A sourdough starter is so easy to make–all you need is water and flour and a bit of time for them to work together and create a thriving colony of healthy, probiotic wild yeast. The starter will reward you for years to come with tasty sourdough breads, waffles, pancakes and more, with no need for added yeast. Stir up a batch today--it's truly the gift that keeps on giving.
I've been nurturing my sourdough starter, George, for almost a decade now. Over the years I've baked with my sourdough starter nearly every week. I've learned to work with it in its different moods, and I have learned from answering your questions on this and so many sourdough recipes I've shared with you.
In this post on how to make a sourdough starter, I'm sharing my best tips on how to make and maintain a foolproof sourdough starter. Whether you are a beginner or a sourdough fanatic, I hope you will find the information here useful.
Making a sourdough starter is an extraordinarily simple process that requires just two ingredients, flour and water. It truly is something anyone can do. That said, there is some patience required because this is not a process that can be rushed. You have to also keep your sourdough starter at the right temperature so it develops as it should. And you will need to dedicate a few minutes every day for a week to get your starter going, and a few minutes each week after that to maintain it.
Be sure to name your starter. 🙂 Mine was named George by a reader, and over the years I've smiled many times as you've come back to tell me the names you've given your starters: Georgina, Crunchy, the Hulk and even Tina (after quaranTine :)) among many more.
Table of Contents
Why you should make a sourdough starter
After I'd made my sourdough starter, I began looking at all baked goods differently. My jar of yeast sat in the freezer while I experimented with not just breads but sourdough pancakes, waffles, pretzels, English muffins, biscuits, sticky buns and so much more. The sourdough made eating these treats not just more fun and delicious, but also more guilt-free.
That's because all those billions of yeast bacteria teeming through your sourdough starter--the ones that make it bubble and rise--are probiotic and therefore great for your gut.
Some studies even show that sourdough is easy to digest, and could be eaten by people with celiac disease who cannot normally tolerate gluten (although this is something you should check with your doctor). Bread made with sourdough is also said to be better for diabetics because it's lower on the glycemic index than regular bread is.
Ingredients for sourdough starter
- Flour. Use whole wheat flour to begin the starter. Whole wheat flour gives your sourdough starter a stronger start because it's full of micronutrients and friendly bacteria. You can also use all purpose flour, bread flour or rye flour. (If you want to make a starter without gluten, see my recipe for a gluten-free sourdough starter).
- Water. Use distilled or filtered water to both make and maintain the starter. Tap water usually has chlorine in it, and chlorine can kill the wild yeast.
Equipment
- Glass or Ceramic Bowl. You will need a large bowl to mix and keep the starter as it develops.
- Whisk or fork. To whisk the water and flour together.
- Lidded glass or ceramic canister/jar/box. To store the developed starter in the refrigerator.
How to make sourdough starter (with step by step photos)
Day 1
Measure out 1 cup of whole wheat flour into a large bowl or a crock. The container you use should be large enough to hold the sourdough starter as it rises and bubbles. Measure out ¾ cup of bottled or non-chlorinated, room-temperature water. Chlorine can inhibit the formation and growth of yeast.
Add the water to the flour and whisk together to mix well. You should not have any traces of flour.
The sourdough starter should look like this after mixing.
Cover the starter loosely with a kitchen towel. Set aside in a warm spot. A temperature of 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (24 to 27 degrees Celsius) is optimal.
Day 2
On the second day, you might see some bubbles in the sourdough starter, or there may be none, especially if you are in cooler temperatures.
Either way, mix the starter well with a whisk or fork, measure out half a cup of the starter, and “discard” it. Add ½ cup unbleached, all purpose flour and ⅜ cup or 6 tablespoon or 90 mils of warm, non-chlorinated water. Mix well and again, leave in a warm place. You will start noticing that your starter lightens in color with the addition of all purpose flour.
Day 3
By the third day you should see some bubbling activity in your starter and also a fruity aroma. There may also be some darker liquid on top.
Mix the starter, discard half a cup and feed by adding half a cup of all-purpose flour and ⅜ of a cup of water (90 mils or 6 tbsp).
Day 4
On day 4 the sourdough starter should look quite bubbly and active.
Once again, mix the starter, then discard half a cup and feed by adding half a cup of all-purpose flour and ⅜ of a cup of water (90 mils or 6 tbsp).
Day 5
On the fifth day the sourdough should get quite bubbly, especially about 10 minutes after you feed it. If your sourdough starter isn't showing much activity you can bump up the feedings to twice a day to help it gather strength.
Day 6
The sourdough should be quite strong now and should rise easily after feeding.
Feed the starter once or twice on the sixth day, depending on how strong it is.
Day 7
By the seventh day, your starter should be ready to use. It should look healthy and bubbly, like in the picture above. If your sourdough starter is still slow in developing, continue feeding twice a day and keep it warm. It will eventually strengthen.
