How to Make an Einkorn Sourdough Starter from Scratch

Enjoy the rich flavors and health benefits of an einkorn sourdough starter by making your own from scratch. It’s really very simple and you only need two ingredients: einkorn flour and water.

With patience and a bit of care, you can cultivate a thriving sourdough starter that you can use in countless delicious breads and baked goods. Our family especially loves making these healthy sourdough waffles!

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There’s something deeply rewarding about watching a living sourdough starter bubble and grow, and then transforming it into a warm, crusty bread.

What is a Sourdough Starter?

A sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water that captures wild yeast and bacteria from the environment. These natural microbes cause the mixture to ferment, creating bubbles and a tangy smell.

Once a sourdough starter has had some time to mature, it can be used to naturally ferment and rise bread.

This was how everyone used to make bread. Yeast was not isolated and sold in little packets at the store until the late 1800s.

Why Start from Scratch?

Why should you go through the trouble of making your own sourdough starter when yeast is now sold in packets at the store?

When you create your own starter, you’re cultivating a living culture that can be passed down through generations.

There is great satisfaction to making something from scratch in your own kitchen that you can use to bake so many different delicious items. And you’re putting all those healthy bacteria into everything you make with it.

Health Benefits of Sourdough

The unique fermentation process driven by the sourdough starter makes sourdough bread easier to digest than bread made with commercial yeast. Fermentation breaks down gluten, reduces phytic acid, and slows down the body’s glycemic response.

1. Breakdown of Gluten

Gluten is a protein found in wheat and other grains and it can be difficult for some people to digest. During the long fermentation process of sourdough, the wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria in the starter work to break down some of the gluten in the flour. This partial pre-digestion of gluten makes the bread easier for your body to digest.

2. Phytic Acid Reduction

Phytic acid is a compound found in whole grains, seeds, and legumes. It can bind to minerals like iron, zinc, and calcium in the digestive tract, making them less available for absorption. The lactic acid bacteria in a sourdough starter helps break down phytic acid during the fermentation process. This allows your body to absorb the nutrients and minerals in the bread more effectively. This also makes the bread easier to digest.

3. Slower Glycemic Response

Sourdough bread has a lower glycemic index (GI) compared to bread made with commercial yeast. This means that sourdough bread causes a slower, more gradual rise in blood sugar levels after eating.

Why Einkorn flour?

Einkorn is often referred to as the original wheat. Unlike modern wheat, it remains relatively unchanged. It is one of the only wheats that has not been hybridized by farmers.

Einkorn flour is packed with essential nutrients that have been diminished or lost in modern wheat varieties. It is rich in protein, and it’s a great source of vitamins and minerals, including B vitamins, iron, magnesium and zinc.

Einkorn does contain gluten, but it has a different gluten structure compared to modern wheat. Since gluten is weaker in einkorn, it makes it easier for many to digest.

Using einkorn in your sourdough offers the best of both worlds: the benefits of ancient grain nutrition combined with the digestive advantages of sourdough fermentation.

Ingredients for Einkorn Sourdough Starter

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Einkorn Flour– I recommend using all-purpose einkorn flour for this starter. If you do start with whole grain einkorn, use less flour starting out.

Water– Make sure you use filtered or distilled water. This is very important because the chlorine and other chemicals found in tap water might inhibit the growth of natural yeast and bacteria in your starter.

Tools You May Need

Glass Jar or Container: Glass is best for a sourdough starter because it’s non-reactive and allows you to see the activity in your starter. Make sure it’s big enough for your starter to double in size. I would recommend starting with a glass bowl or large glass container so you can stir easily. This is my favorite glass container for my starter.

Non-metal Spoon or Stirrer: Metal can interfere with the starter’s fermentation process so I recommend using a wooden spoon.

Measuring cup: I use a dry measuring cup to measure out the flour and water. Some people recommend using a scale. I’ve never done that and I like the simplicity of using a dry measuring cup.

How to Make an Einkorn Sourdough Starter

Day 1:

Combine 1/2 cup all-purpose einkorn flour and 1/4 cup filtered water in a small glass bowl or jar.

Stir well, making sure to incorporate everything and scrape down the sides.

Place a clean tea towel loosely over the bowl or jar and allow it to sit for 24 hours.

Day 2:

Discard half of the mixture and repeat the process. Add 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup water, stir well, and cover loosely again.

Discarding half of the mixture during the early days of making your starter is essential to maintain a healthy balance of flour and water, providing fresh “food” for the yeast and bacteria to grow. Skipping this step would leave you with too much starter and not enough food, resulting in a weak colony.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to discard half of your starter forever. I understand it’s really hard to throw it away, especially since einkorn isn’t the cheapest flour. After the first seven days, or when your starter becomes consistently active and bubbly, you can use the discard in recipes like waffles, crackers, or muffins.

Day 3-5:

Repeat the day two instructions for days three through five. Continue to discard half of the mixture, and then feed.

Day 6 & 7:

Now every 12 hours, discard half the mixture and feed 1/2 cup flour with 1/4 cup water and mix well.

By day seven, there should be enough beneficial bacteria and yeast present to bake fermented sourdough goodies like waffles, english muffins, and pizza. I would advise letting your sourdough starter mature for a few weeks before trying to bake sourdough bread.

You will know it is active and ready to use if by 4-12 hours after you feed it, it bubbles and doubles in size.

Tips for Success

• Don’t stress if it takes a little longer to get bubbly. Starters can be slow to wake up. Just be patient and keep discarding and feeding with flour and water twice a day.
• Keep your starter somewhere warm. I keep mine right next to my oven.
• If you already have a sourdough starter and you want to convert it to an einkorn starter, all you have to do is just start feeding it einkorn flour. Eventually, after a week of feeding with einkorn flour with discarding (or using), your starter will be mostly einkorn.
• Einkorn absorbs less liquid than wheat flour, so you need to feed the starter a ratio of 1 to 1/2 flour to water. I generally feed my starter with 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water.
• I prefer to use all-purpose einkorn flour over whole wheat for making an einkorn sourdough starter. You can also use whole wheat einkorn, just use a little less flour.
• Your sourdough starter should be active and ready to use after about a week. However, let it mature for at least a couple more weeks before using it to make bread.
• Once your sourdough starter is active (after about 7 days), you can use the discard to make recipes instead of throwing it away.

Maintaining your Einkorn Starter

If you bake often, keep your sourdough starter on the kitchen counter and feed it twice a day. Otherwise, you can keep it in the refrigerator and pull it out when you’re ready to use it. I love storing my starter in this large glass container.

When you store it in the fridge, you can feed the starter once a week. When you’re planning to bake with it, just pull it out of the fridge and feed it 4-12 hours before using it. Storing it in the refrigerator slows down the fermentation process, reducing the amount of feeding required.

I use my starter almost daily to make sourdough bread, waffles, rolls, and sometimes pizza. Since I bake with it so often, I just keep it on my kitchen counter. However, if I know I’m not planning to use it for a few days, I pop it in the refrigerator so that I don’t unnecessarily feed it and use up flour.

Once your starter is well established, you don’t need to discard every time you feed it, as long as you’re using it regularly. For example, I no longer discard my starter when feeding because I make waffles on the weekends, which use two cups of starter. This naturally reduces the amount and prevents my starter from growing out of control.

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