m not sure what your asking but if I were to make cinnamon rolls out the starter bread I would just roll it out and spread it with butter, cinnamon and sugar and bake. Is that what your’re asking?
how would I modify this ingrediant list from your cinn roll recipe:
2-2 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. sugar 2 Tbsp. margarine
1 pkg. or 1 Tbsp. yeast
and use the starter to replace the yeast? I am not taking about using the starter bread dough recipe as cinnamon rolls, but modifying the cinn roll recipe to use the liquidy starter.
I hope this is clear. I feel so silly that I can’t seem to ask my question right.
Oh, I see what you’re saying. No don’t feel silly at all. I would just half the recipe and use the potato flake starter bread and then just roll it out, spread it with butter and cinnamon and sugar.
Emily I am sitting here chuckling not at you but how funny that we can’t get this right. I think what you are asking is how to replace the liquid starter in place of the yeast and will that make it too liquidy. Try cutting the milk and water in half and replace the yeast with about 1/2 cup of starter. Then add the flour 1 cup at a time until you get a smooth dough. Try that and see what happens. We’re going to get this right even if it kills us. HA!HA! Look at it this way at least you are helping us to keep from getting bored today. :) :)
yes Jill, that was what I was asking, but couldn;t frame the question right.
one more question for you ladies. once you are into the cycle and feeding it every four days, do you let it sit and room temperature for 24 hrs each time or can you just feed it and put back in the fridge?
No after you feed it let it sit out all day (about 8 hours) then put it back in the fridge. Don’t forget it needs the room to be nice and warm or in a warm spot some place.
I have a question here that may be confusing only me. After my starter sets on the counter for 24 hrs covered loosely, do I close the lid tightly for the fridge? Then loosely when it’s out again?
yes
thanks, I may have killed my first Herman, by feeding and plunking it back in the cold, so I’ll start over :0. However, the pizza, rolls, cinnamon rolls, and bread makes my family feel like I am ‘providing’ for them, rather than scraping something together. I work really late, so my bread is second rising more than the 4-5 hours (more like 11) but is still seems good. Any harm letting it rise that long?
The main thing which happens when bread raises too long is it forms huge air pockets and when it is baked can sink in the middle or shrivel. It is still eatable though. It will look fine until you go to bake it then it will crash and burn.
I remember the first time I let the bread raise to much. It look so nice puffing up and I thought if a little puffing was good more would be even better and it kept getting bigger and bigger. I thought this is wonderful until I popped it into the oven. Oh my. What an interesting sight. :)
Emily, I get home late too and up early. I let my bread/rolls whatever rise once, roll out and shape and put on pans (often cin rolls) and then cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. Then as soon as I get up I let put them out in a warm spot to raise. Usually by the time I’ve showered and kids are getting up it has risen and I bake it.
This is really good for raised donuts that you want to make up the night before so that you don’t eat breakfast at lunch time on the weekends.
I was wondering if one could use rice or tapioca flours in the actual baking part to cut down on the gluten?
The beauty of true sourdough is that a lot of the glutens are broken down/predigested by the yeasts due to the long rise time. True some people who don’t tolerate gluten can eat true sourdoughs with no problems.
Modern quick-rise yeasts, while giving reliable results, don’t give sufficient time for the process to happen.
I love sourdough, and learned to make a starter from my Mennonite neighbor when I was younger. I had the same starter for 5 years. I went on a 3 week vacation with instructions on how to care for it next to the container. Poor starter was purple and pink when I got back. Was not screwing with that science project and had to pitch it. Oy! I love my stuff super sour also, and the pancakes and bread were amazing. I work too hard now a days, I miss those days I could just cook. I am currently on modified bed rest for my high risk pregnancy, so I will be experimenting with all of this again! Thanks for the recipes.
Do you use bread flour with this recipe or all purpose? Thanks!
All purpose. When most recipes calls for flour it usually means all purpose unless otherwise stated. Hope that helps.
Thanks. I thought that is probably what you meant, but I’ve seen some with bread so I just wanted to double check. Thanks again!
