How to start your own Sour Starter or Masa Madre at Home - Sandy La Pastelera (2024)

What you need to know before you start making your own Masa Madre at home? – You need to be able to make bread at least once a week. – You need to consider that having your own Masa Madre requires time and effort because it´s alive and If you don´t feed her it will die. – You need to have a calendar so you can remember when to feed your Masa Madre. – It is important to be constant at the moment of feeding your Masa Madre.

Benefits on having your own Masa Madre – It can least for generations as long as you keep it in good conditions. – You will have the pleasure to have an specific result when you make your own bread. – No need to use yeast to make bread. You are going to use your own Masa Madre. – Have a different result on your sourdough bread. It will be more tasty and rich in flavor.

Are you ready? First thing first you need to choose what kind of flour you want to use. There is a few options: Whole Rye Flour, Brown Flour, Bread Flour. It is important that you use a good quality Flour to have a better result in your Masa Madre.

Day 1: Initial Mix Ingredients: Whole Rye Flour 250 gr Water 250 gr Total: 500 gr Process: Add the flour and water to a bowl, mix both ingredients and cover the bowl. Stand in a warm area around 24 °C to 27 °C for 24 hours.

Day 2: Ingredients: Initial Mix 125 gr Whole Rye Flour 125 gr Water 125 gr Total 375 gr Process: Weigh 125 gr of your Initial Mix, add water and flour and mix it until is all combine. Cover your bowl and stand in a warm area around 24 °C to 27 °C for 24 hours.

Day 3,4,5,6,7,8 Feeding your Sour Starter or Masa Madre Ingredients: Initial mix 125 gr Whole Rye Flour 125 gr Water 125 gr Total 375 gr Process: You have to weigh 125 gr of your previous mix and mix the rest of ingredients in a bowl, cover and stand in a warm area around 24 °C to 27 °C Feed every 12 hours. Every 12 hours you need to take 125 gr of the previous mix and keep adding 125 gr of water and 125 gr of flour.

Starter or Masa Madre Maintenance and Storage

Let´s say that your baking day is Sunday, you need to remove a portion or your masa madre to make the bread of the week. After you remove a portion or your masa madre you will need to feed the Masa Madre and leave it in a warm area to rise for the whole day. At the end of the day you are going to put your Masa Madre in the fridge. After two days on Wednesday you need to feed your Masa Madre, so you will need to repeat the process, take a portion or your Masa Madre use this portion to make pancakes instead of throwing it away. Click here to learn how to make pancakes using your Masa Madre. Feed your masa madre with 125 gr of whole rye flour and 125 gr of water, mix it all together and leave it to rise in a warm area around 24 °C to 27 °C for the whole day and put it back in the fridge at night to storage. On Friday feed your Masa Madre repeating the process that I show you before. On Saturday feed your Masa Madre at night repeating the same process, so you have enough Masa Madre to bake your bread on Sunday.

Keep in mind – Your Masa Madre will have a slightly fermented smell similar to the smell of beer. Don´t worry that is normal.

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