How to use sourdough starter
To use the starter, mix it well, especially if some of the liquid has separated on the top. Then take out about the amount of sourdough starter you need to bake with, and replace it immediately. So if you take out 1 cup of sourdough, you should "feed" the remaining starter by adding to it cup of flour and ¾ cup of water.
Keep in mind that if you make my sourdough recipe and bake a recipe for sourdough bread from another cookbook or blog, you should first check what the hydration---or water-to-flour ratio---of their starter is. So, for example, if the starter they used has a lower hydration, you might need to cut back on the liquid in the bread recipe when you make it. If it has a greater hydration, you might need to add more liquid.
Here's a picture of my mature sourdough starter, a couple of hours after feeding, and then a day after he was last fed. He rose overnight and was beginning to fall back in the morning.
How to feed sourdough starter
It is good practice to feed your sourdough starter each week so it's ready--or close to ready--for baking at any time. But if you forget to feed it for a couple of weeks, or even for a month, don't panic. You might be able to revive your starter so long as it's not moldy and you refrigerated it in an airtight container. Don't go too long without feeding it, though, and do it as soon as you remember.
Troubleshooting tips
- Not enough starter for a recipe. If a recipe calls for, say, two cups of starter, just make sure you feed your sourdough starter the day before with more flour. Stick with the correct proportions of water and flour.
- Sourdough starter not bubbling after a few days of feeding: This could be caused by cool temperatures. Remember the ideal temp to maintain sourdough is between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. In cooler temperatures it might take a while and extra days of feeding for your starter to kick off.
- Sourdough starter getting too bubbly, too tangy, too fast: Just as cold temps will delay your starter process, extremely hot climates will make it act like it's on steroids. Again, make sure you move the starter to a cooler part of your house, where the room temperature is no more than 75 degrees.
- Sourdough bread made with starter doesn't taste tangy enough. There could be two reasons for this: your sourdough starter is either really new, or your starter was just fed. Starter that's just been established will not taste tangy enough because it just hasn't been around that long. But don't fret, it will still have loads of flavor and with regular feeding you will get there. And you'll still be able to make great bread and other baked goods with the starter. If your starter is mature with a lovely tang, but you recently used most of it up and fed it and then used it again the next day to make bread, you might find that the starter simply doesn't have the same tang (although it will develop faster once your sourdough has matured further).
- Brownish/grayish/blackish, hooch-like liquid forming on top: This does not mean your sourdough starter has gone bad, it just means it's hungry. When you are still creating the starter, just stir it back in and feed your starter. Once your starter is established, and you see the liquid on top, you can either stir it back in or, if it's too strong-smelling, pour it off, then feed the starter.
- Sourdough smells like acetone or nail polish remover: This just means the starter--or rather the bacteria in your starter--are hungry, and it's time for feeding.
- Forgot to feed starter: Not a biggie, just feed it immediately and continue feeding according to schedule.
- Added too much water to starter. Is it spoilt? No. You can't spoil a starter by adding too much water to it. See the hydration tips in my FAQs above for more detail.
- Neglected the sourdough and now it looks dry: Don't beat yourself up if this happens, it's happened to me, more than once. An established sourdough starter is extremely hard to kill. To revive a dry but not moldy sourdough starter, pour some filtered water into the container, let the sourdough starter sit for some time, and then try to stir it until you have a smooth paste. You can discard some of the starter at this point and feed it for 2-3 days, twice a day, to build up its strength. (I once spent two to three days soaking and crushing my dry sourdough starter between my fingers to crumble it up (it was my gluten-free starter which dries more readily), but I brought it back to life and it's bubbling away now. :)) Try not to get to this point, though!
- Sourdough starter has pink or orange streaks and it smells moldy: If you have an established starter that gets moldy, you may be able to save it in some cases. If the mold is only on top, carefully skim the layer of mold off and save a small amount of the clear starter underneath. Place the retrieved starter in a new container and feed it a few times to build up its strength. But if the mold has penetrated through into the entire starter, just discard it and start over.
Recipe FAQs
Yes and no. The hydration of your sourdough starter matters not so much for the health of the starter itself. But it will matter for the recipes you'll make with it. In other words, if you accidentally add more or less water to your starter, don't worry, it won't go belly up on you. Just continue feeding it in the right proportions in future and it should be fine.
But how much water is in your starter will matter when you add the starter to the recipe. That's because every recipe will have instructions for starter hydrated to a specific level.
For example, I use a 1 cup flour to ¾ cup water ratio in my starter. Some other recipes use more water, some less.
So all the recipes I post are tailored to the hydration specific to my sourdough starter. If your sourdough starter recipe came from somewhere else, and you are planning to bake a bread from my blog, you'll need to adjust the level of liquid in your bread recipe up or down based on how much water is in your starter.
