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Making a Sourdough Starter

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Here you'll find easy step by step instructions on how to make a sourdough starter. You'll find notes on what to do each day, as well as the type of flour to use and a handy troubleshooting guide - all essential in making a sourdough starter.

In order to bake sourdough bread successfully, you need to create your own sourdough starter, a bubbly best friend if you will.

A sourdough starter is basically a collection of wild yeast and bacteria. The most amazing part is that every single sourdough starter will be unique in its own way because it is dependent on many environmental factors unique to your home. You can read more about how a sourdough starter works here.

I've set out how to make a sourdough starter in 7 easy daily steps. You can read through them at the end of this blog in step by step format.

Can I Bake With My Starter After 7 Days?

Now just a note - while 7 days is really all it takes to create a viable sourdough starter, your starter will need additional time until it's ready to bake with.

It is really dependent on your own home environment, temperature etc. Don't be disheartened! You can still bake with it, but you will find that your loaves improve over time as your starter matures.

Most people find their starter is "active" after about 14 days - but some can take a few months.

While you're waiting for your sourdough starter to mature and become active - this is a great "discard loaf" recipe you could bake in under 2 hours (remember your starter must be at least 7 days old before you can use the discard).

What Flour Should I Use for My Sourdough Starter

You can really use any type of plain, non raising flour made from a grain that you like. Do not use self raising flour or bleached flour of any kind.

I have successfully created sourdough starters with plain flour (all purpose flour), bread flour and wholemeal spelt flour. I've also milled my own whole wheat berries and started a super active starter from this.

Your starter will gather yeast not only from the environment, but also from the bacteria on the flour. Whole flours will have more of the "good stuff" on them, so will generally take off sooner. You can read more about where the yeast in sourdough starter comes from here.

A little rye flour added to your plain or bread flour will often help to get your starter bubbling sooner. It's like superfood for your sourdough starter!

Troubleshooting Your Sourdough Starter

While you are growing or developing your sourdough starter, you may have some issues or questions that arise.

Here are the most common questions that I get asked about sourdough starters (you can also find an even more comprehensive list of questions about sourdough starters here).

  • Liquid forming in or on top of your starter - sometimes you may get some dark liquid forming on top of or in the middle of your starter. It's called hooch and is perfectly normal. Just pour it off if you can - or mix it back in - and feed as per normal. You'll find that your starter develops hooch when it is hungry. I've written a guide to preventing hooch in your sourdough starter here.
  • My starter smells like nail polish remover - again it's perfectly normal, it's just hungry, so feed, feed, feed.
  • My starter isn't bubbling like the first few days - sometimes starters start out strong and then taper off a little between days 3-7. It's ok and may just be that the good bacteria is taking a little longer to win. Just keep feeding it consistently and you should see some action. Even if it's not really doing anything, the yeast will still need to be fed.
  • How do I keep my starter warm - it's not totally essential to keep it warm, it will still work - it will just take a lot longer in a colder environment. Some ideas to keep your starter warm are inside the oven with the light on, next to the kettle, inside an Eziyo yoghurt maker or in a cupboard next to your oven. You'll find a full guide to keeping your sourdough starter warm here.
  • Fruit Flies in my starter - your sourdough starter may attract fruit flies. They might have already been in your kitchen or they've heard there's new food! You'll find a full guide to dealing with fruit flies in sourdough here.
  • Why is my sourdough starter forming a skin? - sometimes you'll find that your sourdough starter develops a crust or skin. It's totally ok and just means that it's getting a bit too dry on top. Try covering your sourdough starter with a jar lid that's not screwed on. Just scrape the skin off and feed as per normal.
  • My starter has grown mould - if your starter develops anything pink or orange or furry, it's definitely time to ditch it and start again. Make sure that your jar is clean. If the mould happens a few times, consider using a different flour as sometimes the mould spores come from the flour and not the environment.
  • Can I feed my starter with different flour? - If you run out of the type of flour you started with, it's ok to feed it with a different flour. If you just feed it once and then go back to the type you started with you shouldn't have any issues. If you are swapping the type of flour for all subsequent feeds then your starter may go through an adjustment stage as the levels of bacteria and yeast get used to their new food.
  • Can I cook with my discard straight way - no, you need to wait at least 7 days before you use your sourdough discard. It's not recommended to keep your sourdough discard before this time. When you're ready to start using your discard, you'll find lots of uses and recipes for sourdough discard here.
  • What water to feed my sourdough starter with? - water quality is extremely important to a sourdough starter. You should avoid many types of water including distilled and reverse osmosis. You can find a full guide to the water you should use for your starter here.

