Milk Kefir Sourdough Starter

Want to get started with sourdough? Try this extra quick and easy milk kefir sourdough starter that's ready in about one day!

📝 Ingredients

• 2 ounces flour (~1/2 cup, measure by weight if possible) (See "Flour Tips" Recipe Notes)
• 2 ounces milk kefir (plain with live cultures) (See "Milk Kefir" Recipe Notes)
• 2 ounces flour (~1/2 cup, measure by weight if possible)
• 2 ounces non-chlorinated water (1/4 cup)

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1--- Initial Starter: ---
2. 2In a clean glass jar, whisk together the flour and milk kefir. (I like to use a fork to whisk.) The mixture should be the consistency of pancake batter. If yours is much thicker, add a little more kefir to thin it out, or if it seems very thin add more flour. (I've found rice flour needs slightly more kefir.)Cover the jar. (Cover can be loose or air-tight, see "container tips" recipe notes.)Store jar in at room temperature (about 70°-75° F).
3. 3Stir the flour and kefir once or twice a day, until the starter is bubbly and has doubled in size. Your starter should be ready to use within about 24 to 48 hours. You should have approximately 1 cup of starter.
4. 4No Maintenance Starter: You can proceed to use the entire batch in a recipe, skipping any starter maintenance, and simply remake the starter as desired. This is a nice option if you don't want to maintain a starter, or if you're using a gluten-free flour that may be difficult to maintain."Float Test" for Bread: Once the starter has doubled in size and is bubbly, it should have a nice enough flavor to use the discard right away in discard recipes. To test if the starter is ready for bread, pinch of a small piece of the starter and drop it in water. If it floats, it can be used in bread. If it doesn't, proceed to the starter maintenance stage and keep feeding the starter until it passes the float test.
5. 5--- Starter Maintenance: ---
6. 6Discard the starter down to 2 ounces (~½ cup). You can use the discard in a "discard" recipe.Whisk together 2 ounces of flour, 2 ounces of water and 2 ounces of starter. Note that from this point on, you can feed the starter with water instead of milk kefir.Cover the jar, whisking once or twice a day. When the starter is bubbling and doubled in size, repeat the process. Continue discarding and feeding once a day, or place into storage until ready to use again.To store the starter: Feed the starter and then move it immediately into the fridge. Remove from the fridge and allow the starter to warm up for a few hours before using. Depending on how long the starter was in the fridge, it may take a few days to become very active again. Ideally, feed starter at least once a week even when in storage.