Sourdough starters in different temperatures perform very differently. For instance, if you're in 90+ temperatures, your sourdough might ferment too fast and taste extremely tangy within a day or two. On the other hand, in a cooler climate, you might not see any activity at all for a few days after beginning.
To get a strong and healthy starter that'll give you the best results when you bake and taste your baked good, you want to try and keep your sourdough starter in a room where the temperature is between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (24 to 26 degrees Celsius).
After seven days. You might find that the starter ferments more quickly in warmer temperatures, but to get the best flavor, try and keep your sourdough in a room at a temperature no more than 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Feed it every day for seven days.
You will know it's ready when it starts to rise within six to eight hours of feeding and gets really puffy.
The sourdough starter, once it begins to bubble, will have a smell not unlike buttermilk. It should smell fresh and somewhat fruity, and not moldy or spoilt.
A sourdough starter will keep for years, even decades, and there are sourdough starters out there that are family heirlooms. A mature, well-established sourdough starter is a treasure to cherish, and think of the days you'll pass this gift of good health to your sons and daughters--or grandsons and granddaughters.
For the first seven days, between feedings, leave your starter outside at a room temperature of no more than 80 degrees F. Make sure it's covered with a kitchen towel.
If you find that your starter is forming a hard crust on top, but otherwise appears to be developing nicely, stir it, feed it, and cover it with something more airtight or even cling wrap after the first couple of days.
Once your starter is ready, you can store it in the refrigerator. Each time you feed it, leave it out at room temperature for a few hours or until it gets puffy and expands, then put it back in the fridge.
The quick answer is, no.
One of the reasons you discard a portion of the sourdough each time you feed it because you don't want the sourdough starter to keep growing. The other is that your starter will grow stronger if there's more food for the hungry yeast in your starter. If you don't discard, there will be more hungry yeast cells competing for the same food and they won't grow as strong, see?
You don't have to waste a drop of your discard. See my post on easy recipes for your sourdough discard. You can also add the sourdough to flatbreads like this sourdough roti from day 1.
You can also share your discard with a friend so they have their own sourdough starter without making it from scratch. Just give them a quarter to a half cup of discard and ask them to begin feeding it, preferably with a cup of flour and ¾ cup of water.
Recipes to make with sourdough starter
Sourdough Starter Recipe
Equipment
- Large glass bowl (or ceramic bowl)
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup bottled or non-chlorinated water
- 3 cups (approx) Unbleached all purpose flour (for feeding. Or bread flour or whole wheat flour)
Instructions
- Measure out the whole wheat flour into a large bowl or a crock. The container you use should be large enough to hold the sourdough starter as it rises and bubbles. Also make sure you use a glass or ceramic or sturdy, food-safe plastic container.
- Measure out the bottled or non-chlorinated, room-temperature water. Chlorine can inhibit the formation and growth of yeast, so it’s rather important that your water be as non-chlorinated as you can get it.
- Now add the water to the flour and whisk together to mix well. You should not have any traces of flour.
- Cover the sourdough starter loosely with a kitchen towel.
- If the weather where you live is cold, place it in a warm spot, like on top of a radiator or in an oven with the light on. It was rather warm here when I started George so I could leave him out on the kitchen table, but this time — with temperatures kissing the 40s — I have my new starter in the oven with the light on. Keep in mind that it may take longer for the yeast to develop in the starter in cooler weather.
- Leave your starter alone for 24 hours. When you look at it, you might see some bubbles, or there may be none, especially if you are in cooler temperatures. Either way, mix the starter well with a whisk or fork, measure out half a cup of the starter, and discard* it. (You can use the discard in flatbreads or unleavened breads, and from day 4 you can use it in sourdough waffles and pancakes)
- After discarding a portion of the starter, add half a cup of unbleached, all purpose flour and ⅜ of a cup of non-chlorinated water. Use warm water (not hot) if you are working in cool temperatures, as I am. Mix well and again, leave in a warm place. You will start noticing that your starter lightens in color with the addition of all purpose flour.
- By the third day you should see some activity in your starter and also a fruity aroma. Once again, discard half a cup of starter and add half a cup of all-purpose flour and 90 milliliters of water (⅜ of a cup).
- Continue the process for the next three days (try and do this at the same time of day– for instance, I began my starter Sunday morning, so I have to try and feed it around the same time every day, although an hour here or there won’t be amiss). Your starter should have started to thrive by now, rising after you feed it, and eventually settling down. King Arthur Flour, where I got my initial recipe, recommends discarding and feeding your starter twice after day 3, but I found that doing it just once was okay, especially since it was quite warm when I made my starter. This time, with cooler weather, I might feed the new starter twice depending on how it goes.