How Do I Know When My Starter Is Ready to Bake With?

Sourdough starters can start to be ready to bake with from around 7 days, however it's very unusual for a starter to be active enough at that stage.

I would generally say 14 days MINIMUM before you try and bake with yours.

That doesn’t mean you can’t try to bake with it before that, however, the longer it matures, the stronger and more active it will be. It will also become more resilient, meaning it’s much harder to kill and will be around a long time.

You will be able to tell if it's ready to bake by observing some of it's characteristics - you'll find more about these characteristics here. I don't recommend relying on the float test to check whether your starter is ready.

A mature sourdough starter will have lots of unique characteristics - it will look quite spongy and aerated.

What To Do If Your Sourdough Starter Isn't Ready to Bake With:

  • Continue to feed your starter twice a day for a few days until it’s consistently rising and falling - and it passes the float test. Remember that every starter will be different. It could take 14 days, it could take 28 days.
  • If you need a break pop it in the fridge for a few days. When you’re ready, take it out and start feeding it twice a day again for a few days. I generally don't recommend keeping an immature starter in the fridge, however if you need a break or you're going away, this is an option.
  • If you live in a cooler climate you might only need to feed once a day. Check to see when your starter is actually hungry (it will fall and be smelly).

Can I Use Gluten Free Flour To Create a Sourdough Starter?

Yes, gluten free flour will work to create a sourdough starter. You may have to play with the ratios, but you most certainly can create and bake successful sourdough with gluten free flour.

Hydration of Your Sourdough Starter

The instructions for this sourdough starter use equal amounts of flour and water to achieve a 100% hydration level for your starter. Majority of recipes (and all of my recipes) use a 100% starter.

As long as you always feed your starter equal amounts of flour and water, it will be at 100%. Even if you only have 20g of starter, and you feed it 50g of water and 50g of flour, you'll still have a 100% hydration starter.

When you are feeding your starter, you just need to make sure you always feed it more than it weighs itself. For example if you have 50g of starter in your jar, you'd want to feed it at least 50g of water and 50g of flour (a total of 100g) to make sure it has enough food.

Generally, the rule is 1:1:1 so 1 part starter, 1 part flour, 1 part water. But as long as you feed the starter more than it weighs, it will thrive. You can learn more about sourdough starter ratios here.

A lot of the time when a sourdough starter isn't doubling consistently, it's because it's not being fed enough, so always remember the 1:1:1 ratio.

A pasta madre is a good option if you want to build a lower hydration sourdough starter.

Changing Jars

If you’d like to put your starter into a clean jar then the easiest way to do it is when you feed it. Take out half of your starter, place in a clean jar and feed the starter in the clean jar as normal. Creating less mess with your sourdough starter is always a good thing.

You can either use the discard in the old jar or just wash out and have a clean jar ready for next time. It’s a good idea to transfer to a clean jar when the rim of your old jar gets really built up but you don't have to clean your sourdough starter jar as much as you think. If you’re feeding everyday, change your jar at least once a week.

You'll find my guide to the best jar for sourdough starter here and the best way to cover your sourdough starter here.

Storing Your Sourdough Starter

Once your sourdough starter is viable, it's a great idea to dry some of it out to ensure you never have to start again. Dehydrated sourdough starter is your insurance policy to never having to start again.

You can also find instructions for how and when to move your sourdough starter to the fridge and how to reactivate a dried sourdough starter, as well as how to maintain your sourdough starter once it's mature.

A Note on Measurements

I have provided the measurements for this starter in grams because it is easier to ensure accuracy (although sourdough starters are very forgiving and can tolerate eyeball measurements - as long as you're feeding your starter more than it weighs).

Many people come to my Facebook Group asking for help with their sourdough starter - and often the problem is that they are measuring using volume rather than weight.

