How to Make Turkish Sourdough Bread Starter?

 

Sourdough Starter

Grandma's Sourdough Bread Starter (Ekşi Maya) Recipe

Turkish Sourdough Bread, French Baguette, Georgian Lobiani (Bean Bread), Colombian Pan de queso (Cheese-Bread), Italian Focaccia flat bread, Turkish Pita flatbread, Greek Tsoureki sweet bread (Smilar to Turkish Çörek/chorek). They are all very famous brand of breads all around the world. We, as humanbeing, have consumed many kind of breads since the humanbeing was being in the world. Actually, Bread is the oldest food in the world. According to historians, history of baking Bread dates back to many many thousands years ago (about 7000, 8000 years ago). We are sure that You may like our No-yeast-cotton-soft-bread-recipe and Turkish-flat-bread-bazlama-recipe

Bread is the oldest food in the world

Bread is an important part of life in Turkey. We consume many kind of Turkish breads (pita, lavash, Yufka, bazlama etc) in daily life. Because, Turkish people love breads very very much. Forexample, if you visit our country, almost every dish you eat will be served with Turkish fresh bread or Turkish fresh pita (pide). You may like our Easy-breakfast-rolls-recipe.

Turkish Sourdough Pita is Famous

Turkish Pita/Pide

Turkish Sourdough Bread and Sourdough Pita (in Turkish = Pide) are very famous, popular throughout the Anatolia. Formerly, every kind of bread was made by the sourdough. Even, many kind of pastries and byreks were made by the sourdough. All Bakeries and all house - wives used a "Sourdough - Starter" instead of the yeast.  But, todays technological world deleted the sourdough starter in the kitchens. So that, Bakeries, cooks and many house wives use store bought yeast (fabrication yeast) instead of the sourdough starter. You may like our Rose-shaped-turkish-pogaca-pastry-recipe

What Is a Sourdough Starter?

The sourdough starter or grandmother's dough also known as a Turkish traditional "Ekşi Maya" (in english: Sour Yeast) is very old and healthy process for bread cooking or all pastries in Anatolia. In this post, we are going to share our very unique recipe. We try to give an answer for question of "How to make sourdough starter". Actually,  "Sourdough Starter" comes from the our grandmothers. We got it from our moms. But, we are sure that, our grandmothers got it from their grandmothers. We are so lucky to have our traditional sourdough starter passed down to us from our grandmothers. Turkish people have used sourdough starter for over 200 years. Also you may like our Cotton-soft-home-made-pastry-recipe

Yes, maybe you ask that "How do you make your own starter?". The easiest way to make a starter is simply by combining flour and water in sterilized glass jar and letting it sit for several days (About 4 days or 7 days to 10 days). So, answer of "What Is a Sourdough Starter?" Question is really very simple; it is combination of nature, chemical process and patience. Or A sourdough starter is how we cultivate the organic yeast in a form that we can use for baking. You may like our How-to-make-turkish-plain-pancake-recipe

Shortly, when you cook your breads or other bakery things (such as pastries, byreks etc). Instead of the fabrication yeast you use a ‘starter’ or organic yeast (also some people called it as "wild yeast") which is a mixture of good quality flour and water that ferments and produces it is own good and useful bacteria’s to make your bread/pastry rise. Plus, sourdough is easier on the digestive system and cheap to make. You may like Turkish-flour-halwa-pudding-recipe

How to Make Sourdough Starter?

How do you make your own starter? We are very exciting to share our grandmothers' sourdough starter (wild yeast, organic yeast) in this post. Making a fresh batch/dough of starter is as easy as stirring together some flour and water and letting it sit. That is it!

This recipe is really so simple but you should be patient, when you prepare your starter. Also, you don't need to expensive ingredients. Some, Bakeries and bread cooks use mashed-up grapes. But, in our recipe, you don't need to mashed - up grapes. You just need flour, water, sterilized glass jar and a little bit of patience. Also you may like our Spinach-arm-byrek-recipe

By the way, if this is your first time making sourdough, we recommend that you start with all purpose flour because all purpose flour tends to behave the most predictably. If you are feeling ready to branch out, just start feeding the starter with your flour like feeding your cute pet. Yes It is like having a pet. Imagine that you have a cute bird and you feed it in your house. Like that, you feed your starter and care for it, carry with you where you go. As if, your sourdough starter becomes a member of the family. You may like our Flaky-spinach-byrek-recipe.

