1916 SAN FRANCISCO Sourdough Starter- passed down from my Great Grandfather who was a baker at Fisherman’s Wharf. Gift

Makes a great gift for anyone into baking :)
Read the full origin story below

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1916 SAN FRANCISCO Sourdough Starter- passed down from my great-grandfather who was a baker at Fisherman’s Wharf.

I’ve been a little hesitant to share our family sourdough starter aka Sofia but my wife finally convinced me to share it with the world. I think my great-grandfather would’ve wanted Sofia to be shared as well.

Sofia (our family sourdough starter) - has been passed down from my great-grandfather to my grandfather to my father and now to me.

I will give you guys a shorter version of the story to keep it from being too long.

Here is “Sofias” origin story told to me by my father.

My great-grandfather Antonio, who is originally from Sicily Italy, migrated to New York when he was 10 with my great-great-grandfather, great-great-grandmother and siblings in the very early 1900s. They lived in New York for about 10 years where my great-great-grandfather worked construction on bridges. Around 1910 they migrated west to San Francisco where my great-great and great-grandfather worked as fisherman at fisherman’s wharf. They worked as deckhands. Around 1916 my great-grandfather Antonio quit working as a deckhand and started working as a baker. This is where he acquired our family sourdough starter. He named the sourdough starter after his wife “Sofia”. Since then “Sofia” has been passed down to my grandfather Marco and then to my father Anthony and now to me. Sofia has been in our family ever since.

The original jar the sourdough starter was kept in is still in our family. This jar is also a family heirloom and has been passed down for generations along with this story. It still has the date 1916 and Sofia carved on the top . That’s when Sofia was started.

Sofia is very active and makes very good sourdough breads, sourdough French breads, sourdough brioche breads and many other delicious sourdough baked goods with a very lovely flavor.

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———DRY STARTER Activation Instruction————--
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THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE FOR THE DRY STARTER.

YOU CAN FIND INSTRUCTIONS FOR BOTH DRY AND LIQUID ON MY SITE.

The best way to start and maintain your sourdough starter is to measure starter, flour, and water by weight, rather than volume. I would recommend buying a scale that can accurately measure grams. I’ve included both volume and weight in the instructions.

Directions for 12 grams sourdough Starter pack

Day 1

1. Grab a clean 16oz jar with a non airtight lid
2 . Add 28 grams ( 2 tbs) luke warm filtered water to the jar. Pour 1 bag (14 grams) of the starter and stir to partially dissolve the starter in the water. Let it rest for about 20 minutes to help the starter dissolve.
3. Add 14 grams (2 tbs ) unbleached all purpose + 3 grams (1/2 tbs) whole wheat flour ( whole wheat will speed up the process but it is not necessary)( I prefer King Arthur ). You can use any unbleached all purpose flour.
4. Stir all the contents together thoroughly.
5. Place a non airtight lid on the jar and let it sit at room temp ( 70- 74 degrees Fahrenheit)

DAY 2

If your starter is already doubling at this point skip to day 4. If not than continue following instructions below.
* Without discarding any of what is in the jar, stir in 10 g ( 1 heaping TBS ) of flour and 10 g (2 TSP) of filtered water.

DAY 3
If your starter is already doubling at this point skip to day 4. If not than continue following instructions below.
You may begin to see signs of activity at this point such as small bubbles and a slightly sour aroma. 
* Without discarding any of what is in the jar, stir in 10 g ( 1 heaping TBS ) of flour and 10 g (2 TSP) of filtered water.

DAY 4
You should see clear signs of activity at this point. The starter will have risen since the last feeding and you will see bubbles.  

* Discard all but 25 g (1 TBS) of the starter.
* To the 25 g (1 TBS) of starter add 50g (3.5 TBS) of water and 50 g (6.5 TBS) of flour.

DAY 5
Your starter should be very active at this point. It will have doubled in size, be very bubbly, and smell sweet with just a hint of sourness. By Day 5 or less your starter will be very active. The time it takes to peak will have shortened from the previous days.

IN THE AM
* Discard all but 25 g ( 1 TBS) of the starter.
* To the 25 g (1 TBS ) of starter, add 60g ( 4 TBS) of filtered Luke warm water and 60g (8 TBS ) of flour.

IN THE PM
* Check your starter around the 7-hour mark. If it has close to tripled in size, then repeat the same feeding as you did in the AM. If it has not yet peaked, let it go another hour or two before checking again.
* At this point, your starter should be active enough to bake with.

DAY 6
The starter should be fully active at this point.


From here you can either keep you starter on the kitchen counter and feed it once or twice daily or you can stick it in the fridge and feed it once a week.

If your baking sourdough more than once a week I would recommend keeping it on the counter. If you bake only once a week or less than I recommend putting your starter in the fridge and feeding it once per week.

You can use the same feeding regimen above for the re-feeding. Discarding all but 30 grams of the starter. Adding 80 grams of filtered water. Then adding 80 grams of all purpose flour or 60 all purpose and 20 whole wheat. Let it double before putting it back into the fridge.