How Do I Convert Recipes To Sourdough? #AskWardee 043 (2024)

How Do I Convert Recipes To Sourdough? #AskWardee 043 (2)

“How do I convert recipes to sourdough?” Amy B. asks. I’m sharing my thoughtsbelow in today’s #AskWardee.

I broadcast #AskWardeeliveeach Wednesday at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) on Periscope and Facebook Live. Both the podcast and video replay of this week’s show are below. Enjoy!

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The Question

Amy B. asked me:

Do you have any advice or starting points on converting “regular” baked goods recipes to sourdough recipes? (If you’d recommend doing that at all…) I have some favorite recipes that I’d like to convert, and I’m wondering if you had any suggestions for modifying the liquid and dry ingredients to give me a foundation for changing the recipes.

My Answer: How To Convert Recipes To Sourdough

You have a bubbling sourdough starter, and it seems like such a betrayal not to use it when you’re baking, right?

So sooner or later, you might find yourself wishing you knew how to take the tried-and-true non-sourdough recipes and adapt them for sourdough.

Itcan take some trial and error to convert recipes to sourdough, but if you can grasp the overall principles and practice… I think you’ll soon be off to the races!

Here’s how I would approach adapting recipes for sourdough…

By the way, if you want to know how to make your own sourdough starter (you can get it going in 5 minutes) go here for my easy instructions.

Yeasted Recipes

A quick rule to adapt recipes to sourdough is: Substitute 1 cup of starter for each package of yeast, and then subtract about 1/2 cup of water and 3/4 cup of flour from the recipe to compensate for the water and flour in the starter.

You will need to play with the consistency of the dough — adding or subtracting liquid or flour. Aim for how you know the recipe should look and feel.

And, you will need to add a rising time. Sourdough needs more rising time than quick yeast. Instead of an hour or whatever the original recipe calls for, aim for at least 5 to 8 hours total of rising. Which might be broken up into a first or second rise (when you punch down the dough in between).

See note below for baking soda and liquid acids.

If you’re looking for a tried-and-true yeasted bread recipe, try my no-knead artisan sourdough einkorn bread. You can get the free recipe here!

Quick Breads

Conventional quick breads probably don’t have a soaking stage already worked in. If they did, this wouldbe really easy.

Here’s how to adapt recipes to sourdough for quick breads with and without soaking stages:

If there is a soaking stage: use sourdough starter in place of the acid medium. Proceed with the recipe. No other changes should be necessary.

If there is not already a soaking stage (most likely): at the beginning of the recipe, combine just the flour and liquid (and maybe the fat if there’s isn’t enough liquid to wet the flour) and also add 1 tablespoon sourdough starter for each cup of liquid. Let that batter/dough sour 5 to 8 hours. Then add everything else in the recipe and proceed with the directions for baking.

See note below for baking soda and liquid acids.

Alternate Quick Bread Adaptation

Rather than adding a small amount of sourdough as above, you can replace more of the flour and water with sourdough starter (sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water after all).

Let’s say you tend to feed your sourdough starter equal parts flour and water — 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water at a time, for example. Then use 1/2 cup of your starter to replace 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water/liquid in the recipe.

If you tend to feed a bit more flour than water (which is what I do), you can use your starter to replace a bit more flour than water in the original recipe.

Create the batter with as few ingredients as possible — starter, flour, liquid. Let sour for 5 to 8 hours. Add the rest of the ingredients and bake.

See note below for baking soda and liquid acids.

Pancakes, Waffles, & Crepes

Pancakes, waffles, and crepes are very easy to convert to sourdough because starter is just right for these batters and there’s no need to add additional flour. This means you can skip the soaking! (This article explains the beauty of no-wait sourdough and also gives links to 4 tried-and-true no-wait sourdough recipes.)

Pancakes and waffles — sourdough starter can replace all the flour and liquid in the recipe as is. It is usually already the right consistency for batters like this.

Crepes — use the sourdough starter in place of the flour and water and then thin (after mixing in the other ingredients) with milk or other liquid to a crepe batter consistency.

See note below for baking soda and liquid acids.

The Baking Soda Issue

Baking soda reacts with acids and puffs it all up. But… sourdough starter is acidic. So keep in mind that if your original recipe has baking soda and there was no acid in the recipe (like yogurt, lemon juice, vinegar), sourdough starter will act as an acid and cause a reaction that you may not have seen before in your recipe. This is ok most of the time and will actually allow your quick bread or breads to turn out light and fluffy!

You want to add that baking soda at the very end, or maybe just before mixing in any add-ins like chocolate chips or dried fruit. Then bake while the batter is still billowy. This isn’t a batter you want to let sit around.

You can also choose to reduce the amount of baking soda (if too much fluffy happens). Or use baking powder instead (which creates both an immediate and delayed rising action).

The Acid Issue

If your original recipe depends on using an acidic liquid such as buttermilk or yogurt, you could use milk or even water along with sourdough starter. The sourdough provides the acid and the milk/water provides the liquid.

For More Information:

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Do you know how to convertrecipes to sourdough? Have you done it successfully?

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How Do I Convert Recipes To Sourdough? #AskWardee 043 (2024)

FAQs

How do you calculate sourdough ratio? ›

So, a sourdough feeding ratio is the relative amount (referring to weight) of old sourdough compared to fresh flour and water. Typical feeding ratios are 1:2:2 or 1:3:3 (old sourdough: fresh flour: water). However, even extreme ratios like 1:50:50 would still work.