- By the seventh day, your starter, if it’s healthy and bubbling, should be ready to use. When I made George, I used the “discard” portion of the starter to make waffles, and they turned out great. If your sourdough starter is still slow in developing, increase feedings to twice a day and continue to keep it warm. It will eventually strengthen.
- Once your sourdough starter has matured, you will need to feed it once every week. I mix the starter well, take out the amount of sourdough starter I need to bake with, and replace it immediately in the proportion of 1 cup of flour to ¾ cup of water. For example, if I take out ½ cup of sourdough, I replace it with ½ a cup of flour and ⅜ths of a cup of water. After feeding the starter, I leave it on the counter for a day, and then refrigerate it.
Recipe notes
- You will need whole wheat flour to begin your starter, but you can use all purpose flour or bread flour for subsequent feedings. If you can't use whole wheat flour for any reason, use all purpose flour, bread flour or rye flour.
If you want to make a starter without gluten, see my recipe for a gluten-free sourdough starter. - Always try and use filtered or distilled water for your sourdough as tap water can contain chemicals that affect the growth of the starter.
- If you add too much or too little water to the starter, don't panic--it won't hurt the starter or the bacteria. Just continue future feedings with the right proportions of water and flour and you'll be fine.
- To get a strong and healthy starter that'll give you the best results when you bake and for taste, you want to try and keep your sourdough starter in a room where the temperature is between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
- You will know the starter is ready when it starts to rise within six to eight hours of feeding and gets really puffy. This will typically take seven days.
- Your sourdough starter, once it begins to bubble, will have a smell not unlike buttermilk. It should smell fresh and somewhat fruity, and not moldy or spoilt.
- For the first seven days, between feedings, leave your starter outside at a room temperature of no more than 75 degrees F. Once your starter is ready, you can store it in the refrigerator. Each time you feed it, leave it out at room temperature for a few hours or until it gets puffy and expands, then put it back in the fridge.
- Once your sourdough starter is ready, transfer it to a large glass or ceramic jar with a tight lid. A stainless steel containers is fine too. Make sure you choose a large container because as you feed the sourdough it will rise and expand.
- Check expert tips above for more detailed instructions/troubleshooting.
Julia L Davis
My starter is on day 4..I forgot it was in the oven, and started to preheat for baking something else. It got to about 300, before I realized it was in there...Is it ruined..?
Vaishali
Hi Julia, I would say it is dead, unfortunately. But you can watch it for a bit and see if it is still bubbly and indicates any signs of life.
Natalie
I just wanted to first say my starter has been going strong thanks to your clear instructions. Now that it's not summer, it's not runny per my last comment 🙂 But I have a new problem:I just started the process for your no-knead artisinal bread and when I replaced the starter, I accidentally used King Arthur Bread flour instead of the all purpose. First time I've ever made this mistake! What should I do?
Vaishali
Don’t worry it will be fine. Just feed it with all purpose flour the next time. The bread flour won’t hurt the starter.
Natalie
I've had my starter for a few months now. However, I've noticed that the past few weeks, it is very runny. I am pretty good about following your ratios when I replace it after I use some. I keep it in the fridge and use it once a week. I need some advice please! I don't want to hurt Breadface 😞
Vaishali
Hi Natalie, the starter gets a bit runny in summer, I am not sure why. It won’t hurt Breadface, don’t worry! Love the name btw 😀
Aggie
This is my first attempt at a starter. Do I have to use all-purpose flour to feed the starter? Would replacing it with whole wheat flour work fine?
Kayla
This is my first time trying a starter. Do I have to use all purpose flour to feed it, or can I use bread flour?
Vaishali
Bread flour is fine!
p
What size lidded storage container do you use?
Paula
I am fairly new to sourdough but I have an amish sourdough that I feed with flour sugar and milk. Can I use this sourdough to make this recipe? Thank you, the recipe looks wonderful.
Vaishali
Hi Paula, I haven't baked with Amish sourdough but I am assuming it should be fine because it has the yeast. Cheers.
Anonymous
Hello, it is the seventh day of my sourdough we’re should I put it and how should I store it, should I put a lid on the jar I made it on?
Vaishali
If your sourdough is ready you can put the lid on the jar and refrigerate it. Don’t forget to feed it every week. Congratulations on your new starter. 🙂
Rohini
Hi Vaishali
I prepared the starter with your recipe. It took 8 days . It is very bubbly. Thank you so much for the recipe and detailed explanation. Thank you for answering my queries . I also made Focassia using the starter , it turned out awesome. Thank you so much again.
Vaishali
So happy it worked out, Rohini!
Rohini
Hi Vaishali,
I am a newbee in Sourdough. I just wanted to know that in some recipes it says 100 percent hydration? What do you mean by that. Your sourdough starter is 75 percent. Am I right? So how to change it to 100 percent for certain recipes? Sorry, I don't know if my question makes any sense but I am confused.