Hi! I recently received the potato flake starter from a friend. Her directions were to feed it after using it for the bread and then to leave it out overnight before refrigerating it. I made dough last night, fed my starter, but immediately put it back in the fridge. Oh no! Do you know if there’s any way to save it or have I completely killed it?
I think you can save it by just putting it back out again.
A few questions back a person asked you if you could use rice or tapioca flours in the actual baking part to cut down on the gluten?
I too am curious about that question since I have a daughter with a speech delay and have read Gluten may be responsible. She LOVES bread and most of your gluten free breads you buy at the store are ‘YUCKY’ in her words.
If you could answer this question it would be great or if you have no idea just let me know. Thank you in advance for your time.
Hi! I made your starter and bread a few weeks ago. The first time the starter was out it bubbled well and make good bread, but with each addn feeding there was less bubbling and less rise in the bread. Part of the problem may have been from the fact that the chlorine filter on our faucet needs replacing, but I have an addn. question before I get started on my replacement starter. In your directions you say to let the starter sit out for 24 hours after each feeding, but in the comments I saw mention of only leaving it out for 8 hours before making your bread. Which is correct? Thanks!
Kristi part of the reason I stopped messing with my starter is it is something you really have to baby and have patience with. First the chlorine in your water has nothing to do with it. The other thing there are as many ways and different directions to do starter as there are people. You get people leaving it out 8 hrs. to 24 hrs. plus all kinds of different things in between.
What happens is part of the reason all are different is because you have a different kind and amount of “bacteria” or what ever you call it floating in each persons air which is what helps make it. Then your room temperature is different and can change through out the day and at different times of the year.
If you have problems you might google and look at a few different ways of doing it. I think the main thing is to leave it out at least 8 hours but you may have to try say over night or fiddle with the time. You might try making your bread in the evening, let the bread sit rising and leave the starter all out over night and then bake the bread in the morning and put the starter back in the fridge. Also don’t forget sour dough bread does take much longer to rise then regular bread so panic if it seems like it isn’t rising.
It does take some babying and like I said that is why I finally gave up on it. It was one of those things I wanted to know how to do but it stressed me out to have to keep worrying about “Hermit” in the fridge.
Is there a way to half the recipe? For example, if I only want to make one loaf at a time? Everything I’ve found online says to use 6 cups of flour. That is a lot of bread for just the two of us! :) I’d like to save money by not using so much flour at one time. Thank you for your post!
Amy, I would just half it. It should work.
Thank you! Would I just feed the starter the same? And, just discard 1/2 cup of the starter each time?
Yes.
Has anyone made the Sourdough bread in a Bread maker?
If so could they tell me how they did it please?
Yvonne
Can you build up the amount of starter you have by not throwing out a cup but just feeding it. Like when you need more for Christmas or Thanksgiving?
You need to discard it because it helps to keep the ph balanced in the starter and the yeast can somehow work better. You can use the discarded started to bake up something that you could maybe save and freeze for when you need it or have 2 batches going at a time.
I just pour a cup into another jar. I ususally have 6 to 8 starters in my fridge at anyone time. That was I can make many loaves near holidays etc. I generally trade weeks feeding the starters and using. (mine can easily go 10 days between feedings). If I just need to feed and not bake for some reason I either throw out…or make even more starters. Convenient to have to give to friends when they ask as well.
How do I revive my starter? It wasn’t raising good, so I added some yeast to the warm water when I fed it, so I almost killed it. Now it barely raises. What can I do to revive it?
Here is a web site that might be able to explain it better then I can http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.php?content=revivingastarter
I had checked that web site, but it’s not for the starter made with potato flakes. It asks for flour in the starter, and the potato flake starter doesn’t use flour, till you make bread. I need to know how to revive a starter using potato flakes. Mine kind of works, but barely raises. It needs a boost of some kind.
Maybe one of our readers has the answer for you because I quit using starters because they take quit a bit of commitment. If not you might just google how to revive potato flake starter.
When I have a starter not doing so well, I will feed it every 3 days for a week or so…that usually revives it well!
You can add dehydrated currants or raisins. Attracks wild yeast like crazy.
