Donna’s Live Sourdough Culture

Perishable

This sourdough starter culture is my personal starter I've used for almost two decades. It was originally a Russian culture that I blended with a Finnish culture. After I had it for a while, it adapted to my home in Missouri and now California. It has a lot of diverse strains. It does this by capturing wild yeasts from the air. Your culture will do the same and be unique to you and your home. I have been using this particular culture for many years and love it. After a few attempts to make my own sourdough culture from scratch, I found it too sour and it didn’t rise very well. A sourdough culture that has been aged over the years has a mellow slightly tart flavor, and it really makes a difference to have a strong, long-aged starter when making sourdough bread.

You will receive:

• Live Sourdough Starter Culture
• Instructions on how to care for your Sourdough Culture
• "Donna’s Sourdough Bread" recipe with detailed instructions and color pictures
• Support from our team if you have questions. Email: [email protected].

Using the Right Flour

You will love this culture and it works best with bread flour, but you can also use white flour, whole-wheat flour, or most other types of flour (Except gluten-free flours).

If you're making bread with whole wheat flour, then your bread will be dense and won't rise as high. I recommend getting a high-protein flour to make your bread rise higher and have a wonderful texture.

If you're unsure how to know if your flour has a high protein content here is the formula. Look at the nutritional information on the package of flour.

If there are 4 grams of protein per 30 grams of flour, you need to multiply 4 by the number 100 and then divide by 30 (see example below).

• 4 g protein per 30 g flour
• 4 × 100 = 400
• 400 / 30 = 13.33

This flour has a protein content of 13.33%.

Use this formula to determine the percentage of protein in flour:

• (x) grams of protein per (y) grams of flour
• (x) x 100 = (z)
• (z) / (y) = % of protein content in the flour

Spending days in my kitchen making sourdough bread has been a sheer joy and you'll be so proud the first time you take a loaf from the oven.

🥖 Happy Baking!

Check out these links for more Sourdough Bread Recipes:

• Lemon Rosemary Sourdough Bread
• Overnight Sourdough Bread
• Everyday Sourdough Bread
• Jalapeno Sourdough Bread

Shipping information:

I pack this live wet starter in a strong sealed bag. (Jars tended to explode so we opted for bags.) I ship these cultures on Mondays via USPS Priority Mail. This helps to ensure that it doesn't sit in the post office for the weekend. Please watch for them and don't leave them in your mailbox for hours on end. The heat and freezing temperatures can damage them and even kill them. Don't let your starter culture sit in your hot mailbox over the weekend if you happen to go out of town. Your starter culture will die if left in the heat.

When your package ships and you receive your tracking number, you can check on the tracking page with USPS. You will see a drop-down menu to the right that says "Available Actions" and you can click text updates or email updates. Request Text Tracking to receive a text message when your package moves throughout the USPS network.

As soon as your starter arrives:

After you receive your sourdough starter culture you should open and feed it immediately because it will be hungry!

Add your sourdough starter to a glass canning jar with a lid (or something similar). Add 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup flour and mix it into the jar with your starter, then seal the jar with a secure lid. Let it sit for six to eight hours, or until you start to see it rise in the jar. It will then be ready to use.

Additional instructions will be included with your starter to ensure you keep it fed and bubbly.

Please read before ordering!

Starter Cultures are sensitive to excessive heat and freezing temperatures. Once your order is ready to ship, you'll receive an e-mail with tracking information.

I strongly encourage you to use the tracking information to anticipate the arrival of your culture, so that it can be taken inside and fed as soon as it arrives. Please watch for them and don't leave them in your mailboxes for hours on end. High heat can damage, and even kill, the culture.

Returns

Due to the nature of these live cultures, we cannot accept any returns. Please know that all sales are final.