A potato flake sourdough starter is a type of fermented sourdough starter that uses potato flakes and sugar to feed the yeast. The starter recipe is gluten- and dairy-free, which means it behaves differently from traditional sourdough or Amish Friendship Bread starters.
The potato flake starter is used to make loaves of soft, white bread and rolls. There’s also a wonderful cake recipe you can make from the starter. As with all sourdough starters, potato flake starters can be kept indefinitely if properly maintained (read the recipe post for maintenance tips).
Most of the recipes at the Friendship Bread Kitchen use 1 cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter, a flour-based sweet sourdough starter. Because potato flake starters are thinner and more watery than an AFB starter, you can’t use it as a 1-for-1 swap in recipes calling for 1 cup of AFB starter.
But you know me … I say, experiment! Take an AFB recipe and adjust the amount of flour and liquid to accommodate your runnier starter. It’ll take some tweaking, but it can be done, and then you’ll have more options available to you. Plus, the longer you have your starter, the better you’ll understand how it behaves in a recipe. I would reduce any other liquid in your recipe by 1/4 cup, and increase the flour by 1/4 cup, and then adjust from there.
Here are a few distinguishing traits of potato flake sourdough starters:
- ideal for making loaves of sandwich bread or rolls
- sweeter than a traditional sourdough starter
- more thin (runnier) than thick (when compared with traditional sourdough or AFB starters)
- will bubble from activity (but not as much as other starters)
- is stored primarily in the refrigerator rather than at room temperature on the counter
- not easy to “put on hold” if you want to take a short break
- not recommended for freezing (storage)
If you’re not sure about which starter to use, I recommend trying an Amish Friendship Bread starter first. They’re easy to make, more forgiving, and you can make so many different things from your 1 cup of the starter.
The Process in a Nutshell
If you’re going to start the whole process from scratch, here’s how you do it:
Day 1: Make your potato flake starter. Let it ferment at room temperature for two days.
Day 2: Stir.
Day 3: Stir.
Day 4: Feed your starter. Leave on the counter for 8-12 hours or overnight so the yeasts have a chance to eat through some of the food.
Day 5: Move your starter into the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Day 6: Do nothing (stirring optional)
Day 7: Do nothing (stirring optional)
Day 8: Remove one cup of starter to make the potato flake bread or cake. With the remaining starter, you can either discard, share with friends, or start the process over again by adding 3 tablespoons instant potato flakes, ½ cup sugar, 1 cup warm water to the existing starter (the existing starter should not be more than 2 cups — discard or bake with the excess before feeding). Leave on the counter for 8-12 hours or overnight. You are now back to Day 4.
Like all sourdough starters, there’s some science and art in maintaining your starter and baking with it. Every kitchen is different, and warmer kitchens yield different results from cooler kitchens. It’s also important to you feed your starter at the correct ratios, or the yeasts won’t be able to thrive.
Potato Flake Sourdough Recipes
Here are the potato flake recipes at the Friendship Bread Kitchen:
I have used potato flake starter for years. It uses flour, potato flakes, sugar and water. I have not had the same result as you. It produces a wonderfully light loaf more like store bread texture, a little heavier, but lovely light tangy flavor. I am in the process of starting it over again, almost have it back to what I want. To me, Friendship or Amish Friendship Bread is a sweet bread, and I wanted something that I could use for sandwiches too. So I adapted it by dropping the amount of sugar that the instructions I had told me to use. It took about 6 months to get a bread that I could use the way I wanted it, and most people like it a lot. It is not thin, and when working gets VERY active and frothy. I am using whole wheat flour now and it is slightly different than the all purpose white flour, but very workable. Not traditional sourdough by any means. LOL.
That sounds wonderful, Anne! The trick to any sourdough/fermented starter is that you have to tweak it for your kitchen and personal taste. Thanks so much for sharing this!
Anne, did you start with the traditional water, yeast, sugar, and potato flake starter? If so, how did you change it and how do you maintain it? Thank you.
Hi,
I need help please. I have been using the potato flake starter. I keep it in the fridge, use it every 5 days or so, Feed it, leave on counter 6-8 hours, refrigerate it and repeat.
However, I noticed when I use my starter (which there is normally only about a cup or so stored) I make bread according to the bread making recipe and I find the bread is dry and very dense. It has a great flavor, but it’s very hard to get the family to eat it because it isn’t pleasant. It is more “brick like” and tends to crumble when I cut it. What am I doing wrong? I would LOVE FEEDBACK as I’m getting ready to scrap the whole idea.
Thanks in advance!
Kris
Hi Kris! The end result should be fluffy, not crumbly and brick-like. So either your starter isn’t ready when you’re making the bread, or one of your ingredients isn’t fresh (just running through the options here), or you need to adapt the recipe and use less flour and more liquid (sometimes when we are kneading the bread, we add more flour to help with the stickiness but you just need to keep kneading), and spend a little more time kneading the dough until it springs back when you press into it. Try that and let me know if that works for you!
I was given a potato flake starter that had been cared for by a friend. She fed it the day she gave it to me. After leaving it out for the day, I put it in the fridge and didn’t touch it for over a week. I pulled it out today and fed it, but how do I know if it’s still good to use?
When you say “good to use” do you mean safe to consume or still active? Definitely requires feeding every 4-7 days. You would know it is still active by listening to it (my friendship potato starter doesn’t make big bubbles). If in doubt make a half recipe, so as to not be wasteful if it is not very active. Hopefully, it will be edible, even if it is very dense loaf.
Hi Joni! As long as you are properly maintaining it (feeding it on the right days at the correct ratios), and you’re not noticing anything strange (like discoloration or a weird, different smell), it’s most likely fine. You’ll feel more confident after you do a feeding and notice the bubbles. It takes a little time to get to know your starter, but after a couple of weeks, you’ll know how it behaves. Good luck!
I have had my AFB starter for about 3-4 cycles so it’s fresh and hearty but this cycle is on day 12. Can I continue as usual and make my bread today after feeding it and separating it into one cup measurements. I think it will be fine but I thought I’d ask.
Hi Chanda! Yes, you can definitely bake with your starter after feeding it! Happy baking!
I was just wondering if anyone had tried freezing the dough(not the starter) and at what stage you would do that(After first/second rise)? and the thawing instructions…
Thank you!
Do you have anymore recipes for this starter
Hi Linda! At the moment, we only have the bread and rolls recipe and the strawberry upside down cake recipe specifically for the potato flake starter. You are more than welcome to try the potato flake starter in recipes that call for the original Amish Friendship Bread starter, but it usually isn’t a 1:1 ratio so it will take some experimentation. We haven’t swapped this with a potato starter since we mostly use the Amish Friendship Bread starter, but others have said they swap the starters without a problem. You just want to make sure you use an active starter — your starter should be bubbly/foamy and not flat. Happy baking!
My brother just gave me a flour based starter. Can this be “converted” to the potato flakes starter?
Hi Rebecca! Because the base of these starters are different, we’d recommend just starting a potato flake starter from scratch. Here’s the recipe, if you’d like to try: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/potato-flake-starter-afb/ Happy baking!