For heaven sales. Just throw it out and start over. These poor women are being run over with questions. There’s such a thing as google, Pinterest and U Tube.
LOL Tammy I don’t mind answering their questions but I am laughing because I did a video and mentioned in it that I never wanted to use sourdough starter again because it was too emotionally hard on me. I think people thought I was crazy but what I meant by that was I got emotionally attached to that silly starter and worried and fretted on how to save it and what if I killed it. I even named it – was Hermit. I finally woke up and realized how silly I was being and tossed it out. It was so freeing. I know! LOL! I warn people all the time that if they aren’t careful that starter can become emotional baggage. LOL Now I know you all will know for sure I am crazy. : )
I used this many years ago and had two going at all times. I usually made 4 loaves of bread and cinnamon rolls. However I can’t remember what kind of flour I used. Do I use plain flour. Bread flour. Or self rising (I doubt that one). I am starting two tonight. One for me and one for my daughter. Thanks!
Just regular white flour.
I have had a sour dough starter for 30 years and I don’t feed unless I am going to use which sometimes is at least 6 weeks. Sometimes it’s better and works just as well.
Hey Ruby,
I see where you only feed your starter when you are ready to use it. I have a starter that said to feed every 3 to 5 days. With that, I should have feed it a week ago. I thought since I forgot to feed it that I would need to throw it away. Do you think if I feed it now it would be okay? If so, do I just feed it as usual or should I feed it twice? Also I have seen where you should take the starter out of the frig and let it set awhile before you feed it…I haven’t done that before.
Your starter will be fine. Just start your feeding routine again and it is be back to normal right away.
Anyone have a good GF recipe using the Potato Sour Dough Starter? I have had this starter a long time and would love to use it to make GF bread for friends. I am not seeing this online. There should be no concerns with potatos, sugar, and the yeast??
Thanks for any help!
My sourdough starter doesn’t seem to have enough bubbles. I have feed the first time and left out all day. It just has a little bubbles on top. What’s going on.
Sometimes you may need to get rid of quite a bit of it and re feed it. If there is huge ratio of more flour and water then yeast then your starter isn’t strong enough and by dumping some out and re feeding it will help with that. When there are lots of good bubbles it means the yeast is good and strong. Sometimes you can kill the yeast by having it in a place where it is too hot too. I know people laugh at me for not having a starter any more and saying that it was like having a baby in the house having to feed it, take care of it worry over it when I thought it was sick or dying. It exhausted me so I finally tossed mine which was traumatizing to me too when I had to “kill” it and dump it. : )
I “THINK” this is the one recipe that I have been searching for. I used to make this years ago when my boys were still at home. Recently they have asked for it. I hope this is the right one.
I just had to laugh at your description of your emotions concerning the starter. I too, had finally given up after the same worry of keeping it going when traveling full time in an RV for several years. Where to put it on a travel day without it spilling or how can I bake bread on a travel day. It was so exhausting! I then lost the recipe and have been looking for it again to no avail. Your recipe sounds like the one that I used and loved. I may just try it again. You did indeed bring back memories for me.
I am wanting to make about 5-7 loaves of bread at one time. Can I hold onto the starter, instead of disgarding it, so that I can have the quantity of starter I need when it comes time to make the bread? Will that cause a problem with the taste or cause a reaction and the bread won’t turn out right?
Yes you can hold on to the disgarded starter and feed it too like the original.
I may have over looked it but I didn’t see what the ingredients are to feed this starter or how often. Can you help me out?
It is under To Make Starter -1/2 cup sugar, 3 Tbsp. potato flakes, 1 cup water – you do this every 4 days
My bread isn’t rising much at all and it is turning out very dense and heavy. It has a great flavor though. I’m wondering what I’m doing wrong. The potato flakes I’m using has butter added. Could this be the problem? Your thoughts please!!
Sandra it is hard to know without seeing it or watching you make it but it could be the butter in the potatoes but be sure to check and make sure your yeast is ok. To do this sprinkle it in very warm water and let set for 3-5 mins. If it foams up it is still good if it does nothing then it is dead.