Ingredients: Flour, water and patience

You need sterillized worksorface, glass jar
And good quality flour and water

Whole wheat flour is perfect for the stsrter

1/4 Cup of flour (nearly 30-40 gr)

Mix flour and water very well

Make your starter in a
Glass container/glass jar or a clay pot

Cover your starter and let it sit at 
Room temperature

Or cover with kitchen cloth and 
Place in warm place

24 Hours later starter becomes bubbled

3. Day: Be patient and keep feeding 
Your starter

4. Day: Keep starter at room temperature
Without feeding

Feed your starter day 5 and 7 except day 6

Your starter ready in day 8 and 9 
And it sour smells

When you bake bread; dissolve the sour yeast and add bread ingredients

Recipe of Sourdough Starter (Organic yeast, Wild yeast)

What is the best ratio for sourdough starter? We followed our grandmothers instructions to make our starter over a period of 7 days to 10 days. Getting the starter going takes a few days (in this recipe; ours took 9 days, maybe yours take less days or more days, it depends on climate. If you live in very warm climate, your starter ready to under 7 days, or if you live in cool or cold climate, your starter ready to over 10 days)

Here it is how to make our sourdough starter (Organic yeast, Wild yeast or Grandma's yeast);

What should sourdough starter looks like? We tried to get its images below;

Ingredients:

• 1/4 Cup (nearly 30 or 40 gr) + 1/4 Cup + 1/4 Cup + 1/4 Cup + 1/4 Cup + 1/4 Cup Whole wheat floyr (or all purpose flour or both of them), 
• 3 Tablespoons + 3 Tablespoons + 3 Tablespoons + 3 Tablespoons + 3 Tablespoons + 3 Tablespoons Good quality warm bottled water (in this recipe, we used bottled water from Uludağ, Ulu - Mauntain in Bursa city), 
• 1 or 2 Normal size sterilized glass jars or glass container, 

Preoaration: (We recommend you to make your sourdough starter in a glass container/a glass jar or a clay pot. Store in a glass container in the refrigerator after fermentation has occurred.)

1. Day: First of all, put your all ingredients on the work surface. Don't forget! You need strelized work surface and a Glass of jar. On the first day, mix your 1/4 Cup Whole wheat flour (or all purpose flour) with 3 Tablespoons warm bottled water in a glass of jar very well and cover. Let it sit at room temperature (or cover with a kitchen cloth and place in a warm place in your house).
2. Day: On the second day, add 1/4 Cup of flour and 3 tablespoons warm bottled water, mix them very well, then cover and let it sit at room temperature (or cover with a kitchen cloth and place in a warm place in your house). 
3. Day: On the third day, add 1/4 Cup of flour and 3 tablespoons warm bottled water, mix them very well. Let it sit at room temperature (or cover with a kitchen cloth and place in a warm place in your house). P.S: If you stir the sourdough starter often, at room temperature the yeast and the lactic acid bacteria will be happy and work together. The lactic acid bacteria creates an effective antibiotic that kills the unwanted organisms that might grow in the starter.
4. Day: On the fourth day, keep the sourdough starter at room temperature without feeding it.
5. Day: On the fifth day, add 1/4 Cup (or abit more) of flour and 3 (or abit more) tablespoons warm bottled water, mix them very well. Let it sit at room temperature (or cover with a kitchen cloth and place in a warm place in your house).
6. Day: On the sixth day, keep the sourdough starter at room temperature without feeding it.
7. Day: On the seventh day, add 1/4 Cup (or abit more) of flour and 3 (or abit more) tablespoons warm bottled water, mix them very well. Let it sit at room temperature (or cover with a kitchen cloth and place in a warm place in your house).
8. Day: On the eighth day, add 1/4 Cup (or abit more) of flour and 3 (or abit more) tablespoons warm bottled water, mix them very well. Don't stop! Keep stirring to combine everything and incorporate more oxygen into your mixture.
9. Day: On the last day, you should ready to say "hello" to your sourdough starter. After a long fermentation, something amazing things happened! The last day, or The 9th day it ripened visibly. It happily bubbled. Your cute sourdough starter will be ready to use. The surface will look frothy and fermented. It also sour smells. (When you cook your own sourdough bread: In a small bowl, mix the yeast, sugar and 1/4 Cup of warm water. Then, stir them very well so the yeast dissolves. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes - in this time, your organic yeast will become bubbly again - Then, your organic yeast ready to mix ingredients of sourdough bread). 

Good Luck! 

Sourdough Breads are so healthy

Please let us know how this "Turkish Sourdough Starter (Organic yeast, Wild yeast) Recipe" turns out for you in the comments. We are always so eager to hear from you.

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