Sorghum flour is one of my favorite gluten-free flour types for a sourdough starter. In this post, I will take you step-by-step on how to make a sorghum sourdough starter at home within 2 weeks!
I already have shared my guide on brown rice sourdough starter and millet flour starter so you can refer to those posts if you don't want to use sorghum.
I primarily use my starter to make gluten-free sourdough bread and occasionally I make gluten-free sourdough cinnamon rolls or gluten-free sourdough dinner rolls that taste delicious!
When it comes to using the starter discard, I especially enjoy making these gluten-free pancakes with sourdough, and gluten-free sourdough cookies.
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Ingredients
See the recipe card at the end of the post for quantities.
- Sorghum flour - note that sorghum flour is a separate type of gluten-free flour, it is not the same as millet or amaranth flour.
- Water - I always use tap water, but if yours is high in chlorine, you might need to use bottled water instead.
Substitutions
If you don't want to use sorghum flour, you can use either brown rice flour (not white rice), buckwheat flour, millet flour, or teff flour.
You can even use a combination of two different types of flour.
Note that the amount of water will vary depending on the type of flour you use!
Instructions
On day 1 mix 20g of sorghum flour and 20g of water in a glass jar. You can use any kind of utensil for stirring.
Cover the glass jar with a loosely attached lid or cheesecloth fixed with a rubber band (keeps bugs out better) and let it sit for 24 hours.
Keep the jar at room temperature or in a warm spot away from direct sunlight and food sources.
On day 2 check your starter for activity. If you don't see any bubbles, stir the mixture, cover it, and let it sit for another 24 hours.
If you start seeing bubbles on day 2, proceed to the next step!
Best temperature for sourdough
The starters thrive at 75-82F (24-28C). If it is significantly colder or warmer, your starter might take longer to activate.
On day 3 you should start seeing activity in your starter.
Today we will add 20g of sorghum flour and 20g of water to the jar, stir, cover, and let it sit for another 24 hours.
On day 4 we will start discarding some of the starter.
Take a clean jar and add 10g of the starter to it, discarding the rest. It is best to throw away any starter that's younger than 7 days just to be safe.
Add 20g of sorghum flour and 20g of water to the jar, mix, cover, and let it sit for another 24 hours.
On day 5 we will again discard everything but about 20g of starter.
Only this time we will add 40g of flour and 40g of water to it. We are giving our bacteria more food at once instead of feeding it twice a day (saves time!).
Mix and cover your starter and let it sit for another 24 hours.
From now on, you will keep repeating the previous step until your starter is ready to bake with!
Keep mixing 10-20g of starter with 40g of flour and 40g of water daily.
You can start collecting the starter discard from day 7 and use it in gluten-free starter discard recipes.
Once the starter is mature, you can either keep feeding it daily or keep it in the refrigerator and feed it once a week.
Tip!
Make sure to switch the jar to a clean one once a week to prevent mold growth!
The bread I make with my starter!
Troubleshooting & Tips
If your starter grew mold - you need to start over. Sometimes if your starter is close to food sources or if you used a dirty spoon to mix it might grow mold in which case you need to throw away the whole thing!
The top of the starter is slightly discolored - it is a normal thing to have your starter change its color on top, no need to worry unless you see mold patches!
My starter is pink - if you use buckwheat flour, your starter might look pink-ish. My sorghum starter also looked slightly pink sometimes which is a normal part of the process.
Water on top - the water is called hooch and is a sign of your starter being hungry. Sometimes the water layer will show up right after you fed the starter which is normal and will go away later on.
A water layer in the middle of the starter - this is a sign that your starter has passed its peak activity and is deflating. No reason to worry!
More resources
For more troubleshooting and information on gluten-free sourdough starters check out this Gluten-Free Starter Workshop recording!
FAQ
No, gluten-free starters rarely double in size. There is no need to try and get your starter to double or triple, it will still work great in bread!
The only way you can ruin a starter is if you heat it up too much. It can happen if you forget your starter in the oven or leave it on a working radiator. If your starter is not showing bubbles, it doesn't yet mean it is ruined.
What to make with sorghum starter
Here are some of my favorite gluten-free sourdough recipes!
What to make with starter discard
These are my favorite recipes to make with my discard I keep in the refrigerator!
Sorghum Sourdough Starter (Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- sorghum flour, not millet or amaranth, those are different
- water, I am using tap water
SAVE THIS RECIPE!💌
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Instructions
- On day 1 mix 20g of sorghum flour and 20g of water in a glass jar. You can use any kind of utensil for stirring.Cover the glass jar with a loosely attached lid or cheesecloth fixed with a rubber band (keeps bugs out better) and let it sit for 24 hours. Keep the jar at room temperature or in a warm spot away from direct sunlight and food sources.
- On day 2 check your starter for activity. If you don't see any bubbles, stir the mixture, cover it, and let it sit for another 24 hours.If you start seeing bubbles on day 2, proceed to the next step!
- On day 3 you should start seeing activity in your starter.Today we will add 20g of sorghum flour and 20g of water to the jar, stir, cover, and let it sit for another 24 hours.We will not discard anything today.
- On day 4 we will start discarding some of the starter.Take a clean jar and add 10g of your 4 days old starter to it, discarding the rest. It is best to throw away any starter that's younger than 7 days just to be safe. Add 20g of sorghum flour and 20g of water to the jar, mix, cover, and let it sit for another 24 hours.
- On day 5 we will again discard everything but about 20g of starter. You don't have to be precise, eyeballing is fine. This time we will add 40g of flour and 40g of water to it. We are giving our bacteria more food at once instead of feeding it twice a day (saves time!). Mix and cover your starter and let it sit for another 24 hours.
- From now on, you will keep repeating the previous step every 24 hours until your starter is ready to bake with!Keep mixing 10-20g of starter with 40g of flour and 40g of water daily. You can start collecting the starter discard from day 7 and use it in gluten-free starter discard recipes. The starter will keep in the refrigerator for about 1 month.
- Once the starter is mature, you can either keep feeding it daily or keep it in the refrigerator and feed it once a week. If your starter grows mold, you will need to start over, otherwise, it will keep forever!
Wendy Taylor says
This is excellent! The detail and pictures you include are wonderfully helpful. I’ve always questioned whether I’m doing it right b/c while my starter grows, it doesn’t double. Does the same process / advice apply to a Cassava flour sourdough starter too or should I follow a different process with different expectations (re: rise / water amount / consistency)? Thank you!
Wendy says
This is wonderful- I mostly use a sorghum starter and wasn’t sure I was doing it right … especially because it doesn’t double in size…. this is so helpful!
Thank you! p.s. I love your discard recipe for pancakes
Natasha says
This is a great guide for those who struggle to get their starter going!
Hannah Rehak says
Hello! I'm a little bit confused, and I apologize if I missed this information in your post! if we are always reducing our starter to 20 G everyday and then feeding it, how will I ever have enough starter for sourdough recipes? Do I just amass the discard and use that? also, for the discard, do you just have one jar in the fridge that you add to, or do you use different jars? You said your discard only lasts about a month in the fridge, but if I'm consistently topping it up, then I imagine it would be hard to know how old it is? Thank you so much for your time, and for developing this recipe for us to use!!
Natasha Levai says
Hi Hannah! When you need to bake bread, add more flour and water to your starter during a feed. Let's say I want to bake tomorrow morning, so tonight I will add 50g water and 50g flour to my starter and mix. Tomorrow I will have over 100g of starter ready to go! Add as much flour and water as necessary to make the recipe. You can't add "too much" in this case! Even if you add 200g flour and water, it will still work fine, only the starter will take longer to fully ferment.