Grating An Apple Into Your Sourdough Starter Can Make Your Loaves Taller And More Delicious

I’ve just about managed to get a new sourdough starter to bubbling good health, and have been amazed by how simple the process is.

All you need is water, flour, and time (as well as the ability to handle that day-three stench). 

But just because it can be that easy, it doesn’t mean it always is. For instance, Paul Hollywood grates an organic Cox apple into his – and he’s not the only expert to recommend the method.

Here’s why that’s a great (or should I say... grate? Sorry!) idea. 

Why should I grate an apple into my sourdough starter? 

Of course, the step is completely optional. But given that sourdough starters are used for their wild yeasts and “good” bacteria, the addition makes sense. 

A 2016 paper found that the addition of flowers, fruit, and berries to “mother” sourdough levains can stabilise the bacteria in the mixture quickly. 

That’s important because in lots of ways, the formation of a strong starter is a kind of battle between “good” and “bad” bacteria.

That benefit was seen with all kinds of plant matter.

But only starters made with apple flowers (blossoms from an apple tree) or apple pulp contained multiple species of a bacterium called Acetobacter, which might make softer, taller, more flavourful loaves.

Shocker: bread legend Paul Hollywood knows what he’s doing. 

How can I make a sourdough starter with apple? 

Paul Hollywood grates one apple, skin-on – ” I like to use a Cox, but any organic apple will do” – into 1kg flour and 360ml water. 

He recommends using organic kinds as too many chemicals might mean ”the starter may not ferment”. If the study we mentioned earlier is anything to go by, apple flowers should work too.

Mix those together and cover them in an airtight container (without touching them) for three days before your first feed.

Then, keep discarding some of the starter daily and adding flour and water to feed until it doubles in size consistently. I usually wait ’til it’s performed well three days in a row before I put mine in the fridge; I then feed it twice a week, once the day before use and once the day of. 

If you use it more often, Hollywood says, keep it on the counter and feed it every three days.