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

“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!

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.

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:

Free Sourdough Starter Instructions
Free No-Knead Artisan Bread Recipe
4 No-Wait Sourdough Recipes
Really??? Discard Half My Starter At Each Feeding? #AskWardee 113

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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? ›

it's important to know what hydration your sourdough starter is. an easy way to figure this out is to write down the amount of flour and water per feeding, and divide the water amount over the flour amount. i usually feed my starter 30g of flour, and 24g of water. 24 / 30 = 0.8, meaning my starter is at 80% hydration.

Tell Me More ›

What are the ratios for sourdough bread? ›

it's almost always the same ratio. . there are lots of different sizes and shapes and flavours of loaves. but they almost always use this formula. 100% flour 20% starter 2% salt and 75% water.

Tell Me More ›

What is the best sourdough starter flour ratio? ›

There is no single best ratio, but I've found a ratio of 1:5:5 fed twice daily at 12-hour intervals to produce a sourdough starter that's strong and healthy. This ratio corresponds to 20% ripe starter carryover, 100% water, and 100% flour (a mix of whole grain rye and white flour) at each feeding.

Read On ›

How much sourdough starter equals a packet of yeast? ›

Generally, you can substitute a packet of yeast for 100g of sourdough starter. If your recipe uses less than a packet of yeast, you can use less sourdough starter, however it won't make too much difference because of the way wild yeast works.

Know More ›

How do you measure flour for sourdough? ›

Digital Kitchen Scale

It is the best way to measure flour, but I often use it for measuring other sourdough additions, like chocolate. Using a scale eliminates the need for different tools, as you can measure your liquids and dry ingredients by weight directly in a bowl.

Show Me More ›

How do you calculate bread dough? ›

The calculation is:

Actual Tin Volume (in grams) / Magic Number = Target Dough Weight (in grams)
Ingredient Quantity / Actual Dough Weight x Target dough weight =
New Ingredient Quantity.

Mar 23, 2023

View Details ›

What is the 1 2 2 ratio for sourdough starter? ›

Now that you got all these, and of course pen & paper, it's just a quick calculation

Feeding ratio	Amount of starter required	Total amount of starter required
1:4:4	80g	80g +10g =90g
1:4:4	100g	100g +20g =120g
1:2:2	200g	200g +40g =240g
1:2:2	100g	100g +20g =120g

Learn More Now ›

What is the ratio for sourdough 1 3 3? ›

I typically use a 1:3:3 ratio meaning that however much starter I keep I feed it 3xs the amount of flour and water. So let's use our example again of keeping 10 grams of starter. For the 1:3:3 feeding you would give your starter 30 grams of flour and 30 grams of water resulting in 70 grams of total starter.

Keep Reading ›

At what temperature should I bake sourdough bread? ›

Preheat your oven with a baking surface or combo cooker/Dutch oven inside to 450°F (230°C).

Keep Reading ›

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

It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.

Can you add too much flour to sourdough starter? ›

Because, yes, you can overfeed your sourdough. The explanation is quite simple: if you add too much water and flour, you're basically diluting the natural population of yeast and bacteria.

What is the healthiest flour for sourdough starter? ›

The best flour blend for creating a new sourdough starter is 50% whole-meal flour (whole wheat or whole rye) and 50% bread flour or all-purpose flour. I recommend a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and bread flour.

View Details ›

Should you ever add yeast to sourdough starter? ›

A true sourdough starter relies on the natural yeasts and bacteria present in the flour and the environment. Adding commercial yeast to the mix may speed up the fermentation process, but it won't produce the same complex flavors and textures that come from a naturally fermented starter.

View Details ›

Can I put dry yeast in my sourdough starter? ›

All it takes is three simple ingredients—water, flour, and some active dry yeast—then add some time and patience on your part, and you'll have your sourdough starter to make delicious loaves of bread.

Know More ›

What happens if I add yeast to my sourdough starter? ›

Adding yeast to a sourdough can result in a lighter, more tender crumb and a crisper crust than the same loaf without it. Now I like the texture of a crusty, chewy sourdough loaf most of the time, but there are instances where I find this effect especially useful.

How do I calculate how much to feed my sourdough starter? ›

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 sourdough starter ratio? ›

Sourdough starters should be fed a minimum ratio of 1:1:1, meaning equal WEIGHTS of starter to flour to water. If you feed your starter this way and keep it at a consistently warm temperature 78ºF, your starter should peak and become active/bubbly in about 3-4 hours.