Once they start weighing their ingredients accurately, their starters develop quickly and rarely have issues.

The benefits of weighing your sourdough ingredients vs using volume measurements cannot be ignored.

So let's get started and create you a super active sourdough starter so you can start baking as soon as possible!

More Information About Sourdough Starters

You might find the following topics and articles interesting as you embark on your journey to building a thriving sourdough starter:

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Making a sourdough starter

Sourdough Starter Instructions

Make a sourdough starter today - all you need is flour, water and time. Bake your own sourdough bread from home with no special equipment.
4.45 from 89 votes
Total Time 14 days
Servings 50 Grams of Starter
Calories 4 kcal
Making a sourdough starter
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Equipment

  • Clean Jar
  • Digital Scales
  • Silicone Spatula

Ingredients  

  • 50 g Flour Bread, All Purpose, Rye, Whole Wheat - whatever you'd prefer
  • 50 g Water Filtered

Instructions 

  • DAY 1:
    All you need for today is 50g of water and 50g of flour plus a clean jar.
    Mix the water & flour together in the jar, pop the lid on loosely (or a piece of paper towel & elastic band). Place the starter somewhere warm for the next 24 hrs.
    If your house is cold, pop it near the kettle or oven to keep it warm.
  • DAY 2:
    Once your starter is 24 hours old, you need to check on it and give it a good stir.
    You do not need to add anything today - just get some oxygen into your mixture and then recover and pop aside for another 24 hours.
    Your starter may already have some bubbles forming - this is a great sign. But it's also totally fine if it's not doing anything. Time is everything! Make sure it’s in a warm spot - you can find some ideas here.
  • DAY 3:
    On day 3 remove half of your starter and then add 50g of flour and 50g of water to the remaining 50g of starter in your jar.
    Mix it together with the end of a wooden spoon, being sure to get lots of oxygen into your mixture. Replace the cover and pop it away until tomorrow.
    See notes below for more info on using a clean jar vs same jar.
    Don’t worry if you keep checking it - it’s completely normal  It’s good to notice how it changes in shape, size and smell over the 24 hours.
    At this stage it's completely normal for it to smell really bad and to have developed a layer of liquid on top (this is called hooch). It might look like the water has separated from the flour but it's just telling you that it's hungry. Stir the hooch in when you feed your starter. It's also quite normal for it to double in size. Keep going - it will be fine 
  • DAY 4:
    Step 4 is to feed your starter in the same way as you did yesterday. Remove 100g of your starter and then add 50g of flour and 50g of water to the remaining 50g of starter in your jar. Mix it all together with the end of a wooden spoon. Replace the cover.
    You’ll need to do this twice today, around 12 hours apart. While your starter will be fairly forgiving, set a reminder on your phone if you think you’ll forget  it’s just like having a pet.
  • DAY 5:
    Step 5 is to feed your starter in the same way as you did yesterday. Remove 100g of your starter and then add 50g of flour and 50g of water to the remaining 50g of starter in your jar. Mix it all together with the end of a wooden spoon. Replace the cover.
    You’ll need to do this twice today, around 12 hours apart.
    It's a good idea at this stage to pop an elastic band around the jar you are using. Put the elastic band at the level of your starter when you feed it. This helps you to be able to see how far your starter is rising when it peaks.
  • DAY 6:
    Step 6 is to feed your starter in the same way as you did yesterday. Remove 100g of your starter and then add 50g of flour and 50g of water to the remaining 50g of starter in your jar. Mix it all together with the end of a wooden spoon. Replace the cover.
    You’ll need to do this twice today, around 12 hours apart.
  • DAY 7:
    YAY! Your sourdough starter is a whole week old. Keep feeding twice a day as you have been for at least 14 days.
    Now I know you want to get to baking bread … but just remember that the most important thing about this whole process is time. Your starter might be ready, but chances are it will need a bit longer to mature - generally 14 days.
    You need to keep feeding your starter the same way as you have been, twice a day (discarding before you feed) until it's consistently doubling within around 2-6 hours after you've fed it. Once it's consistently doubling after every feed you can try and bake with it. Your starter will keep maturing as you use it.
    For more information on how to know when your starter is ready, go here.

