How to Convert a Sourdough Starter to a Stiff Starter
Recently, I converted my liquid sourdough starter to a stiff sourdough starter. The differences in my sourdough baking experience have been many after doing this and I want to show you how to convert your starter to a stiff starter, as well!
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If you are brand new to sourdough, you will want to first make a sourdough starter.
It’s super easy and with proper care, will last for generations!
Using sourdough starter to raise your bread uses wild yeast without the need for commercial yeast.
Looking for a recipe for sourdough cinnamon rolls? Try these!
What is a Stiff Starter?
A stiff starter or pasta madre is one that is fed with a much higher ratio of flour to water and resembles a bread dough consistency. It is not pourable like a liquid starter or high hydration starter and needs to be scooped out of the jar.
It is essentially a lower hydration sourdough starter.
If you feed your starter 1 cup water and 1 cup flour, it is a 100% hydration starter.
For a stiff starter, you will reduce that water ratio to 1/2 cup or 50% hydration.
Why I converted to a stiff sourdough starter
Less Feeding – Maintaining a stiff starter requires less feeding because it is active longer since it has more flour to eat through.
I have found that I only have to feed my starter about once every 10-14 days while keeping the starter in the fridge. Stiff starters seem to build up more natural yeasts that last longer and have less lactic acid production.
Less Sourness – I am on the side of sourdough being a bit less sour, especially in sweet bakes. A stiff starter will less sour flavor than a regular sourdough starter which is right up my ally!
When a starter gets hungry and builds up acetic acid, it becomes super sour and will make a much more sour bread. A thick starter stays active longer for a milder end product.
The bread made with a stiff starter is flavored somewhere between a yeasted recipe and a sour sourdough recipe.
Less Discard – Although I never “discard” starter, this method all but takes discard out of the equation. The starter is pretty much always in an active state.
How to convert your starter to a stiff starter
It really is quite simple to convert to a stiff starter.
Keep in mind, this works best when converting a mature sourdough starter but you can start a brand new starter as a stiff starter, as well.
The first choice is flour. You can feed your starter all purpose flour or fresh flour. Whole wheat flour from the grocery store works great as well.
The type of flour is a personal preference. I always use fresh milled flour and use a Nutrimill Grain Mill. (by the way, use my coupon code: rose20 for $20 off!)
Next, water. For the best results, I always recommend using filtered water.
Determining the feeding ratio is essentially cutting in half a 100% hydration ratio.
For instance: If you feed your starter equal parts of flour and water like 1 cup flour and 1 cup water, reduce the water to 1/2 cup for a dough texture to your starter.
If you feed your starter 50 g flour and 50 g water, reduce the water to 25 g to achieve the right consistency.
The amount of flour you feed the starter will depend on how much starter you want to keep.
The consistency I go for is somewhere between bread dough and biscuit dough.
One great thing about this method of keeping a sourdough starter, is that you can feed it and put it straight in the fridge in the evening and it will be ready to use the next morning.
To ready how I maintain my starter in the fridge, click here!
Using a Firm Sourdough Starter
You have 2 options when using a stiff starter to make sourdough bread:
- You can add the starter straight to the recipe and increase the water by 1/4 cup to make up for the lower hydration of the starter.
- The night before, you can make a levain by adding a small amount of 1-2 tablespoons of the starter to 1/4 cup and 1/4 flour for 1/2 cup of a liquid starter and not have to adjust the recipe. The next day, the starter will be ready to use.
I prefer using the starter straight in the recipe and increasing the water a bit. I rarely think ahead enough to make a levain.
If you are organized and can remember to make levains, that is a wonderful choice because it can actually help the dough rise quicker and have more flavor. You can keep the “mother starter” or “mother dough” stiff and make a levain that is more like a traditional starter or high hydration levain.
Either method will work for rising dough. I use my starter straight from the fridge and do not let it come to room temperature. It works like a charm every time.
I actually find that my bread rises better with a stiff starter than with a regular starter.
You can feed the starter all purpose flour, bread flour, fresh milled flour, rye flour, or store bought whole wheat flour.
No, I literally just started feeding my starter stiff and it became super active within 3-4 hours.
It depends on how you store your starter. If you store your starter on the counter, it should be active for several days. If you store it in the fridge, it will stay active for 10-14 days before needing to be fed again.
I do see a difference in the amount of rise I get out of a stiff starter. You will notice you don’t get as much bubbles on top of the starter but looking at the sides of the jar, you will see a lot of activity and growth after 3-4 hours.
The key difference I have noticed is that my bread seems to be fluffier and rise a bit more quickly as well as having much less “sour flavor”.
Hi Mary!
When you say that you can use the starter straight into the recipe, does that mean you take it from a cold frig and use it cold, or do you add the extra 1/4 cup of water to the starter jar and let it activate on the counter ar room temperature and then put it in recipe? Sorry, I’m new to sourdough.Thanks for the great advise!
Yes, I use it cold straight from the fridge. After I feed my starter, I put it straight in the fridge to ferment and it’s ready the next day. Thank you!
Your stiff starter directions work for weight, but not for volume measurements. Water weighs twice as much as flour so you need to use half as much by volume for a regular wet starter. So a regular wet starter would be 1/4 cup starter to 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. This is a 1:1:1 by weight. A stiff starter would be 1/4 cup starter to 1cup flour and 1/4 cup water.
Thank you for your website. It has rescued me from feeling like a prisoner of my starter! I am still just a few months into my sourdough experience and was continually frustrated. We wanted soft, less tangy sandwich type loaves and you have really helped! I do have a couple of questions.
When your stiff starter has risen and is in the fridge, do you ever stir it down? How about when you are using it straight to a recipe, do you stir it down first? And what do you use for discard recipes since your method basically eliminates discard? Thanks again, and I am off to make another loaf of your same day sandwich bread.
Thank you for stopping by! I don’t ever stir my starter. And, yes you are right, I don’t have discard anymore. I make everything with active starter but that works out fine for me as I prefer long fermented best. I am so glad you feel comfortable with your starter and are having success!!
Thank you so much! I have been doing something similar, just kind of figured it out when I was trying to activate starter a friend gave me then it sat in the fridge awhile before I could get to it. I wasn’t getting it to “double in size” until I started feeding more flour than water (and also switched to whole grains). Now, she takes off and grows after a few hours in a warm room, but I did happen to notice she still seemed active in the fridge. It’s all so very interesting! I’m going to implement some of your tips and techniques – this is SO helpful so that I don’t have to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. Blessings to you and yours! 🙏
I’ve recently converted to a stiff starter and don’t want to have to make a levian to bake. How do you calculate starter ratio in dough? Or does it stay the same? Ie: recipe calls for 125g starter, do I use 125 g stiff starter and just add the additional water? Or do I use 100 g stiff starter and count that 25 g in the water count? Thank you!!!
I have been adding a flat 50 grams of stiff starter to all of my recipes and not making any other adjustments so far. All the recipes have turned out amazing. I am still working on this and will be writing a post about in as soon as I make notes of any adjustments that need to be made for certain recipes. I hope that helps!