Making sourdough starter from scratch can be intimidating, but you can buy it premade if you want to shortcut the process. It’s a good option for baking beginners or people who don’t want to risk doing their starter from scratch and not having it work. MotherDough sent me some of their sourdough starter, and it’s already made for you, which means you don’t have to go through the process of starting a sourdough starter from scratch and hoping it works. This starter comes in a small jar and has a thick, liquid consistency, but it just needs a little attention to wake it up and get it active again.
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What is premade sourdough starter?
Buying premade sourdough starter is a shortcut because you don’t have to start from scratch and let the starter grow from nothing. You order the starter from a company that makes it, and then when you get it, you activate it for 24 hours and start your bread the next day.
I’d never purchased premade starter before, but I’d seen it in various forms, and I was curious about how it would work. I was pleasantly surprised with this because I will admit that I was skeptical about how well it would travel and still survive.
Reactivating the starter.
To reactivate the starter, I used the equipment from my Amish Chef sourdough kit, but you can use any clean glass jar or container. The starter needs to be fed so it can become bubbly and active, and this is part of a two-day process.
Today is all about waking it up, and tomorrow I’ll make a sponge using the activated starter. When you start a sourdough starter from scratch, it can take about a week to be ready, so buying one that’s pre-made definitely saves time.
The first step was transferring all of the starter into the jar I was using to maintain it. Sourdough starter is a living organism, so feeding it properly is what allows it to thrive and create a great base for bread. To feed it, you add flour and water to give it some food to eat. Unbleached flour works best, and it’s important to use bottled or filtered water to avoid chemicals that could kill the yeast.
Once the starter was in the jar, you add two ounces, or a quarter cup, of water and two ounces of flour. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, just under half a cup of flour is about two ounces in weight. This isn’t really critical as far as the measurements, the goal is simply to feed the yeast so it can start doing its job. Everything got stirred together until it’s as smooth as possible. A few small lumps aren’t a big deal, but the smoother it is, the better access the yeast has to the flour.
At this point, the mixture looked like a thick, floury paste. The yeast began consuming the flour and sugars, producing gas that causes bubbling and expansion. To allow airflow without exposing it completely, you should cover the jar with a cloth secured by a rubber band. I also marked the top of the starter with a band so I can see how much it rises over time. Then it’s time to let it sit for about 24 hours.
What happens after you feed the starter.
After just a few hours, small bubbles started appearing, which was a great sign. Bubbling means the yeast is active and releasing gas as it feeds. Seeing that happen so quickly told me the starter was healthy and waking up exactly the way it was supposed to.
After a full 24 hours, the starter was clearly active and had about doubled in size, and it was ready to be used. At that point, I made the sponge for my bread recipe by combining half a cup of starter, one cup of water, and a cup and a half of flour.
After about ten hours, the result was a beautiful, airy sponge filled with bubbles, showing just how active the yeast is. I was pleasantly surprised about this because of the fact that the starter travelled through the mail to get to me.
The sponge smelled fantastic and looked absolutely gorgeous, which is kind of a weird thing to say, but if you bake bread you’ll understand.
Make the bread.
With the sponge ready, I moved on to making the bread itself. I used a sourdough sandwich bread recipe that I make every week. This isn’t the super crusty, hole-filled artisanal sourdough. It’s designed for everyday sandwiches, and since I make it weekly, I don’t even buy store-bought bread anymore. Two loaves usually lasts us all week.
The bread baked beautifully, and it turned out exactly how I like it. I know this might be surprising, but I’m not a big fan of extremely crusty bread even though I love sourdough bread. This recipe includes oil, which gives it a softer texture that’s perfect for sandwiches.
The starter performed really well, and the bread rose easily with no issues. Sometimes sourdough on its own (with no commercial yeast added in) takes longer to rise than commercial yeast, I didn’t notice much of a difference with this batch.
The crumb of the bread was just right for sandwiches. The crust has just enough firmness on top, while the inside stays soft and easy to slice without fighting against it when you bite into a sandwich.
Should you try premade starter?
Using this sourdough starter made the entire process incredibly easy. If you’re hesitant about making sourdough because starting a starter from scratch feels intimidating, this really removes that barrier. The starter arrived active and ready to work, and it delivered great results. The flavor is mild and balanced, with a subtle sourness that’s noticeable but not overpowering.
I’ll admit I couldn’t resist cutting into the bread while it was still hot. You’re technically not supposed to do that, but the flavor was incredible right out of the oven. The sourdough taste really comes through, but it’s gentle and very pleasant.
One of the best parts is that there’s still plenty of starter left. There’s easily enough for several more loaves, and I can keep feeding it to maintain it long-term if I want. It will eventually take on the flavor of the yeast in my area and not the yeast where it came from, but that’s fine.
You can read this article about how to start and care for a sourdough starter if you want to make your own, or if you get some premade starter and want to keep it going for a while: Easy sourdough starter.
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