Hello Jill,
First I’m sorry if this question has already been answered. I just don’t have the time to read all of them. Please forgive me!!
I have been trying to make the potato flake sourdough bread for months without. I made 2 starters so I can make bread whenever I want to. My starters are bubbly and smell terrific, so I don’t think that’s the problem. I mix up the bread and leave it at least 8 hours to do its thing. The next day I punch it down and put it in my bread pans and allow it rise 4 to 5 hours. I check on it to be sure it has proved long enough before I preheat the oven. I bake it in my 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. The bread comes out a nice golden brown and a 190-200 degrees. But when I check it, I’m not getting the hollow sound I should be getting. ? The bread comes out “wet”. I don’t know what else to call it. It’s like it isn’t done but I bake it 40 minutes! Should I bake it longer? If you have any ideas, please let know!!
Also, according to this recipe this should make 3 loaves. I will only make 2 loaves. If I make 3, the loaves will be very small. Even when I make 2 loaves they are small. I was wondering if there’s a way to add more flour? Most recipes add 3 1/2 cups flour to get a full size loaf. If I can get the wet bread issue, with your help I would love to be able to modify the recipe to get the 10 1/2 cups of flour into the recipe!! I’m not one of the people that can whip up a new recipes. Do you have any ideas to modify this recipe?
I really love your book!! I’m going to buy one for my daughter! There’s so much good information in it. I made most of my Christmas gifts last year and I’ll be doing it again next year!!
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!! ???
I am not sure what to tell you Cindy. First I think part of the wet problem and having to bake it so long is because you are making only 2 loaves and not 3. You are adding way more dough to the pan by doing 2 so it is not cooking all the way through. Also all the recipes for this type of thing that I looked up do make the 3 loaves with the 6 cups of flour so am not sure why you are having problems. Do you have regular sized loaf pans that you are using? I got confused too because I am not sure where the 10 1/2 cups of flour came from and why you want to add that much flour. You need to be very careful with bread recipes because unlike casseroles or muffins or something like that they are not very easy to adapt and change. If you add too much more flour what usually happens is the bread will get very heavy so I am not sure you should just add more flour. I really think it is the fact that you are baking it in 2 loaves and not 3 but I maybe wrong. It is so hard to tell with out being there to watch what all you do because there are so many factors in bread making. Sorry if I wasn’t more help but maybe one of our readers could help you more.
How long do you knead the three loaves before you put them in their pans?
Usually about 10-12 mins.
When I discard a cup of starter at feeding do I do it before or after feeding
You do it before you feed it.
what is the difference between potato flake based sourdough starter and flour based sourdough starter. thank you jan
You use potato water or flakes to start it with or you use flour to start it with
When reading the instruction, how long do I knead the bread for each individual loaf?
This part….”Turn out onto a floured board and knead. Divide into 3 parts and shape into loaves. Put into 3 greased loaf pans.”
Thanks! Excited to try this!
Knead about 5-10 mins. You can use this time for most breads. What you do is knead them until they are smooth looking and elastic or stretchy. After making bread a couple of times you will be able to easily tell when you have kneaded enough. One thing most of the time you can’t knead it too much. one day my husband day was dinking around kneading my bread dough that I had sitting on the table. That turned out to be the nicest textured bread ever. I think part of it was the fact he had more strength in his arms so he was really giving it a good work over. I tend to get impatient and don’t always knead it as long as I should too.
I’ve been looking for this recipe for quite sometime now. Thank you so very much. Hopefully my bread will come out as well or better than the bread I’ve made in the past using this type of bread starter.
Can I use all-purpose flour to make the bread since bread flour and whole wheat flour are so hard to find now? And what difference will that make in the texture and flavor of the bread?
Yes you can. I have never bought or used bread flour or wheat flour for any of my bread recipes like this. The texture will be lighter because you aren’t using wheat flour and the taste will be slightly different in the same way wheat bread and white bread taste different.
Do you remove the 1 cup of starter before or after feeding?
Remove starter first
After I feed it. Does it go right back in the fridge?
