How to Make and Maintain a Sourdough Starter

mix and ferment

Using your scales, measure out 4oz (115g) of the flour and 4oz (115g) of the warm water.

Add the flour and water into the container, and use the spoon to mix together, making sure to work some air into the mixture. Mix well until it forms the consistency of a thick batter. Scrape any excess off the sides of the container, and cover the container with the lid, towel or plastic wrap – it should only be loosely covered – and keep the towel/plastic wrap in place with a rubber band.

Leave the container to ferment somewhere that has a consistent room temperature for 24 hours.

It’s now time to start feeding the starter to spur on the fermentation process. Add another 4oz (115g) of all-purpose flour and 4oz (115g) of warm water to the container, and again mix well until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides and loosely seal again as before, leaving to rest for a further 24 hours.

feed and grow!

The next day (you should now be on day 3 of your sourdough starter), take 8oz (230g) of your starter mixture and pour it into a clean jar. You can discard the remaining mixture or use it for recipes that call for “sourdough discard”.Grab your new jar containing 8oz (230g) of starter mixture, and add 4oz (115g) of all-purpose flour and 4oz (115g) of warm water. Stir to mix and loosely cover for 24 hours. Repeat the same process of discarding and feeding in a fresh jar every 24 hours for the next two days.

No matter what kind of dough you’re making – whether it’s for pizza, bread or anything else – a key part of prepping sourdough-based recipes is maintaining your sourdough starter, so that it’s always alive and ready to activate for using in a recipe.

Keep your starter in a glass jar on your kitchen countertop, covered loosely with a lid, or with a cloth with a rubber band to keep it in place.

If you’re using your starter regularly to make dough, it’s best to feed it with equal parts water and all-purpose flour every 1-2 days to keep it alive and active, so it’s ready to use anytime.

To feed the starter, simply add equal parts flour (the same flour your starter is based on) and warm water and mix until fully incorporated. Be sure to always use the same type of flour to feed the starter as the type of flour that was first used to build the starter. If you want to start working with different flours, scroll down to read about that! The starter will grow every time you do this, so before adding the fresh flour and water each time you’ll need to remove some of the starter before adding the fresh flour and water. Depending on the size of the glass jar you’re using, you can remove up to half of the active starter before adding the fresh flour and water.

This will keep your starter active and ready to go – to use it in a recipe, simply use the amount of active starter called for in the recipe, ie. the bubbly starter that was fed 1-2 days ago, before you add the fresh flour and water. If the recipe you want to make calls for more sourdough starter than you have on hand, you can add some of your active starter to a larger container and start feeding it equal parts flour and water over a period of days in order to grow it to the size needed for that recipe.

Storing your starter when you can’t feed it

If you need to leave your starter at home for a while (say, if you’re away for a few days or are unable to feed it for a period of time), just seal the jar and place it in the fridge. It will be fine to stay in the fridge for up to two weeks – the cold temperature will make the starter go dormant, so it doesn’t need to be fed during that time. Then when you want to start using the starter again, remove it from the fridge and return it to your kitchen counter top, and begin feeding it every 1-2 days as normal. It may take a few days of feeding for it to become bubbly and active again after the period of sitting in the fridge.