This is one of the most common questions people have about the sourdough starter. And it’s a very good question, after all, you don’t want to spend weeks preparing a starter just to find out at the end that it wasn’t good.
On average a sourdough starter should have a thin consistency, similar to that of a pancake batter. The factors that influence the consistency of a starter are the type of flour used, the amount of flour used, and the amount of water used.
I’ve been making sourdough bread for more than 8 years and I’ve seen all possible types of starters that there are. Some were runny, some were almost solid, and some were what most people would call just right. But in reality, the consistency of the sourdough starter doesn’t matter that much.
Depending on what proportions and what type of flour you were using, you will obtain different results. But from what I’ve seen on Youtube and on the web in general, most beginner sourdough starters are “wet” starters that usually require equal parts of flour and water. So for those proportions, you should expect a thin consistency.
But as I said, the consistency of the starter doesn’t matter that much.
Why the Consistency of the Sourdough Starter Doesn’t Matter
While the consistency of the starter can influence how the bread will turn out, there are things more important than that in a starter. And those things are bubbles and rises.
It doesn’t matter if your starter is thick or thin, as long as it rises and it has bubbles in it. Those are the signs that your starter is alive and well. But if your starter is very thick or watery, those signs might not be as easy to spot,
A watery starter won’t be able to trap the carbon dioxide bubbles in it, so they will all rise to the surface. So, the starter won’t rise as much but it will have a lot of bubbles on the surface.
In the case of a solid starter, you most likely won’t see too many bubbles, since most of them will remain trapped in the starter, but your starter will rise a lot more.
The consistency of the starter is influenced by two main things, how much flour and water you use, and what type of flour you use. The flour type that you use will have a great impact on the consistency of your starter. If you use a different type of flour than the one specified in the recipe you will end up with a completely different type of starter.
How Different Types of Flour Influence the Consistency
There are ingredients to a starter, flour and water. And each of them can drastically influence how the bread will turn out.
In the case of water, It’s quite simple, as long as the water is safe, which means that it has a safe pH and safe chlorine levels, it can be used for sourdough.
But in the case of flour things can get a little more complicated as different types of flour have different absorption capabilities.
For example, whole wheat flour is able to absorb more water than simple white flour. So if the recipe called for equal parts whole wheat flour and equal parts water, but you instead used white flour, it’s normal for your starter to look different than the one in the recipe you followed.
There are a few more things about flour that you should also take into consideration:
- Some flours absorb water quicker than others. Some types of flour will absorb water much quicker than others, leaving the impression that they can absorb more than other types, but in reality, they just do it quicker.
- How the flour was stored is also important. If the flour was tightly packaged and kept in a dry area it would be able to absorb more water than flour that wasn’t as tightly packaged and spent time in a place with high humidity.
- The age of the flour also plays a part. Usually, older flour is able to absorb less water than fresher flour.
Now that we covered how different types of flour influence the consistency let’s see how to make the sourdough thinner or thicker because it’s not as simple as just adding some extra flour or changing the flour that you were using.
How to Thin or Thicken a Sourdough Starter
Adding more or less water is definitely the easiest way, and the way I would recommend you to do things. But when it comes to flour things are a little bit different.
If you are going to change the type of flour that you are using you have to know that it will make your starter unusable for a few days.
Changing the flour basically means that you are changing the food of the good bacteria that live in the starter. So they will need some time to adjust to it. During this time it’s likely that the starter won’t have as many bubbles and it might not rise as much, but don’t worry this is completely normal. Just keep feeding it the new flour as you did before and in no longer than a week it should be back to full strength.
From my experience, I can tell you that there isn’t a correct proportion of water to flour, since all of them work, and when it comes to food it’s all about taste and personal preference. So go ahead and experiment. Make your starter thicker this time, next time make it thinner, try different combinations until you find the one that you like the most.
But be very careful when making adjustments to a recipe, always proceed with small steps, never go from 100 grams of flour per day to 50 per day, this kind of change is sudden, instead, try changing things by 10 grams at a time, or even 5 if you just want to make minor adjustments.
Final Thoughts
If you are following a recipe that requires equal parts water, equal parts flour you usually want a somewhat thin starter consistency, but depending on what flour you used this will change a little.
But as I said, as long as your starter produces bubbles and it rises properly the consistency shouldn’t matter.
Now let’s go over some common questions that people have about sourdough.
Common Questions
What should I do if my starter has very few bubbles? Bubbles are created by the good bacteria that live in the starter when they eat. Having just a few bubbles means that the starter needs more food, so it requires more flour.
My starter was really active on days 2 and 3, and then there was zero activity. Is this bad? This is a very common thing. Most starters have a surge in activity during the first few days then scale down the activity. After a period it will regulate its activity.
Why is my sourdough starter so sticky? Depending on the amount of flour and water used, sometimes sourdough can become sticky, but this is usually common for starters that have more flour than water.
What is a 100% hydration starter? A 100% Hydration starter is a starter that contains equal parts of flour and water. As the name implies, for every gram of flour there is one gram of water to hydrate it, thus it’s named 100% hydration.
My starter doesn’t rise enough, what should I do? The most common cause for a starter that isn’t rising enough is excessive discarding. If you discard too much of the starter it won’t have enough resources to rise properly.
What is a feeding ratio? Feeding ratios are usually written like this: 1:1:1, 1:2:2, 3:1:1. And they refer to the amount of starter left, the amount of flour added to the starter, and the amount of water added to the starter. Here are a few examples:
- 1:1:1 – equal amounts of starter, flour, and water – 100 grams of starter, 100 grams of flour, and 100 grams of water
- 2:1:1 – 200 grams of starter, 100 grams of flour, and 100 grams of water
- 1:2:2 – 100 grams of starter, 200 grams of flour, and 200 grams of water
When can I start using a different type of flour? While there isn’t an exact amount of time specified anywhere, I would advise you to at least wait two weeks after you made your starter. At this point, the starter should have a good balance that will allow it to successfully accommodate the new flour.