No you need to let it set out a few hours. Many feed it the night before they use it and let it sit out over night.
I accidentally dumped my starter back into my main jar just now! I was doing too many things at once, I admit… What do I do? I planned on making bread again today. This is my 2nd batch with this starter. I’ve actually made this bread since I was 12(let’s just say over 20 years ago) when I found out I was allergic to yeast but this is the 1st time I’ve done this!
It won’t hurt anything doing that.
I used to make bread with this starter years ago. A friend shared hers with me and I would feed it regularly. Years have passed and a couple cross country moves caused me to lose it. I’m starting one back up from scratch. The first mix made that same familiar sweet smell. I fed it, left it out overnight and placed it in the fridge as usual. Brought it out today (4 days later) and now my starter smells like vinegar! Is this bad? Should I make bread with my starter smelling like vinegar? One person suggested doing another feeding and not baking with it just yet.
It is fine Tiffany. It is suppose to smell like that. Sometimes if you change or use a different flour when feeding it it will smell like vinegar. It is bad and you shouldn’t use it if it ever smells like rotten meat or moldy cheese.
I used this recipe years ago, but I quit making it. Then, I could not find the recipe. Thank you for posting this. I have a question. Each time you take your starter out of the refrigerator and feed it, do you leave it out for 24 hours? Thank you for your help. Sue Sanders
Sue when you feed just leave it out for 2-4 hours. Just a few hours.
Hi! I love this recipe and used it for years.
It’s delicious but my bread always seems to be very spongy and not have enough structure to it. When I try slicing it, it pretty much collapses. It never browns on the sides or the bottom, only the top.
Any suggestions for giving it more structure?
Sarah there are so many things it could be and without seeing it it is hard to be certain but it sounds like it is not being baked long enough. Most breads don’t brown a huge amount on the sides but it should have some color on it. It could be the type of pan you are using (the silicone pans don’t seem to allow things to always brown right or cook quit the same). And one last thing is could be your oven. Some ovens do not bake evenly and the tops of things will brown and cook quickly before the bottom or rest of the dish or item is done.
I am trying to establish a starter and have used it three times. The first batch of bread came out as expected. I was disappointed that the dough didn’t seem to rise as much as I expected. The second batch didn’t rise as much as the first. My third batch again didn’t rise as much but when baked the bread expanded somewhat but my product was very dense and doughy even though it was baked longer than the 30-35 min recommended. The starter has seemed to be working and has the fragrance expected from a viable starter. Can’t figure out the problem.
Sorry, I have no idea on that one.
Do I shake started from refridgerator before pouring out I cup and then feeding it?
Yes you can stir it.
Just a quick question. On the 4th day for the potato flake starter, does the water temperature need to be the same as day 1? Blessings to you, today!
Mary Beth it is usually best to have it at room temp or about 75-80 degrees when you are going to use it. Not sure if that answers your question or not.
Thanks Jill for responding. In the cookbook, it says on the 4th day to feed the starter with 1/2 c. sugar, 3 Tbl. potato flakes and 1 c. water. Just wondering if the 1 c. added water needs to be around 105°F or doesn’t matter. I wanted to do it the way you guys do it. I appreciate you and Tawra soooo much. You will never know how much you guys have blessed my family’s life. God’s richest blessings today!
Oh thank you Mary Beth that is so sweet of you to let us know that. Actually it is a two way street because if it wasn’t for viewers and readers like you encouraging us it would be hard to keep going so it means a lot to hear from you. The water just needs to be lukewarm is all. I normally just used regular tap water. Some places like CO tap water can get really cold in the winter so that is why I say lukewarm.
Do I need to stir Starter in between starting it and feeding it?
You just need to stir it right before you feed it and after you feed it.
Thank you!
I am having a problem with the bread rising? any tips
Jane it could be several different things. First be sure that your starter or yeast is good and try not to kill it by having your liquid ingredients too warm. Make sure that it is in a warm place. I like to turn my oven on at the lowest setting for about 5 mins. Then I turn it off and place the dough in the oven and let it rise. Once it is almost but not completely risen, leaving it in the oven I turn the oven on to start baking it.
What happens is that the preheating of the oven slowly raises the last little bit and then when the oven is at the right temp it starts baking. If you don’t put it in the oven be sure you cover it with a kitchen towel or something to protect it from drafts and to help keep the heat in.
Here is more info on breads do’s and don’ts How To Make Homemade Bread
Making bread today! Yay! now, do I feed the starter today after taking a cup out for bread?
Yes you do
I thought you were supposed to feed it and let it sit for 12-24 hours. Remove one cup to bake with and refrigerate the remaining starter until you are ready to bake again (4-5 days)
Yikes! Which is it?? Help!
Take out a cup and feed or feed let sit for 24 hours then take a cup to bake????
When you first make it you let it set out 24 hrs. then refrigerate.
If you use your starter to bake something you do not need to discard anything just feed it.
If you don’t use it to bake then you must first discard a cup and then feed it.
I let mine sit out for 2 hrs after feeding then put in fridge.
What type of flour do you use?
Just regular all purpose flour.
My starter is very much a liquid. It makes great bread and a kuchen but would like to use it to make pancakes but the recipes that I’ve found show the batter to be much much thicker than mine. Any suggestions. Linda
You may have to just adjust the the amount of liquid in the recipe or use a special recipe that is sourdough pancake recipe.
I made great bread using this recipe.
I have made this for several years but sometimes the dough is so sticky it is very difficult to work with. What am I doing wrong?
Some recipes can be a little more sticky. You might add just a little more flour or cut back on the liquid and see it that helps. Sometimes if I have a sticky dough and it needs to be kneaded I will just add extra (quite a bit extra) flour to my kneading board and work it in and that helps.
Thank you so much for the Potato Flake Sourdough Starter Recipe. I do have one question: On the fourth day when you feed it, does the water need to be warm or can you use room temperature tap water?
Have a great day and thank you!
Connie
You can use room temp water Connie.
So I’m fairly new to this sourdough bread baking experience and I was given a starter by my m-in-law since hers is great. I used her instructions and recipe of feeding 3tbsp flakes, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1 cup warm water. For the first dozen loafs it was doing good. Then I had a newborn baby (yep he’s takes a lot of time up now days but he’s so precious and cute!) so had to leave instructions for my mom to take care of it while I was trying to get adjusted to being a new mom. (uhhhh need some sleep) Unfortunately the discard part of the instructions seemed to get lost in the mix and now I have about a half gallon ball jar full of starter from just being fed and not used and it doesn’t seem to work as well or seem very active.
What I did to make bread was I take it out of the fridge, wait till room temp (about 8 hrs), take out my cup for bread and then immediately feed it (usually mixing at the same time since most the ingredients for feeding are also in the bread making then pouring in right after taking cup out), then wait for another 8-12 hrs on counter at room temp before putting back in fridge for 5 days. This always worked before but now the starter just keeps getting to be too much and very inactive (it’s been taking almost 20 hrs for the first bread rise to happen).
What should I do? I’d like to get back to having a small starter that is active instead. Need some help please Jill. Thank you.
S.L. I would personally just start a whole new batch of starter from scratch. You can dump it all and start over. I had the same trouble when I first used it some years ago. For some reason I never realized I could just get rid of the whole batch I had and start over again. I was so afraid of killing it for some reason.
When you first make your starter and put it in the frig. for 4 days and then you feed it. Since this would be its first feeding would you feed it first before you take a cup out or take the cup out first then feed. It seemed like you wouldn’t have enough starter to remove a cup to use until it was fed the first time. Hope you understand my question and can’t clarify this for me. I want to make this starter for bread.
When you make a starter what happens is after a few days it will double, triple or even quadruple. That small amount of ingredients that you start with will expand greatly so you should have plenty.
Can we add blueberries to the dough? If so, when during the process?
I have never added them myself Amanda but I don’t know why you couldn’t. What I would do is after the last kneading before you put it in the pan, roll out into a rectangle (the way you would when making cinnamon bread), sprinkle with the berries then gently roll up jelly roll style and place in the pan