This is Bernard (Bernie on a good day), my sourdough starter. He's bubbly and dependable, and he smells great. 

I'd eaten sourdough bread many times before, but I'd never thought of making my own until recently. I'd read a passing comment and ended up in a Google-hole, reading recipes and tips and tricks, and watching how-to videos. It just seemed so complicated. And yet, like with many of my other projects, I decided to do it anyway. 

While dealing with high hydration doughs is tricky, making the starter is actually really simple. It's basically leaving a mixture of flour and water out to ferment, making use of the microscopic wild yeast that's everywhere in the air. You then feed the starter, giving it fresh flour to ferment. I'm no scientist, so I can't tell you the background of the enzymes and whatnot, but I know that somewhere in there are lactobacilli, which produce lactic actic, giving the bread its characteristic sour tang.

I've been working with a 100% hydration stater - that's a ratio of 1:1 water to flour. It's the easiest solution for me that requires the least effort. If you want to change the ratios, bear in mind that a lower hydration starter (less water, stiffer mix) will use up its food more slowly, and a higer hydration starter (more water, looser mix) will go through its food much quicker. 

Here's how to make your very own Bernie:

Weigh the jar you're using before you put anything inside - this will come in handy later on.

Measure out 50g of flour in the jar - I used a mix of white wheat flour and rye flour, purely because that's what I had on hand, and also because I'd read that rye flour is better at capturing the wild yeast and developing it at the start.

Measure out 50g of lukewarm water, and add to the flour. Mix well, then cover the jar loosely (I removed the rubber ring from my jar so it's not air tight. You could also cover with a tea towel or piece of kitchen roll. Leave it on the kitchen counter or on a shelf, not in the fridge!

You might not see any bubbling yet - my kitchen was quite warm so I had some gentle bubbles (cue excited squealing!)

On the second day, I mixed in another 50g of mixed flour and 50g of lukewarm water, and left it loosely covered overnight at room temperature.

For initial feeding, I used ratios of 1:1:1 - that is, the same weight of starter, water, and flour. You don't want to keep adding to your existing starter (unless your goal is to have a barrel of starter, if so then you do you 🤷), so you'll need to get rid of some.

Give it a stir, and pour out more or less half into the toilet or onto the compost heap (less chance of gunking up the kitchen sink pipes). Weigh what's left (this is why we weighed the empty jar on day 1), and add the same weight of flour and of water. Simply put, if you have 84g of starter left in the jar, add in 84g of flour and 84g of lukewarm water. Easy peasy!

As before, cover loosely and leave out overnight at room temperature.

By now, you might smell the fermentation activity from your gloopy mixture. At first, it will smell like vinegar - keep an eye out, the smell changes as the starter matures.

Repeat the instructions for day 3 every day. You'll notice that the bubbles in the starter will get bigger, it will get more stretchy and elastic, and the smell will change from a sour vinegar smell to something sweeter. Bernie smells a bit like nail polish remover... As your starter ferments, it will double - or even triple - in size, and then will deflate back down. 

On a warm night, I hadn't poured off enough starter before feeding, and we had a small explosion. Oops.

Your starter should be ready to use! To quickly check, drop a teaspoonful into a glass of water. If it floats, you're good to go. If it doesn't, keep repeating the same feeding steps until it matures. It all depends on the temperature, humidity, type of flour... Be patient, it's worth it.

If you're planning to bake often, just keep it out at room temperature in its own little corner of the kitchen. Just remember to feed it daily. 

If you're planning to bake maybe once a week, you can keep your starter in the fridge. Once Bernie has been refreshed, I'll put him in the fridge until the day before I need to use him again. If I'm baking on Monday, I will take him out of the fridge on Sunday morning so he can come up to room temperature, I'll give him a small feed (as above) on Sunday afternoon, and another feed on Monday morning to make sure he's warmed up and ready to work.

As long as you never use all of your starter in your recipe, all you have to do is feed the remainder and it will continue to bounce back. It's like having a little pet that's super easy to care for.

It's a layer of alcohol - your starter was hungry and fermented through all the flour so much so, that it made itself a little layer of hooch. Pour it off before you feed your starter, and maybe give it some extra flour and water this time. I've also heard of people stirring it into the starter, so it's up to you.

It's also customary to give your starter an old fashioned name, obviously. Happy fermenting!