- from Naomi Devlin.
Gluten free sourdough starter
You can make a gluten free starter using any wholegrain gluten free flour, but brown rice works out the cheapest.
Slowly fermented bread, pancakes and muffins not only taste delicious, most people find them more digestible too because of the presence of friendly bacteria who munch on antinutrients in the grains during the fermentation process.
Some people can react to baker’s yeast in the same way they do to gluten, so the wild yeasts in a sourdough starter can often be tolerated where commercial yeast cannot.
Follow the method below to make your starter in 5 days and then you can use it and keep it dormant in the fridge between bakes for the rest of your life as long as you feed it.
Read the pointers below the recipe before you get started.
Day 1
120g brown rice flour (or any mixture of sorghum, millet, white teff, rice or quinoa)
180g tepid (about 28ºC) mineral or filtered water
Small bunch of unwashed grapes (or pear water, see below) (optional)
Mix flour and water (use this quantity of pear water if using) in a bowl, nestle the grapes in (if using), cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place.
Day 2
120g brown rice flour (or flour mixture as above)
160g tepid mineral or filtered water
Lift out the grapes, add the flour and water ‘feed’, whisk, replace grapes and cover again.
Day 3
150g brown rice flour (or flour mixture as above)
200g tepid mineral or filtered water
Lift out the grapes, whisk, weigh out 150g, add the feed, replace grapes and cover again.
Day 4 morning & evening
150g brown rice flour (or flour mixture as above)
200g tepid mineral or filtered water
By now the sourdough starter should have started to bubble and smell a little yeasty.
Take out the grapes, squeeze a little to release a small amount of juice and discard the grapes.
Whisk the starter well, weigh out 150g, discard the rest or make pancakes or crumpets with it, stir in the feed and cover again.
Repeat the feed in the evening.
Day 5 morning & evening
Whisk and measure out 75g of starter and discard the rest as before, feed the starter with 150g of gluten free flour and 200g of water, do this both morning and evening.
Day 6 morning
Whisk and measure out 75g of starter and discard the rest as before, feed the starter with 150g of gluten free flour and 200g of water, put into a 1 litre or larger glass preserving jar and allow the starter to bubble up and double – mark the starting level in the jar with a glass pen or sharpie so you will easily see when it has doubled.
It is now ready to bake with and this is referred to as an ‘active’ starter.
If it isn’t doubling, weigh out 75g of starter and feed again every 6-8 hours.
You might need to do this for a couple of days more in the middle of winter or in a cold house.
Each time you feed it, you must weigh out 75g and discard the rest, otherwise your kitchen will overflow with starter.
You can store any discarded starter (discard) in the fridge until you have enough to make some pancakes or a batch of crumpets.
If you plan to bake a lot of loaves each time, you might want to keep a larger amount of starter reserve, just remember to increase the amount of feed you give it accordingly.
Gluten free sourdough starter
You can make a gluten free starter using any wholegrain gluten free flour, but brown rice works out the cheapest.
Slowly fermented bread, pancakes and muffins not only taste delicious, most people find them more digestible too because of the presence of friendly bacteria who munch on antinutrients in the grains during the fermentation process.
Some people can react to baker’s yeast in the same way they do to gluten, so the wild yeasts in a sourdough starter can often be tolerated where commercial yeast cannot.
Follow the method below to make your starter in 5 days and then you can use it and keep it dormant in the fridge between bakes for the rest of your life as long as you feed it.
Read the pointers below the recipe before you get started.
Day 1
120g brown rice flour (or any mixture of sorghum, millet, white teff, rice or quinoa)
180g tepid (about 28ºC) mineral or filtered water
Small bunch of unwashed grapes (or pear water, see below) (optional)
Mix flour and water (use this quantity of pear water if using) in a bowl, nestle the grapes in (if using), cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place.
Day 2
120g brown rice flour (or flour mixture as above)
160g tepid mineral or filtered water
Lift out the grapes, add the flour and water ‘feed’, whisk, replace grapes and cover again.
Day 3
150g brown rice flour (or flour mixture as above)
200g tepid mineral or filtered water
Lift out the grapes, whisk, weigh out 150g, add the feed, replace grapes and cover again.
Day 4 morning & evening
150g brown rice flour (or flour mixture as above)
200g tepid mineral or filtered water
By now the sourdough starter should have started to bubble and smell a little yeasty.
Take out the grapes, squeeze a little to release a small amount of juice and discard the grapes.
Whisk the starter well, weigh out 150g, discard the rest or make pancakes or crumpets with it, stir in the feed and cover again.
Repeat the feed in the evening.
Day 5 morning & evening
Whisk and measure out 75g of starter and discard the rest as before, feed the starter with 150g of gluten free flour and 200g of water, do this both morning and evening.
Day 6 morning
Whisk and measure out 75g of starter and discard the rest as before, feed the starter with 150g of gluten free flour and 200g of water, put into a 1 litre or larger glass preserving jar and allow the starter to bubble up and double – mark the starting level in the jar with a glass pen or sharpie so you will easily see when it has doubled.
It is now ready to bake with and this is referred to as an ‘active’ starter.
If it isn’t doubling, weigh out 75g of starter and feed again every 6-8 hours.
You might need to do this for a couple of days more in the middle of winter or in a cold house.
Each time you feed it, you must weigh out 75g and discard the rest, otherwise your kitchen will overflow with starter.
You can store any discarded starter (discard) in the fridge until you have enough to make some pancakes or a batch of crumpets.
If you plan to bake a lot of loaves each time, you might want to keep a larger amount of starter reserve, just remember to increase the amount of feed you give it accordingly.