Vaishali
Hi Rohini, hydration is just the water to flour ratio. Some sourdough makers prefer the sourdough to be rather doughy, others, like me, like it to be a bit runnier. A 100 percent sourdough starter would have equal parts, by weight, of flour and water. If you make a sourdough starter that has more flour than water by weight or volume, you might need to add more water or another liquid to your recipe to get the same consistency.
Hope that helps.
Laura
Is she right? Is this a 70-75% hydration starter if following your recipe exactly?
Rosemary Moreland
So I’m on day 6 with my starter, still not seeing much bubbles (I live in UK and not much warmth here). I’m trying to keep it somewhere warm but doesn’t help when heating goes off at night. But I have used discard for a number of recipes and all good so far. My question is after day 7 when starter lives in fridge, when I want to use it, do I take it out and use straight from fridge? Thanks.
Vaishali
Yes, use it straight from the fridge if only using discard, but if a recipe calls for a recently fed starter you'd have to get the starter out of the fridge, feed it, and then leave it at room temp so it bubbles up before you use it.
Also you could try keeping the starter in the oven with the light on (and the oven turned off) if you want to help kickstart it.
Allan Richardson
Vaisha, I'm a sourdough beginner, and a bit confused with quantities. I've now reached 7 days, and it needs a little longer. Although I live in Brisbane Australia on the sub tropics but it is winter at the moment, and the days are a bit cooler. But that's no problem. When references are made like 'remove 2 cups of starter and feed with the same amount, I'm wondering where the 2 cups came from. When I remove 1/2 cup and replace 1/2, I never seem to have more than the initial 1/2 cup, apart from the slight increase because of the water added each time. So do you need to know in advance how much starter will be required, then feed it that amount and wait another day before using? Also, my starter is far from runny. It has a consistency like putty, and seems like it needs more liquid.
Looking forward to making a sourdough loaf, but 'runny' it's not. Any advice please?
Thanks for your great recipes :=
Cheers
Allan.
Allan Richardson
Sorry for the typos. I meant that the volume is never more than the cup I started with.
Vaishali
Hi Allan, that's only once you have a mature starter and are feeding it more in order to use in recipes. Your initial starter is quite small, but once you start using it, you might find that you want more, in which case you'd feed a larger quantity of flour and water, always in the 1 cup flour to 3/4ths cup water proportion. I realize it might be confusing how I mention that 2 cup amount in the recipe, so I'll change that. Hope that clarifies.
Rohini
Hello Vaishali
Today was the first day of my starter. Thank you for your detailed explanation.
Vaishali, I wanted to know how to store the discard or whether we can store the discard.
Thank you
Rohini
Vaishali
Hi Rohini, you can store the discard for a bit--I usually keep it in the refrigerator if I need to wait a couple of days before using. I wouldn't keep it around for more than a week.
Abegail
Hi! I’m excited on making my own starter using your recipe!!! I want to use the metric in measuring the ingredients however wheneve i’m clicking the metric sign, the page keeps on going back to the beginning of the page and when i scroll down to the recipe no conversion occurs. I hope this bug gets fixed, as i really want to get it started! Please?
Vaishali
Hi Abegail, it is working for me. Please check or you could try another browser. If that doesn't work here are the ingredients in grams and mils.
113 g whole wheat flour
177.44 ml bottled or non-chlorinated water
360 g Unbleached all purpose flour (for feeding. Or bread flour)
Abegail
Thank you so much!!! It’s working now! And i’m on my second day... Btw, you said in the recipe that the temperature must strictly be 70-75F? I live in a tropical climate... Our average temperature here is 30... Will I be able to successfully make a sourdough starter with that temp? Thank you so much!!!
Vaishali
Hi Abegail, in really warm temps the sourdough is likely to ripen much faster. I'd find the coolest spot in the house and leave it there, a basement might be a good spot if you have one. Otherwise you might get a really strongly flavored sourdough.
Alice
Hello, I had a question about my starter, on day 2 it puffed up and has many bubbles in it and half way through the day it deflated and when I fed it today (day 3) it hasn't puffed up like yesterday and looks a bit runny. Did I do something wrong?
Vaishali
Hi Alice, it's going to change from day to day, and will look different. Take a look at the photos above. While yours might not match exactly because the temps where you are are likely different than what mine were when I made my starter, you will see that some days it looks runnier. So long as it smells like sourdough and doesn't have any mold on it you should be fine. If you find that it's not rising at all after feeding tomorrow increase to one more feeding per day until your starter is ready.
Melissa
I've been wanting to do a starter for a long time and am on day 7. I think all is looking good so far!