Notes

Method of Feeding - Clean Jar vs Same Jar:
It's up to you how you want to feed your starter - you can just pour half out and then put the flour and water directly into the same jar (you can clean the sides and rim with a silicone spatula). This will not be super accurate and may mean your starter takes longer to build - but it will still work!
You could also weigh the jar with starter in it, then remove 50g from there (keeping your starter in the same jar).
Alternatively you can place 50g of your starter into a clean jar and feed into that so you have a clean jar each time.
You'll find my guide to the best jar for sourdough starter here.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 4kcal Carbohydrates: 1g Protein: 1g Fat: 1g Saturated Fat: 1g Sodium: 1mg Potassium: 1mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 1g Calcium: 1mg Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Share your creation with us @ThePantryMama or tag #thepantrymama!

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4.45 from 89 votes (77 ratings without comment)

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107 Comments

  1. Can’t wait to start my starter. Please post more starter ideas and ways to use starter, what to do with starter hats thrown out.

    Reply

        1. No you can't use self rising flour as that has leavening agents and salt in it. Plain flour is best 🙂

          Reply

    2. Ok I got distracted and forgot to throw out half before adding flour and water. Now what?🤷‍♀️😰

      Reply

        1. Hi guys. Brand spanking new to this. But my gf sent me home with my glorious loaf of discard and the recipe. Question: What do I do with the discard day after day? Do I toss it? Do I add the discard each day to the same jar??

          Reply

        3. I did same thing, been feeding for five days now have huge amounts because it increased each day what I feed it 🤦‍♀️
          Was I supposed to throw away half each day? That seems like a lot of waste?

          Reply

    3. Hi! This is my second go at getting a started up and running and I really wanted to use white whole wheat! I’m on day 6, but still not rising and falling. Do I just need to be patient and wait?! I don’t really want to use white, but will if I need to! Thanks

      Reply

  3. Great advice ,great learning thank you very much
    Is there a possibility to print your literature so I may laminate and put in my recipe file for easy reference ...

    Reply

    1. Hi Andrew - you should be able to print out each recipe by clicking on the "print" button. Otherwise it will depend on your web browser as to how you'd print it out. However, I will have some e-books being released soon, so that will be an easy way for you to print out all of the information 🙂

      Reply

  4. We have a really active starter & after bulk fermentation our sourdough doesn’t double in size ( 24hrs in fridge)
    Baking the SD does give some oven spring but the bread is dense. What are we doing wrong? We stretch & fold hourly in a time frame of 3hrs.
    Thank you
    Usha

    Reply

      1. So I’m on day 4, I accidentally added 60 g flour. I then went on to add 60g water to
        Keep it equal, but still managed to accidentally add more like 70g (honestly what is wrong with me) so I added the extra flour in again to make it equal. Will it be ok or should I start from scratch?? Thanks

        Reply

  5. Hi, I'm on day 6 of my starter and am wondering when it will start rising? It has a lot of good bubbles, but no rise so far. Also, at what point can I begin to use my discard? Thank you for your help!

    Reply

    1. It can take anywhere from 2 days to 2 months for it to start rising - it depends on the flour you use, the temp in your home, even the water. You can use your discard from around day 7 🙂

      Reply

  6. I have tried making three starters after accidentally killing one that my friend gave me (it got pushed to the back of the fridge, whoops). I tried one recipe from another website, and it failed. So I tried the recipe from the book Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish. Despite feeding it 500g (yes, 500g) of whole wheat flour a day, it failed. Though I still am trying to make it work because I feel like I have invested so much (flour) into it. Low and behold, someone on instagram posted your link and I decided, for only 50g of flour a day, this was worth trying. And it has been! I am 10 days in and have a starter that is active, doubling after just a couple hours, rising easily and all with only 50g of flour a day. I also haven't been perfect with feeding it twice a day, but still it persists! I made a beautiful loaf of sourdough today by following your directions exactly and I'm thrilled! Thank you for making this so simple, for laying it out easily, and for not requiring me to use half a bag of flour for every feeding, haha!

    Reply

    1. Once your starter is mature, you don't need to discard per se - the amount you remove from the jar to bake serves as your discard. This post will explain things further x

      Reply

  8. Thanks for the very understandable explanation. I've just been going by guess- and -by-gosh. My present starter has a really nice flavor, but I'm having trouble getting it to "blow up" the dough. Part of it, I know, is that my house doesn't get above 70F during the winter, but, my crumb is fairly dense and the crust is quite robust. Using hand ground whole wheat, I knew texture was going to be an issue but I'd like to lighten it up a bit.

    Reply

  9. Once the starter is ready to bake with. Do you use all of the starter or some of it and keep on feeding what’s left for your next loaf?

    Reply

  11. Thank you so much!!!! Once it’s mature, do I still need to feed it every 12 hours or can I cut back to once a day?

    Reply

  12. Hi there! I’m on about day 8 and I’ve got a bubbly, rising starter. I was going to wait to bake with it, but did use the discard tonight. My question is, when can I double the starter recipe? When I made the discard crackers tonight, I didn’t have enough for what the recipe called for and I had to cut it in half.

    Reply

  13. So I used whey to start mine and it smells AMAZING, started noticeably growing on day 4 and I have a TON of bubbles. After day 14... what do I do? LOL. Still feed twice a day? Leave it out on my stove like I have been? I am new to your blog so maybe there is a “how to care for your new sourdough starter” post? Thank you so much for your work into this post! Super easy to follow! 💕

    Reply

  14. I've gotten a little confused on the directions. Im going into day 5 and i hardly have enough for a "100g" discard. It's not doubling. 100g discard is not half for me....kt's basicallg all of it. Trying to follow your directions but also confused. Is the 100g a typo or am i doing this wrong. It was watery until i got to the second part of day 4. I fed it even though it didnt look hungry. I had to go to bed and couldnt wait

    Reply

    1. It doesn't matter if it hasn't doubled, if you've added the weights correctly, you will have the right amounts. The recipe is measured by weight not volume. So on Day 5 you would have 150g in the jar before discarding. Just remove the 100g and then feed what's left in the jar (which should be 50g). Feel free to join my FB group for further clarification 🙂

      Reply

      1. I have a question. Once I have an established starter, and I’m storing it in the fridge, do I need to bring the starter out and let it warm up before I do a maintenance feed? Or can I feed it right out of the fridge and put it back in the fridge? Thanks!!!! So glad I found you on FB!!!!

        Reply
  15. Pingback: How To Bake Simple Sourdough Bread: A Beginner's Guide - The Pantry Mama

  16. Hi! I LOVE your advice! I have a starter which i leave out on the counter and feed every 12 hours. It bakes up well. If i choose to continue to leave it on the counter, do i have to continue with twice daily feeds? Can i go down to feeding once per day?

    Reply

  17. Hi, i am on day 2 and the starter more than doubled in size... is this normal? Lol i did not feed it, i just mixed it like the recipe called for.

    Reply

  18. Hello Kate, love your website!!!

    I have recently been given a sourdough starter and have been baking some lovely sourdough bread.

    However I don’t know what flour was used to make the starter, I was told to feed it with plain flour.

    Can I feed the existing starter with Organic Stoneground wholemeal flour and if yes, should I then only use the same flour from then on?

    If I wanted to to make a new starter with Organic Stoneground wholemeal flour would I have to keep feeding it with the same flour?

    Also when I store it in the fridge should I keep the lid down tight? I see your website says to feed the starter and the place it in the fridge straight away with the lid screwed on. I am using a clamp lid jar for my starter.

    Cheers Nicko.

    Reply

  20. Hi, I’m new and today is day 2. Where do I keep my discard, in the fridge or at the counter top? Do I need to feed the discard?

    Reply

  21. Hi, I’m a newbie. Yesterday evening I started the flour & water in the jar. This morning there’s water on top. So I just gave it a stir. An hour later the water was back on top. Is this normal? Thanks!

    Reply

  22. 5 stars
    Hello there.
    I have started your sourdough starter. Looking good here. I’m on my day three now. I have done the first feed. What do you do with the remains of the half feeds?
    Look forward hearing from you
    Sylvia. 😊

    Reply

  23. Hi there, I was wondering if I need to start with 50g ratio or can it be less? Just so I’m not wasting so much flour (or rather building up so much discard). Every time I discard, do I just pop it into another jar in the fridge to build up a discard pit and then use it up when needed? I can’t imagine needing to bake something with the discard everyday!
    Thank you!

