Want to know the secret to really delicious gluten free bread? It all starts with a good gluten free sourdough starter!
Why use a gluten free sourdough starter?
Gluten free bread suffers from one big issue… the lack of gluten! Gluten provides structure that is usually replaced in gluten free breads with starches and additives. However, starches and additives aren’t very tasty.
Baking with sourdough improves the taste and texture of gluten free bread by:
- Breaking down whole grain flours so that they become lighter and stickier.
- Providing a delicious nutty flavour that comes from using wholegrain flours rather than bland white flours.
- Adding the complex sourdough flavour.
Fun Sourdough Facts:
- The flavour and properties of your sourdough starter are based on the local strains of yeast and bacteria. This variability in yeast influences the flavour and leavening time, which is why every region of the world will produce a very different type of bread. Some areas have famous strains (Montreal, San Francisco) but most regions should be able to make a decent sourdough starter. However, poor air quality might result in a bad tasting, or under active culture. If you have a hepa air filter in your home then it might be difficult to catch a sourdough culture. In that case, I recommend making a quick sourdough starter.
- It only takes about 24 hours for a store-bought culture to be taken over by local yeast and bacteria, so that is not a good solution for poor air-quality. However, buying
(affiliate link) a sourdough culture is a good way to avoid taking 5 days to achieve an active culture. - Gluten free sourdough culture has the tendency to get a pink or blue hue based on the type of flour and yeasts and molds in your home. While it’s not a good thing… it’s not bad unless it smells bad. The colour should go away as your starter becomes more active. Don’t use a bad smelling or moldy starter… if it’s gone bad, then you have to throw it away and start over. (Note: for some reason my buckwheat sourdough always turns a bit pink-ish, but other flours don’t.)
(affiliate link) a sourdough culture is a good way to avoid taking 5 days to achieve an active culture.Sourdough Feeding:
- I only make bread about once a month, so I usually just start my gluten free starter from scratch every time. It only takes me a few days to catch a vigorous starter because my house is full of the yeasts and bacteria needed for sourdough.
- If you are baking bread more regularly, you may want to keep your sourdough starter going. If you keep your starter out on the counter then it will need a daily feeding. Feed it half of its volume in water and flour. For example: if you have 1 cup of starter, then you will need to feed it 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of flour daily.
- If you store your starter in the refrigerator then it will need feeding every 5 days.
Gluten Free Sourdough Starter
Learn how to make a healthy gluten free sourdough starter in your own home! It’s the secret to amazing gluten free bread, improving both the taste and the texture. Use your favourite flour: rice, oat or buckwheat.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Sourdough
- Cuisine: Gluten free
Scale
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup whole grain gluten free flour (see notes)
- 1/4 cup filtered water (do not use chlorinated tap water)
Instructions
- Start by adding equal parts of water and flour into a glass container. This could be 1 tbsp of flour and water, or 1 cup of flour and water. It really depends on how much starter you need.
- Mix the flour and water together with a fork. Cover the container with a tea towel and leave it to ferment at room temperature (your kitchen counter is perfect).
- Stir with a fork twice a day until it is actively bubbling. This usually takes 3-5 days.
- If you want to keep the starter going for continuous baking, see the section above about feeding your starter.
Notes
- Buckwheat and teff flours are great at catching a sourdough starter. It only takes about 2 days to get a good vigorous starter with buckwheat or teff flour. However you will still be able to make a good starter with rice, oat flour, millet, or sorghum
, it will just take up to 5 days.
- The 1:1 ratio of flour and water is approximate. Some flours will absorb more water (for example buckwheat and white rice) some flours absorb less water (oat and brown rice). Adjust the recipe so that you have a thick, yet still pourable consistency.
- Most of my recipes start with 1-2 cups of active sourdough starter, so I recommend making a large amount of starter, and keeping it going.
- I recommend using my gluten free bread flour mix for all of your gluten free breads, however, don’t use it for your starter. You just want to use wholegrain flour or white rice flour for your starter.
, it will just take up to 5 days.Keywords: starter, buckwheat, rice, sorghum, millet, quinoa, teff, bread
Hi Emillie,
I am trying to make a starter using your instructions and buckwheat flour. Here was my start: https://photos.app.goo.gl/aHK69eiNLd6pffsGA
After about 60 hours it looked like this: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KLLCs3jEkqR9SRx38.The flour is so grainy and dark. I cannot tell if it is getting bubbly or not. After two day it started to smell rather funky. Since I have zero experience with this I don’t know what to look for or it it’s done. Can you offer any advice? I live in Orlando FL.
What buckwheat flour do you use? How do I know when it’s done…or if it’s even working?
Thanks!
Unfortunately, the second photo doesn’t seem to be working. I’ve never had a fail with buckwheat flour. It usually starts to get bubbly on the side of the jar and the top will puff up. If you stir it, you should be able to see a structure of air bubbles. It should also have a sour smell. My bet is that it’s working. I’ve used all different types of buckwheat, though usually I use light buckwheat because my kids prefer a “whiter” bread. 🙂
What does the pink liquid on the buckwheat sourdough starter mean?
