Bakers often compare them the beginning of sourdough to a pet. They give it a cute name (“Doughy Parton”), express displeasure about feeding schedules and boast about a bond that's strengthened over time.
Getting a sourdough starter takes years – sometimes decades! — old evokes a sense of accomplishment and pride, and some bakers like to share their original origin stories. But does an old beginner really make better bread?
For most bakers, the answer is a resounding no.
Maurizio Leoaward-winning cookbook author perfect bread, still runs the first engine he ever made; now he is 12 years old. And while he's sentimental about that starter, he says his age doesn't really affect his bread. The power of flour AUTHOR Tara Jensen agrees; she points out that your beginner's health is more important than their age. “When it comes to the performance of the starter in the batter, I prefer to use a starter that is a few weeks old and well stored rather than an old starter that has been neglected,” she says.
King Arthur the baker Martin Philip puts it more bluntly: “Starting age is irrelevant to me.” He adds, “Once the engine reaches a state of stasis and relative reliability, I don't care if it's an eight or an 80. I just want to do things with it.”
Photography by Danielle Sykes; food styling by Liz Neily
It is worth taking a closer look at the very beginning of sourdough and how it evolves over time. It's a bit like The Ship of Theseus, the philosophical thought experiment that asks whether an object is technically the same object after all its original components have been replaced. The same principle is at play for sourdough starters—because the starter is constantly replaced with new doses of flour and water to feed the thriving community of microbes it contains, it doesn't stay stagnant. Instead, “starters tend to evolve with you and your eating practices,” explains Baker's hotline member and sourdough specialist. Barb Alpern.
like Jennifer Lathamauthor of Baking bread with children and the former lead baker at Tartine, shares: “At Tartine I was taught that the age or origin of your starter didn't really matter because it would always adapt to the conditions it was being fed.” So basically, if you have a starter that's ten years old, it doesn't matter what it was like a decade ago, or even a few years ago. What will affect your bread the most is how your engine thrives in the conditions it's currently in (and of course, how well you its nutrition and maintenance).
However, that doesn't mean you can't retain some features of a beginner. Jennifer tells how Thomas Teffri-Chambelland, a former microbiologist and author of Sourdough Panettone and Viennoiserie, gave her a starter that contained a specific microbe needed for panettone dough (which needs a specialized environment because it's high in fat and sugar and low in water). He told her that as long as she fed it the proper regimen of very dry food and sugar water baths, she could keep this microbe in its infancy by maintaining an environment in which it thrives and has an advantage over most other flora that may have been introduced. Jennifer theorizes that “if you collect a certain microbe and keep it alive through feeding, it probably won't die out just because new microbes come in.” As she opined, “I wonder if some of the anecdotal evidence of older starters having better taste or baking ability comes from greater biodiversity in them.”
Danielle Sykes
Jennifer likes to expose her rookie to new environments in hopes of introducing “something new and fun,” as she puts it. She travels on her motorcycle and always leaves the hood cracked in new places, from Big Sur to Sebastopol, California, to let new germs wander in. Maurizio does something similar: “Over the years, I've integrated parts from other bakers.” starters from all over the world in mine. It's a way to introduce new microbes, speed up evolution, and get the strongest possible starter!”
This approach reflects the deeply personal relationship many bakers have with their starter—just as they do with their pet. “My starter has been with me through countless bakes and many life changes,” recalls Maurizio. Tara adds, “I think origin stories are important, and often the narratives we tell about our own coming of age include other stories about family, friends, and the places we love. … It's a beautiful thing for something to trend for 20, 50, 100 years.”
Here in King Arthur, ours Classic Fresh Sourdough Starter is descended from one that has been lovingly nurtured in New England for decades. Once you nurture and maintain it in your home, it will eventually adapt to your region and climate, becoming uniquely yours. At the same time, however, you may know that thousands of bakers before you – including many of us at King Arthur! – you made wonderful sourdough bread with some of the same starter.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
While beginner's age won't make your bread better—it turns out, only good sourdough practices can do that—it's a link in the long legacy of sourdough, one of the oldest forms of baking that exists. Whether your beginner is a week old or a decade old, you can become part of this line too.
Get baking with more essential sourdough knowledge:
