How to Make a Sourdough Starter

How to Make a Sourdough Starter

Learn how to make a sourdough starter for breads, pizzas, pancakes, and more! This in-depth guide breaks down the growing process into easy steps and includes plenty of tips for success.

Course Bread

Prep Time 7

Total Time 7

Servings sourdough starter

Author Sam Merritt

Cost $5

Equipment

Glass jar
Spoon

Ingredients

For Feeding (Days 1-5)

80 grams whole wheat flour (⅔ cup)
80 grams warm filtered water (⅓ cup) (water should be between 90-100F/32-37C)

For Feeding (Day 5+)

80 grams all-purpose or bread flour (⅔ cup)
80 grams filtered water (⅓ cup) (water should be between 90-100F/32-37C)

Instructions

DAY ONE

Combine 80 grams whole wheat flour and 80 grams filtered water in a glass container and stir well until no dry bits of flour remain (try to eliminate all lumps, bit it’s alright if some small ones remain). The mixture will be very, very thick, but if it's too dry to stir add another splash of water.
80 grams whole wheat flour, 80 grams warm filtered water
Cover container and place in a warm (not hot!) spot to rest, undisturbed, for 24 hours.

DAY 2

The starter won’t look too different, but may have darkened in color and may have a bit of liquid on its surface (this is fine). Stir and discard slightly more than half the starter (you'll discard about 140g, leaving about 80g/¼ cup behind).
To your starter, add 80 grams whole wheat flour and 80 grams warm (95F/35C) filtered water. Stir well, cover, place in a warm place

DAY 3

Starter will increase in size and you should hopefully start to see bubbles. Discard slightly more than half the starter (you'll discard about 140g, leaving about 80g/¼ cup behind).
To your starter, add 80 grams whole wheat flour and 80 grams warm (95F/35C) filtered water. Stir well, cover, place in a warm place

DAY 4

Starter should have bubbles and possibly a small bit of liquid on top. Discard slightly more than half the starter (you'll discard about 140g, leaving about 80g/¼ cup behind).
To your starter, add 80 grams whole wheat flour and 80 grams warm (95F/35C) filtered water. Stir well, cover, place in a warm place

DAY 5

Your starter should be increasing in size by this point and possibly even doubling. You’ll begin feeding the sourdough twice a day (12 hours apart) and you will switch over to either bread flour or all-purpose flour (your choice, see note).
In the morning: Discard slightly more than half the starter (you'll discard about 140g, leaving about 80g/¼ cup behind).To your starter, add 80 grams all-purpose or bread flour and 80 grams warm (95F/35C) filtered water. Stir well, cover, place in a warm place
80 grams all-purpose or bread flour, 80 grams filtered water
In the evening: Discard slightly more than half the starter (you'll discard about 140g, leaving about 80g/¼ cup behind). To your starter, add 80 grams all-purpose or bread flour and 80 grams warm (95F/35C) filtered water. Stir well, cover, place in a warm place

DAY 6

In the morning: Discard slightly more than half the starter (you'll discard about 140g, leaving about 80g/¼ cup behind). To your starter, add 80 grams all-purpose or bread flour and 80 grams warm (95F/35C) filtered water. Stir well, cover, place in a warm place
In the evening: Discard slightly more than half the starter (you'll discard about 140g, leaving about 80g/¼ cup behind). To your starter, add 80 grams all-purpose or bread flour and 80 grams warm (95F/35C) filtered water. Stir well, cover, place in a warm place

DAY 7

In the morning: Discard slightly more than half the starter (you'll discard about 140g, leaving about 80g/¼ cup behind). To your starter, add 80 grams all-purpose or bread flour and 80 grams warm (95F/35C) filtered water. Stir well, cover, place in a warm place
In the evening: Discard slightly more than half the starter (you'll discard about 140g, leaving about 80g/¼ cup behind). To your starter, add 80 grams all-purpose or bread flour and 80 grams warm (95F/35C) filtered water. Stir well, cover, place in a warm place

DAY 8

If your sourdough is now growing vigorously and bubbly and doubling within 6-8 hours, you can reduce to just feeding once a day. If yours is not, continue feeding twice a day until it rises well and is bubbly within 6-8 hours of a feeding.
Well done, you’ve established your sourdough starter!

Maintenance

Every day (preferably at the same time every day) discard about half of the starter then feed it 80 grams of your preferred flour and 80 grams of warm water. Make a mark on the jar with a dry erase marker or wrap a rubber band around the jar to mark how full your jar is and watch for it to double to know it is ready to use!
Alternatively follow my instructions in the notes section below for storing your sourdough starter in the refrigerator to use and feed weekly. Note that I recommend regularly feeding the sourdough starter for at least two weeks before attempting to use it in recipes.
If you use quite a bit of your starter for a recipe, you may wish to feed it one or two consecutive days without discarding to get it back to a reasonable volume before discarding again.

Notes

Water

Filtered water is best, you can use bottled water. Tap water often contains chlorine, which can kill your starter or keep it from growing properly.

Flour

On day 5, I recommend switching to the flour you’ll be baking with most often and sticking with that. For me it’s bread flour, I feed my sourdough starter with this because this is the flour I’ll use to make my sourdough bread. However I still use this starter/discard in recipes that don’t use bread flour, so you can use whichever you prefer.

Discard

You can eyeball this, it doesn't have to be exact. Aim to keep a bit less than half of your starter and discard the rest. A scale makes measuring everything easy, and in the first week I'll usually just pour 80g of the starter into a new jar, adding 80g each of flour and water, then discard what's in the original jar.

Once established (and I'm feeling a little lazy and comfortable with my starter) I keep it in the same jar, pour the discard straight into the trash (if I’m not using it) and just add flour and water to the jar, switching to a new/clean jar once a week.

The discard will not be usable for recipes until day 8.

Feeding

When I first begin a new starter, I like to feed it a 1:1:1 ratio (starter:flour:water) until it's established. Then I may vary how much I feed it, depending on how quickly it rises and falls. I typically feed my starter once a day once its fallen.

Storing

If you bake several times a week, store your starter at room temperature and discard/feed daily. If you bake less often you may store it in the refrigerator. To do this, feed your starter, cover, then let it feed for several hours. Once you begin to notice bubbles, transfer to the refrigerator. Discard/feed it once a week. When ready to use, feed it and watch for it to double before using.

Baking in Bread

Once your starter is established, use it to bake my personal favorite sourdough bread!