I want to make sourdough bread but like a French bread loaf. I see your recipe isn't sourdough - just regular French bread.
How can I make sourdough French bread style?
Also, do I feed it on the 7th day or just put in fridge?
Vaishali
Hi Melissa, I do have a recipe for sourdough baguettes but it needs updating as it was many years ago and at the time I had added some yeast. I think one can make a good baguette without yeast, and I am going to try and post a recipe soon. Meanwhile here is the recipe I had posted. Congratulations on your new starter! https://holycowvegan.net/whole-wheat-sourdough-baguettes/
Melissa
Thank you so much! The starter turned out great. I feel a little challenged figuring out the weekly feeding / discard and taking some out to bake with and replacing, but I know I'll get the hang of it.
Thank you for that recipe, and I look forward to seeing your updated one as well. I made the no knead loaf and it was wonderful 🙂 I also made your waffles and crackers with the discard.
Once I get the feel for things, I know this will be great!
Richard
Hi - I'm a little confused... the challah recipe says to feed the starter the day before, but this starter recipe says to take a cup or two of starter to bake with and replace to feed. So if I am making challah, do I need to feed as usual the day before (half cup / discard) and then use the cup of starter to start the dough and replace that as a second feeding?
Thanks!
Vaishali
Yes, exactly. Discard half a cup of the starter the day before you plan to make the challah, feed the starter, then use the fed starter the next day for the challah dough. And every time you take some starter out for baking, be sure to feed the starter to replace whatever you took out. Does that help?
Richard
Thanks!
Manmeet
HI I am confused in one point. Do I need to cover the dough with kitchen towel or put them in airtight container while fermentation is in process. I mean first seven days. Thanks
Vaishali
Cover with kitchen towel while the starter is developing.
Amanda
Using the initial quantity of ww flour and water, my starter is almost dough like. Should it not be more like pancake batter instead of dough in condistency?
Vaishali
It will loosen out with subsequent feedings. See the photos.
Richard
I have whole wheat flour and bread flour and want to start a starter (first timer!) ... and won't get to the store for a few days. Can I use just these flours in the first few days of "starting" my starter or should I wait until I have all-purpose flour?
Vaishali
Whole wheat or bread flour should work--you can begin with one or the other.
Ruby
I'm excited to get started! I have just got some starter off my friend who uses your recipe. I have 2 questions:
1. If I needed more starter and fed it 2 cups flour and 1.25cups of water and then took out 2 cups of starter to use, would I then just feed it 3/4 cup flour as I usually do ?
2. If i share 3/4 cup starter with a friend and replace 3/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup water into my starter, how would I then feed their starter to share?
Vaishali
Hi Ruby, you can feed any amount of flour depending on your need and the only caveat is that you feed it a proportionate amount of water. So if you want to just maintain your starter feed it less flour, when you need more, feed it more. And when your friend gets the starter the same rule applies for his/her starter. Y Hope that helps.
Kori
Hi! I love the simple easy to follow instructions here, so THANK YOU! Question - can I feed my starter with freshly ground whole grain flour?
Vaishali
Yes absolutely!
Kelly
Hello! I’m a newbie in this bread starter , but I have one question after the 7 days has past and I have to feed it every week , do I Store it in the fridge ? Or outside I’m so confused or when do I have to put it in the fridge ?
Vaishali
You can keep it in the fridge if the sourdough starter is established after seven days. And yes, the best practice, even if you're not using it, is to feed it at least once every week.
Catie
Small correction--yeast is a fungus, not a bacterium 🙂
Reb
When it’s ready for the refrigerator should I feed it before I put it in and if so should I put it directly into refrigerator after feeding?
Vaishali
I usually leave it out for a couple of hours until it's bubbling before I refrigerate, but there should be no harm in refrigerating it rightaway--the yeast will continue to feed, although more slowly. 🙂
Anonymous
Thank you Vaishali!
Virginia
Do you ever put a lid on it?
Vaishali
Keep it covered all the time, preferably with a kitchen towel.
Paul
Hi Vaishali,
My starter is 4 weeks old now
I wanted to feed it today and take 1.5 cups for a recipe.
That seemed to be almost all of the starter.
Just wondering if it needs to bubble up more. It’s cold here in Canada!
What do you think?
Liz
Hello, I’ve been using your recipes for a year and just decided to make my starter about a month ago. T had gone great! I love the sourdough sandwich bread. I’ve always made your quick ciabatta with fantastic results. Is there a way for me to use the starter? I have 1 cup I can use. How much do I decrease the yeast by? All or still use some like in your whole wheat ciabatta? I was also planning to start with only 1.25 cups water. And 2.5 cups flour and go from there for the right consistency.