What is a substitute for sourdough discard in baking? ›

Sourdough discard: If you don't sourdough discard saved up, feel free to use active sourdough starter. If you don't have a strater, add 56 grams of flour and 56 grams of water to your dough.

What is the best flour for sourdough starter? ›

Over the past decade-plus of baking, I've tested all manner of flour from whole grain wheat to spelt to einkorn, and while they all do work, my preferred flour to use when creating a sourdough starter is whole grain rye flour and white flour (this can be all-purpose or high-protein bread flour).

What is the best sourdough starter ratio? ›

The most common feeding ratio is 1:1:1 (sourdough starter: flour: water). This is also known as a 100% hydration starter. For example, let's say you have 40 g of sourdough starter in a jar. To feed it, you'll add 40 g of flour + 40 g of water.

How do you calculate dough? ›

The calculation is:
  1. Actual Tin Volume (in grams) / Magic Number = Target Dough Weight (in grams)
  2. Ingredient Quantity / Actual Dough Weight x Target dough weight =
  3. New Ingredient Quantity.
Mar 23, 2023

How do you measure flour for sourdough? ›

How to measure dry ingredients using measuring cups
  1. Fill measuring cup until it overflows. Spoon your flour or other dry ingredients into the measuring cup until it overflows over the top of the cup.
  2. Level it off with the flat edge of a of a knife.

What happens if you bake sourdough discard? ›

You can always use this discard by directly mixing it into a dough for baking. Your discard, as long as it's in good shape, will leaven any bread dough just as well. The discard is just like a levain you would make for a recipe. The only difference is it's the same makeup as your starter.

What can I use if I don't have a sourdough starter? ›

Kombucha. Since it also contains yeasts as well as bacteria, kombucha can be utilized to start a sourdough starter or ferment your grains.

Why do you throw away sourdough discard? ›

If you don't get rid of the excess, eventually you'll have more starter than your feedings can sustain. After a few days, your daily 1/4 cup flour and water won't be enough to sustain your entire jar of starter, and your starter will be slow and sluggish, not much better than discard itself.

Can I use tap water for sourdough starter? ›

*If making sourdough is new for you, do not be discouraged if you starter takes longer to get active than mine – stick with it, it will happen! *Tap water is usually fine, if you are not sure, use boiled and cooled water, you can use it at room temperature or cool; do not use distilled water.

Is distilled water good for sourdough? ›

Distilled water is a bad choice because the minerals that the bacteria need to do their thing have been removed. Just stick to filtered spring or purified water for your starter and bread baking.

Is unbleached flour better for sourdough starter? ›

What Flour Should I Be Feeding My Sourdough Starter With? You can feed your sourdough starter with any flour you like, as long as it provides the starches the wild yeast in your sourdough starter need to convert to Co2 to rise your dough. The flour you choose should always be unbleached flour.

Do you have to discard sourdough starter every time you feed it? ›

With each sourdough starter feeding, you'll be discarding some to avoid it from becoming overly acidic. Most will compost or trash this discard, but you can save it and use it in other recipes!

Should sourdough starter be thick or runny? ›

Does it matter if my starter is thick or thin, you ask? Nope! Thick and thin starters are both full of wild yeasts and bacteria which is what your bread is begging for. The viscosity of your starter is really just a personal preference because thick and thin starters will both make bread.

Can you overfeed sourdough starter? ›

Yes, you can overfeed your sourdough starter. Audrey explains: “Every time you add more flour and water, you are depleting the existing population of natural bacteria and yeast.” If you keep adding more and more, eventually you'll dilute the starter so much that you'll just have flour and water.

What is a 1/2-2 ratio sourdough? ›

A 1:2:2 feeding ratio would consist of one part existing starter, two parts flour and two parts water. For example, if you have 30g of existing starter, you would feed it 60g of flour and 60g of flour. The most common feeding ratios for daily maintenance are 1:1:1 or 1:2:2.

What is the ratio of 1 5 5 for sourdough? ›

Making a Sourdough Starter Work for You
RatioExample in Grams assuming 78ºFOver-ripe/ Need refreshing
1:2:210 grams ripe starter 20 grams flour 20 grams water10 hours
1:5:510 grams ripe starter 50 grams flour 50 grams water12-14 hours
1:10:1010 grams ripe starter 100 grams flour 100 grams water24 hours
1 more row
Feb 22, 2024

What is the best sourdough hydration ratio? ›

I typically like to stick to the 70 to 75% range. This gives me a nice open crumb without being to wet of a dough that it is impossible to work with. Should sourdough starter be 100% hydration? Sourdough starter can be at right at, above, or below 100% hydration.

How to figure out starter percentage? ›

Baker's Percentage of Sourdough Starter
  1. Fermented Flour to Total Flour: = (400/2)/(800+200) = 200 / 1,000 = 20%
  2. Fermented Flour to Non-Fermented Flour = (400/2)/800 = 200 / 800 = 25%
  3. Total Starter to Total Flour = 400 / (800+200) = 400 / 1,000 = 40%
  4. Total Starter to Non-fermented Flour = 400 / 800 = 50%
May 4, 2023

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