Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter From Scratch

Day 1

In a clean glass jar, mix:

• 30 g buckwheat flour
• 20 g brown rice flour
• 50 g water

Stir until you get a thick paste with no dry spots.

Cover the jar loosely and leave it at room temperature, ideally in a warm spot in the kitchen.

Mark the level of the mixture with a rubber band. This will make it easy to see how much it has grown.

Time:24 hours.

Day 2

Some bubbles or a slight sour aroma may already appear. You may also notice virtually no changes yet. Both are normal.

Remove approximately half of the mixture.

Add:

• 25 g buckwheat flour
• 25 g brown rice flour
• 50 g water

Mix well and leave it at room temperature again.

Day 3

By now, more bubbles and a slightly sour or fruity aroma may begin to appear.

Repeat the process:

1. Discard approximately half.
2. Add 25 g buckwheat.
3. Add 25 g brown rice.
4. Add 50 g water.
5. Mix and let it ferment.

If it starts to rise and fall quickly, you can start feeding ittwice a day.

Days 4-6

Continue with the same feeding process.

The sourdough should start showing more and more activity: bubbles, increased volume, and a pleasantly sour aroma.

If your kitchen is cold, it may need a few more days.Don't rely solely on the calendar: the sourdough's activity is more important than the number of days.

When is it ready?

It doesn't need to be exactly 7 days old.

Your sourdough is ready for baking when:

• It has a lot of bubbles.
• It clearly increases in volume after feeding.
• It has a sour but pleasant aroma.
• It consistently repeats this behavior.
• Ideally, it reaches approximately double its volume within a few hours after feeding.

To make our bread, we want to use itat its peak activity, just when it has reached its greatest volume and has not yet started to sink.

How to prepare sourdough for baking

The night before baking, you can do a slightly larger feeding to have enough active sourdough.

For example:

• 30 g mature sourdough starter
• 50 g buckwheat flour
• 50 g brown rice flour
• 100 g water

Mix everything and let it ferment at room temperature.

When it is full of bubbles, has significantly increased in volume, and has a slightly domed surface, it will be ready to use.

Reserve about30-50 gin the jar to continue maintaining your sourdough starter.

How to maintain it afterwards

If you bake frequently, you can keep it at room temperature and feed it regularly.

If you bake only once or twice a week, you can store it in thefridge.

Before using it, take it out of the fridge, let it activate, and feed it once or twice until it shows clear activity again.