    Reply

  25. I have always been so backward to make a starter - just reading your site that i stumbled upon - makes me want to make a starter - my question is that after the 14 days - and when i decide to make my sour dough bread - what do i do with the left over starter - can i put it in the fridge? - do i still have to feed it everyday? or weekly? as I would like to bake one bread every week....

    Reply

  29. I live in a tropical country and my kitchen is very warm. Should I halve all the suggested timings? For example, I left my starter rest for 2 days and when I went to feed it for the first time on Day 3, it had mold on it 🙁

    Reply

  30. May I know if I start a new starter, can I use the discard starter from the 2nd days onward or do I have to wait longer?

    Reply

      1. Hi I have had a rye sourdough starter for many years that went mouldy so threw it away and started a new one but using only rye flour it is very thick using equal amounts of water and flour, is it batter to use a mix of rye with white flour instead of all wholegrain rye. Thanks for your help.

        Reply

  31. Hi I’m new to this and would love to try it a Q when you take out before each feed do you throw away the amount you take out or can it be used for starting another ? thanks

    Reply

  32. 5 stars
    Hi thanks for sharing this amazing recipe. Would you pls let me kno do i have wait for feeding my starter until it doubles in size or just after every 12 hours just feed it? Feeding in rising time must be done?
    Thank you

    Reply

  35. Hi there my starter is doubling even tripling in size and only on day 3, have only fed it once. I’m not noticing it sliding back down- do I wait to feed again until it has slide marks?
    Thank you for any info!

    Reply

  36. Trying my first attempt ever at sourdough starter and have to be gluten free…any tips for gluten free or can I use the same method for standard starter? Super excited to get this down!
    Looking forward to hearing from you:)

    Reply

  37. Excited to get started!! Quick question before I get into it - if it’s doubling in size in 2-6 hours after ten days or so, won’t it overflow the jar? Or will it peak and fall so that won’t happen? Just want to be prepared ahead of time for an unruly starter!
    Thanks!

    Reply

  38. Hello! Just a bit confused here. Do I have to always live only 50g of starter in the jar before feeding it? For exemple… if second feeding is already 100g of discard I’m assuming it will get to be more than that once it matures?

    Reply

  39. A friend gave me a starter years ago and it has been in my frig ever since. Can I start feeding it or discard it and start new?

    Reply

  40. This might be a dumb question but when feeding my starter(going on 4th week) is it possible to Over Stir the ingredients? I just want to make sure it is mixed thoroughly. This has been a journey of patient waiting and i don't want to mess up.
    Thanks

    Reply

    1. No there's no possibility of over stirring - in fact sourdough starters love to be stirred vigorously! 🙂

      Reply

  41. 😩 ugh, my starter is 8 days and it hasn’t risen at all. My house is cold so I have it in the oven with the light on. It’s about 75-76° in there. I’m using King Arthur organic bread flour and bottled water (my only other option is tap or reverse osmosis) and a clean jar each feeding. I’ve tried to do this in the past had didn’t have any luck and I’ve accidentally killed one by letting it get too hot which is why I’m trying do be very specific. The ones I’ve tried in the past had started rising by now. What am I doin wrong?

    Reply

  42. This is so helpful! Thank you. I have a starter that I made about a month ago but I'm still struggling to get it to rise consistently. I think if I follow your directions for a while it will become stable after some time.

    After the initial growth period, after the 14 days, do you continue to feed twice a day?

    Reply

    1. Yes, you'll need to feed twice a day for a good 3 to 4 months - then your starter would be considered mature 🙂

      Reply

  43. Hi, never tried this & a bit skeptical (get a bit lost/confused with the measuring, had to google the water back to mls instead of grams so hope its right), but I'm on day 4 & need to remove 100g of starter- how the heck do i measure that (ie spoons or mls be easier measure for liquids)? Is 100g the same as 100ml or how many Tbs is 100g of starter?
    Thanks, hope this thing works 🤔

    Reply

    1. You need to weigh both the water and flour in grams, not mills (although technically water will be the same in mills and grams). However, if you have the scale out, it's just easier to weigh both. If you have 150g of starter in the jar and need to remove 100g, just remove 50g into a clean jar and then add 50g of flour and 50g of water to that 50g. Discard the remainder in the original jar (you should toss this as it is too young to do anything with).

