Since 2017, I have declared each January to be Sourdough Month here at Twice as Tasty. What began as encouragement to fill chilly winter kitchens with the aroma and warmth of baking fermented bread—by sharing recipes and giving away the sourdough starter needed to follow them—has grown into a record-breaking annual giveaway. Hundreds of people in northwest Montana and around the world have had the opportunity to bake with my personal sourdough starter.

As I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, the numbers show more than the giveaway’s success. If you need starter, there’s now a large group of people to tap into who have made their Twice as Tasty sourdough starter their own. If you’re among that group, you’re all set to share your love of sourdough—and your starter.

Learn more about sharing and receiving sourdough starter in my column. Once you start baking, be sure to share your creations.

Make it, share it.
Tag @twiceastastyblog and #twiceastastyblog

The Gift of Sourdough

To facilitate this growing sourdough community, I’ve teamed up with Leslie Schweitzer and Laura Shriver, who run the Facebook group Sharing fermented starters. The group connects thousands of people to share not just sourdough starter but also kombucha and Jun scoby, milk and water kefir grains, and other cultures. It’s active year-round, so you can embark on a new fermentation project anytime. The members also generously share their knowledge and answer questions from both beginning and experienced fermenters. Thanks to this community, I’ll be one of many offering advice and giving away sourdough starter through this group.

To help people share and care for sourdough starters, I have created a series of PDF guides for the Facebook group. You can find them under the Files tab within the group’s pages; I’m listing them here as well in case you prefer to bookmark this page for easy access. Feel free to download, print out, and pass along these guides if you are preparing to share your own starter, need care instructions for your recipients, or receive sourdough starter from another source.

• Caring for sourdough starter by weight: Feeding sourdough starter by weight and following weight-based recipes is the easiest, most consistent way to bake beautiful fermented loaves. These instructions for rehydrating sourdough starter (with photos of the rehydration process) and caring for it will result in a 100% hydration starter ideal for every Twice as Tasty sourdough recipe.
• Caring for sourdough starter by volume: Some people prefer to feed sourdough starter equal parts flour and water by volume, which results in a 200% hydration starter. After researching and writing about this method for The Old Farmer’s Almanac website, I created these guides for rehydrating by volume and feeding by volume.
• Dehydrating sourdough starter: I recommend drying your starter if you will be shipping it. This guide gives two methods for doing so, along with other reasons you may want dehydrate your starter.
• Shipping sourdough starter: After years of shipping sourdough starter around the world, I’ve learned a few things about how to keep costs low and packages intact. Here are my best practices.

You can also find my answers to some common questions from new sourdough bakers in this blog post. If you have an old sourdough starter lurking at the back of your fridge, you can learn about reviving it here.

Twice as Tasty

Excited about baking with sourdough? Here are just a few sourdough recipes on the blog. I’ll be sharing more delicious sourdough creations all month in my Flathead Beacon column.

• Overnight Sourdough Pancakes
• Sourdough Power Waffles
• Sourdough Pizza Dough
• Sourdough Garlic Knots
• Pillowy Sourdough Pita
• Stovetop Sourdough English Muffins
• Sourdough Cabin Bread

Need starter? Join the Sharing fermented starters Facebook group to request sourdough starter, scoby, kefir grains, and more. If you are not a Facebook user, contact me by January 31, 2024, for details on how to request sourdough starter directly from me.