Vaishali
Hi Liz, I have not used a sourdough starter to make ciabatta, but here are some ideas: use 3/4 cup starter and cut down flour to 3 1/2 cups. Reduce water to 1 3/4ths cup. You can add a teaspoon of yeast if you want to be safe, but I think you can skip it, if you use a recently fed, strong starter. Your first rise would have to be long--overnight or at least 10-12 hours. The second rise would prob need about 2 hours. Hope this helps.
Reb
On 6th day when you double feed should I also be discarding 1/2 cup still?
Vaishali
Yes, you need to discard each time you feed. Here are some ideas to use up the discard so you don't waste it! 🙂 https://holycowvegan.net/sourdough-baking/vegan-sourdough-discard-recipes/
Frankee
So I keep failing at this and I believe it’s just to hot here in QLD AUSTRALIA any suggestions to keep the recommended temps it’s on average 35degrees Celsius here...
Adri12
Having the same issue - get to day 2 or 3 and mould appears. Any advice how to avoid this?
Joan Bauer
Can you change this recipe to grams please. Also I find this dough very wet. My starter is 100% hydration - how do I change your recipe to make a workable dough? What do you call a consistent dough on the first mixing?
Vaishali
You can find the grams if you click on "metric" in the recipe box. All of my bread recipes are tailored to my starter, but if you use a recipe from someone else you might want to add less liquid, depending on the hydration of the starter they use.
A
Hi Vaishali, your recipe is very handy indeed. Could I ask though what is the overall hydration in terms of bakers percentage ? That would really help to precisely calculate the liquid for differently fed starters. Thank you
A
Thanks for asking this question Joan, I was wondering what kind of hydration to tailor my recipe to, too.
Carolyn
I thought I'd give your recipe for the sourdough starter a try. It's a little cold here so on the end of the first week (yesterday), I didn't discard any, added twice the flour and twice the water. I then put it in my furnace closet as that stays warm. By this morning it had overflowed the large bowl it was in!!!! I pulled out 2 1/2 cups for a cracked wheat bread that only uses starter and no added yeast. It's on it's first rise. Thank you. I have tried kits, etc. and never been successful. This time is different. Also, I just sat my tap water on the counter for at least 24 hours to get rid of the chlorine. If your water is purified with chloramines this won't work. The larger the opening over the water, the faster the chlorine will dissipate. Thank you again, I'm thrilled to have my own starter!
Jeanne
I'm sorry, I'm a little confused, I started the sourdough starter yesterday (24hrs) ago. Now I am on day 2. Doin let it sit 24 hours ( the beginning of step 2's instruction or that is already done?
Vaishali
Hi Jeanne, I am not 100 percent sure I understand your question. You need to feed the starter once each day (and twice if your starter is showing no progress). Then let it stand until the next day when you feed it again. You will do this for a week. Does that help?
Freya
Hi I would like to know if I can make a whole spelt starter? And then bake regular white spelt bread?
Rachel Adams
Hi there, Im only new to making a sourdough starter but I never seem to have the right flours when I want to start, can I use brown rice flour and gluten free white flour? I may have missed in your write up about flours, sorry if I did.
Vaishali
Hi Rachel, see my instructions here for a gluten-free sourdough starter:
https://holycowvegan.net/gluten-free-sourdough-starter/
Shery
Hi
Thank you for your recipes
I have a question on your
Crusty Sourdough dinner roll
I tried making them with your yeast I develop the dough did rise I punched it down but it was very very very sticky too sticky to handle . I spoon them on the parchment paper anyways let them rise a rose a little more baked them without sound very very hard inside with salt and had a great taste any suggestions to help me
Olivia
Hello! I am so excited to try your sourdough sandwich bread as soon as my starter is ready in a few days. I used a different recipe for my starter but I would like to switch it over to the hydration ratio of yours because I believe it will serve me better. My question is: you say to discard 1/2 a cup of the starter each day before adding flour and water. I am on day four and getting about a cup and a half of starter after I have fed it and it doubles and shrinks back down. How much starter should I leave before feeding it according to your ratios? Thanks so much!
Brittany
Hi !!
This may be a silly question, but do I make the starter in a bowl, and cover it loosely in that bowl, and then transfer to a glass container? Or do I just mix it in the bowl, transfer to the glass container, and then loosely cover the glass container for 24 hours?!
Vaishali
Just leave it in the bowl during the initial process of making the sourdough starter. Once your starter is ready, after seven days, you can store it in a glass container with a lid.
Chris
I had trouble with my starter and switched to filtered water rather than tap water and my starter came to life.
Kathleen Pitt
I’ve never left a comment on a recipe before, but I have to thank you for this. I bake all my own bread, but early on in the pandemic I couldn’t get yeast. Everyone was saying do sourdough but I had no experience. I found your post and followed your very detailed instructions. Others asked the questions I was having and you answered right away. My husband grew up near San Francisco and he says my sourdough bread is as good as he remembers from his childhood. We have fallen into a routine of weekly feedings producing a week of sourdough bread. Although I have found some yeast I now very seldom use it. Thank you for your guidance.