      Reply

      1. Hello
        I'm on day 5 of my starter due to shift work I'm going to miss the 12hour mark of feeding my starter will this ruin my batch?

        Reply

  44. Is there any point we stop feeding it? Also when we use our starter for actual bread do we replace what we took out?

    Reply

  46. Amazing blogs! I've followed so many.
    Question: I have followed instructions and starter doubles in about 4 hours (day 7) and then sinks back down to where I started. I have tried feeding 3 or more times a day, but still sinks.....not as far as when originally started, but significantly. It also tastes more acidic.
    I started on whole wheat flour and feed with 50/50 all purpose and wheat flours.
    Suggestions?

    Reply

  48. Hello. Love your site! A couple of questions: I like to clean my jar each time, but what I do is just rinse it out with hot water, no soap, when I feed it. Then I put it back into the jar that’s been rinsed with hot water. I make sure there’s no water inside the jar. Will that work? Also, my starter will be seven days old on Friday and I have to be out of town for two days. It will miss the Friday night and Saturday morning feeding. should I put it in the refrigerator till I get back and resume feeding? I could take it with me, but I’d rather not. Should I leave it on the counter? I asked this question in a Facebook group and got different answers. Thank you.

    Reply

  50. I am a little confused on step 4 where it says to remove 100 g of starter. Isn’t the idea to remove half of the starter? Which removing 100 g would would suggest that I have 200 g of starter before discarding. When I remove 100 g it seems like more than half. Would it be better to discard leaving 50 g of starter and go from there? I am using a Weck jar and forgot to write down the beginning weight of the jar alone and don’t currently have a second jar to transfer to! Thank you!

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  52. So, I have been given a jar of (I think) discard today. It has been fed today and left at room temp for a couple of hours. I can see the level in the jar has doubled. I've been told to put it in the fridge. What then??

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  54. Hi! I'm doing my second starter, the first one I threw away because grew but suddenly stop growing. Now with this new one I'm on day 5 and still don't see my starter growing. I clean the jar every time I feed and keep in the oven with the light on. When I'm doing the discard, I can see there is not much to throw away 🙁 I'm using 1:1:1 - 50g starter, 50g flour and 50g water each feed.

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  55. Hi, I am currently on day 6 of feeding my starter. I don't get much of a rise - about 0,2 inches and only tiny bubbles. I used tap water for the first 3 days and then switched out to filtered spring water. It is spring right now so my house isn't cold at all. Could it be that I rinse my utensils and jar with normal tap water? Please help!

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  56. 4 stars
    My starter has Trippled for the past two days, is quite spongey, floated briefly yesterday morning but drops o the bottom today. I’m confused. How long does the float test need o last to make sure your starter is ready for a bake?

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  58. I got starter from a friend and have been discarding half all but 50g and feeding it once daily. In reading this again, am I supposed to be feeding it 2x daily forever or is that just for when making starter from scratch? At what point do you accumulate enough dough to make a loaf?

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  59. Hello, It seems like I need more that 50g water to get all 50g of the flour moist. Also, how liquidy should it be? Thank you so much for this blog!