I’m not sure why buckwheat gets a little bit of pink liquid, but it happens to me 9 times out of 10. I usually just stir it in. It shouldn’t be neon pick, or mold like. Just a slight pink tinge on the surface.
It usually only takes 2-3 days to get a bubbly starter with buckwheat. It is different from gluten sourdough because there is no gluten to make large bubbles on the side. You know it’s done when it smells like sourdough.
If it’s your first time making sourdough in your home, you might not have just the right flora. So it can be tricky the first few times. But if you make sourdough regularly, you should be able to get a starter fairly quick.
Hi! The liquid that collects on the top of your starter is by-products of bacterial fermentation. This occurs when the bacteria in your starter starts metabolizing other sugars into alcohols and generally indicates a starter needing feeding. It’s fine to mix it back in.
Thanks for sharing. I guess that’s why we call it hooch. 🙂
I am not confident I had any success getting a starter going with buckwheat flour, I have however gotten buckwheat groats to work. Could I use some of the frothy mixture from the buckwheat groats to add to the buckwheat flour to make a starter. Would it be the same?
Sure! That should work out. Especially since it already has a culture that can eat up buckwheat.
Hi Emillie
Started a GF sourdough 2 days ago with a 1/2 cup of Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 GF Baking Flour mixed with Bob’s Red Mill Teff flour (mix was 1:1 Baking flour:Teff) and 1/2 cup of water. Bubbles started next day so I started feeding it 1/2 cup of mixed flours and 1/2 cup of warm water and and had a good frothy mix the next day. Gave it a couple more feeds to build volume, but the smell is not yeasty. It’s more like grass or silage. Plenty of bubbles though. At this moment I have made a lump of dough and I’m just waiting to see if I can get it to rise. It’s in the oven in a bowl covered in a wet tea towel at a bit over 100degF (40degC). Any thoughts on the aroma I’m getting? Here’s a couple of pics of the brew.
Kind regards
Hi Gregory,
I took a look at your photos (before deleting the link from your post as my anti-spam software really didn’t like the added link.) 🙂 The sourdough looks perfect. It smells like dried grass or hay? That might be from the flour combination. I’ve never mixed teff with anything else, so I wouldn’t know. However, GF sourdough never smells as yeasty as if you were using bread yeast. It tends to have a sour-yeast smell that is influenced by the smell of the flour.
I usually use it more for flavour than rise, unless I’m doing a 24 hour rise (like in my vegan gf bread.) Otherwise I either add a bit of commercial yeast, or baking soda to add a bit more poof with only a 2-4 hour rise.
How did your bread turn out?
If I keep my starter in the fridge, do I need to bring it back to room temp to use in a recipie?
I always pull my starter out of the fridge and feed it once or twice before baking with it. That gives it a good boost (it doesn’t really enjoy being in the fridge) and leaves enough extra starter for my next batches of bread. However, if you’re stuck for time, then you can use it straight from the fridge. Just let the bread rise for longer.
I’m on day 5 of my first attempt at sourdough starter- I’ve been using oat flour, and feeding daily with 4 oz water and 4 oz flour. It is very thick, has a nice sour smell but have not had any bubbles. Does this mean its not working? Or is it not bubbling because it is too thick?
Oat is rather heavy and sticky, so I don’t usually get bubbles along the side of the jar, just on top. If it smells sour, then it’s probably good! I recommend a bit of extra water if it’s really thick.
Hi Sophie,
Did you end up having success? I’m hoping to try this with oat flour.
Hi Morgen, I make sourdough with oat flour for most of my baking. I just like the flavour the best. So it does work out! Just not as quickly as teff or buckwheat. Good luck! Emillie
Think quinoa flour would work for this?
Yes! Any flour with complex carbs will work. Just not almond flour or coconut, etc.
I’m a little confused. I’ve always heard that you shouldn’t use metal with sourdough. Does the fork not adversely effect your starter?
All ferments are a bit acidic, which is why you should generally avoid fermenting in a metal container. The acidity isn’t good for reactive metal (iron, copper). However, if you use a stainless steel fork it won’t harm the starter nor the fork. Good luck!
Hi Emillie
I recently bought a bag of buckwheat flour and would like to try making this bread, however I have difficulty finding filtered water in my country. What other water can I use? I can find drinking bottled water and distilled water.
Thanks for the post and the responses to the comments! I was worried my starter was bad but it seems the sour smell is normal.
Hello! It’s been around 12 hours for my starter and it already seems quite thick (like all the water is gone) and has not risen. there are bubbles on the surface though and it smells kind of buttery. should i add more water and mix?
GF flours vary widely on how much water they absorb. If it looks really dry, then add more water and keep mixing. It should be like a thick sauce. Depending on what flour you use and how much you already ferment, it could take 2-5 days (mixing every day) to get really going. It should smell yeasty and slightly bubbly on top (GF doesn’t tend to get as bubbly on the sides as it doesn’t have the gluten structure to hold the bubbles). Good luck!