Doug
Can you add the brown flour in the second day as a feeder or does that not work?
Vaishali
You definitely can!
Patti Hogan
Hello, I am on day 3 of making my sourdough starter. It doesn't seem to be doing a whole lot and when I take the 1/2 cup out to discard there is hardly any starter left. I've gone ahead and fed it with 1/2 all purpose flour and 3/8 cup purified water and will continue to hope for some strengthening and rising. Can you tell me if high altitudes might need some adjustments. I live at 7500 feet in Colorado and want to make sure that is not effecting my results. Thanks Patti
Vaishali
Hi Patti, sourdough starter tends to be drier at high altitudes, so if you find your starter is too thick, you could try adding some water. Also try keeping the sourdough in a warmer spot since it's very likely cooler where you are, and feed it more frequently--at least twice a day--if you're still not getting results.
For a greater volume of starter, just feed the starter with more flour and water in the same proportions.
Cassey
Could you please teach me how to start Amish/Herman starter? Thanks.
Michelle Williams
I'm on day 4 of the starter and every day when I uncover it there is a crust formed on top.... Doesn't seem to be rising or bubbling either, though I have followed the instructions! Started with whole wheat flour, have fed with AP flour.... Warm climate here, our house can't get below about 80 degrees at any time, no cooler place to put starter.
Vaishali
Hi, it's not unusual for a crust to form, you should just mix it in when you feed. You can also just cover it with cling wrap instead of a kitchen towel. If you're not seeing any bubbling, move it to a warmer spot and increase feedings to twice a day.
Lessie Smith
Thank you for taking the time to share. Your ideals are awesome.
Melanie May
I don't know if my AP flour is unbleached. Will that make a difference?
Vaishali
No, bleached is fine.
DESMOND DIVECHA
My starter is 10 days old . I have followed your recipe . I am very new to sourdough , now my starter has doubled in size so what must I do next . How do I go about it . Do I need to see the bubbles . When do I refrigerate it . And how to increase the quantity of my starter ..
Vaishali
You can refrigerate it now--usually after seven days is when you'd do so. You can increase the quantity by just adding more flour and water in the correct proportions. See instructions in the blog for feeding your starter.
Donna
Will white wheat flour work, at least to start?
Cindy Lawrence
I started my starter yesterday, so this is day 2. I discarded 1/2 cup and fed it 8 hours ago. I have it in a quart size mason jar. When I fed it today, it was about 1/3 of the way up the jar. Now, 8 houmars later, its about 1 inch from the top of the jar! What did I do wrong to make it grow so much? Do I discard more now, put it in a bigger jar or what? Please help. Thank you.
Vaishali
It's prob really warm where you are. Try moving it to a cooler place, like a basement, where the temp is around 70 degrees F.
NANCY
This looks like just the recipe I have been searching for to use for Banh mi. I am a little confused by your recipe because I use grams. My starter is a 100% hydration as in 50g of water 50g flour 50g starter. I am not sure how to translate your you cups. 3/4 c water is 177g 1cup flour is 120g should I just add more water to my recipe?
Msk
Hi Vaishali, my starter is in its 3rd day. I was wondering how to maintain the starter (after it gets active) outside of the refrigerator. Can you please tell me if it's enough to feed it once per day (1/2 cup flour, 3/8cup water) and still keep it alive? (because refrigerating it and waking it up before 4 days to make it active again seems much more painful than doing a quick maintenance every night and enjoy bread every weekend!) Thank you!
Mary
You say store mature starter in large jar. How large????
What do you do after starter is mature besides store it in a large enough jar????!
Thank you.
Mary
ChuckD
Hello,
Can you please give recipe measurements in grams?
Thanks.
Sam
Hello,
My starter on day one when I mix the foul and water together it seems really watery.I followed the measurement. In your pictures the day one the stater was quite thick. So is it just me on is the starter supposed to be a bit runny. Also what is the hydration percent of this recipe?
Sean
Hi Vaishali,
My mom and I are both trying out this starter recipe, very excited. Question: I have a bunch of whole wheat flour I’d like to use up, can I do all whole wheat flour for feedings? Or maybe half whole wheat and half AP flour? Thanks!
Vaishali
Whole wheat is fine for feedings! Or you can alternate. All the best with the starter. 🙂
Sean
Thanks so much! ??
Anne
I’m ready to bake my first batch of sourdough rolls from your site. But, I can’t do it today. How do I store the discard until tomorrow when I can bake the rolls? Also, it’s rising above the top of my measuring cup! Too cool.
Vaishali
Refrigerate it!