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  60. 4 stars
    I'm a a first time sourdough baker and this is my story so far. I read all the guides multiple times and bought the recommended Ball mason jars plus the King Arthur organic unbleached all purpose flour. Following the directions I mixed and tended my starter and on day three I started seeing a few bubbles. By day six I wasn't seeing bubbles any more and no rise at all so I started trouble shooting. I had used tap water allowed to stand for several days in a covered jar initially so my first adjustment was to try boiling the water but that didn't make any difference. Then I tried switching out the metal cover for a paper cloth and after that I just left the jar open but neither step helped. Actually, leaving the jar open resulted in a hard crust on the top so I probably won't do that again. Next I thought I was possibly overfeeding since my house is pretty constant at 70 degrees and it seemed possible I was just not giving the starter time to get going so I backed off the feeding to once a day - no joy. Note I was trying to just make one change at a time so I could tell what worked and next I switched to Bob's Mill organic rye flour and bam - the next morning it was more than doubled and full of bubbles. Woohoo! For the next feed I split the starter into two batches - one with 70 grams of starter and one with 50 grams. I fed both 1:1:1 but used the rye flour in the 70 gram batch and switched back to King Arthur for the 50 gram batch. Two objectives here - I wanted to have 200 grams of starter I could use to bake with a regular sized batch for maintenance. I also wanted to see if the King Arthur would do any good after the starer had become active. The next morning both had more than doubled and were full of bubbles. I'm guessing this is kind of a normal approach that wasn't really documented anywhere. If you're planning to bake when you split your starter at feeding time you use part of it to maintain the starter and the other part to build active starter for the next days baking. Maybe I only had to do that since the jars I bought max out at about 200 grams of active starter? Just mixed up the English Muffin dough and looking forward to seeing how it turns out later today. Question: short of buying a proofing box how do you set up a 75 degree environment for the starter? I tried on top of the kitchen cabinets and on top of the refrigerator but neither were anywhere near that warm. Bumping the house up to 75 would be expensive and miserable. Should I just settle for the idea the starter will have to live with 70 degrees or should a small proofing box be on my wish list?

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  61. I love your website recipes, they helped me to build a new starter. I tried many ones and was not successful. I just have a question when I keep a starter on the counter do I continue feeding it twice a day same way when I was building a new starter?

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  63. 5 stars
    This is a much better recipe than the one I have used previously. My starter is much more active. Thanks

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  65. If you have 100g of starter (I've had this starter for over 6 months, ive beenbaking Sourdoughbread since ive made my starter im fairlynew at this) and ive added 100g of flour and 100g of water, is this ratio okay? The last few bakes my dough has been very sticky and im wondering if my ratio is off on my starter

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  66. I’m on day 7 and my starter is not rising at all. It rose one time and doubled in size on day 3 and hasn’t risen since. I started with whole wheat flour and then switched to unbleached bread flour. It’s a little chilly in our house so I’ve been keeping it wrapped in a towel in the pantry and warming up the water to room temperature. It doesn’t smell foul, just sort of sour and yeasty. It is bubbling, but not rising! I’m using Berkey water and keeping the same jar with the lid on. Am I doing something wrong or do I just need to wait it out? Thank you!

    Reply

    1. I don't think you're doing anything wrong, starters just take time. Definitely use warm water if it's a bit cold and try to keep it warm consistently 🙂

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  67. Help It wasn't even a full day when bright neon pink spots appeared on my starter. It doubled in size and has bubbles but these neon pink dots appeared like sprinkles. It also smelled a mixture of acetone and vomit. I'm pretty sure this counts as failed. Others had faint pink streaks almost orange in hue but the ones from my starter are almost like hot pink/neon pink so I was shocked at first lol.

    Reply

    1. Pink spots or streaks indicate a bacterial growth (you can read more about this here).
      You definitely don't want to continue with a starter if it shows pink. Have you tried different batches of flour?

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  69. I am on day 3 and a complete beginner to sourdough! You are so inspiring Kate! I can not wait to bake all of your delicious recipes! Thank you for being so detailed and explaining literally everything so well! ❤️❤️

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    1. That's ok, just take 50g out the starter you have now and feed that into a clean jar 🙂 It will be fine 🙂 xx

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  71. 5 stars
    Starter doubled days 1-2, but flat lined since day 3 (on day 6 now). I've read lots of your posts (thank you for all the data), and have decided to pull 50g of the original starter, and add 50:50 to hopefully kickstart again. My question is this:
    You mention from day 4 "Remove 100g of your starter and then add 50g of flour and 50g of water to the remaining 50g of starter in your jar. "
    Can I just interpret this as: remove all but 50g of starter, and add 50:50?

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  72. 5 stars
    I'm having so much fun making bubbles! How you Doughin' is working on day 4. Hungry and popping when I peek! He's getting ready for his morning feeding now!

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  73. To stir or not to stir that is my question. Do you stir before removing "discard", or do you stir before feeding starter after "discard" , or both ? I am on day 3, have tried to read all relevant pages but cannot find reference to this.

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