How to Feed, Maintain, and Store a Sourdough Starter
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In this helpful guide, I share everything you need to know about buying, feeding, maintaining, and storing a healthy sourdough starter. Below you will find video guidance and step-by-step instructions. Let’s do it!
If you are interested in dipping your toe into sourdough bread baking, for starters you’ll need a starter (hah!). In this sourdough starter guide I share my top tips for:
- Buying a sourdough starter online
- Activating a sourdough starter
- Feeding a sourdough starter
- Maintaining a sourdough starter
- Storing a sourdough starter
- Knowing when a sourdough starter is bad
Though I offer instructions on how to build a sourdough starter from scratch below, I am a huge proponent of purchasing a starter. I outline why in more detail here — Sourdough Focaccia: A Beginner’s Guide — but in short, it’s because:
- If you’re curious about sourdough, get to it! Making a starter from scratch can take weeks.
- They’re relatively cheap (or free if you get one from a friend or baker).
- A purchased starter potentially will be stronger/more active than a young, homemade starter.
Where to Purchase a Sourdough Starter
I have had success purchasing and activating sourdough starters from three places:
- Breadtopia ($9)
- King Arthur Flour ($9)
- Cultures for Health ($11)
Each place offers guidance for “activating” the starter. Breadtopia’s instructions live on its website. King Arthur Flour sends along a booklet with details, but also provides online help. Cultures For Health offers video guidance here.
In short, to “activate” each, you simply add flour and water, stir, and wait — that’s all there is to feeding a sourdough starter.
How to Activate a Sourdough Starter
A purchased starter generally arrives in a small bag or container. I’ve created a short video for activating a King Arthur Flour sourdough starter. You can use this same process for activating a Breadtopia starter as well:
Follow these steps to activate it:
- Place starter in a vessel. I love these deli quart containers for this purpose.
- Add 45 g each of all-purpose flour and room-temperature water. (Note: You may need to add a little more flour or water to get the consistency right, which should be like a thick batter.)
- Wait. You may see bubbles and action (rising!) in as few as 6 hours; it may take more like 18 to 24 hours. Variables include the time of year, the temperature of your kitchen, the temperature of your water, how much water and flour you used, etc.
- When the starter has roughly doubled in volume, it’s likely ready to go. Drop a spoonful of it in a glass of water. If it floats, you’re ready!
- If it doesn’t float after 24 hours, add more flour and water (equal parts), stir again, and wait.
- If you aren’t seeing any action after another 12 hours, discard most of it, and add more flour and water (equal parts), stir, and wait. Just be patient. Before you know it, your starter will be rising and bubbling and ready to go.
How to Feed A Sourdough Starter
If your starter floats, and you’re ready to start baking, measure the required amount into a bowl and proceed with the recipe. Here are three great beginner’s sourdough recipes:
- Simple Sourdough Focaccia: A Beginner’s Guide
- Simple Sourdough Bread: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Favorite, Easy Sourdough Bread (Whole Wheat-ish)
If you’re not ready to bake, discard most of it, add an equal amount of flour and water (45 g each or so), stir it together, cover it, and stash in your fridge.
My preferred storage vessel is a deli quart container. When I store my starter in the fridge, I use the lid that comes with the quart container. When I feed my starter and let it sit at room temperature, I use a breathable lid.
From here on out, you’ll need to feed it roughly once every two weeks — I’ve left it for as long as three-four weeks without a feeding, and it has been fine, but I don’t recommend waiting that long in between feedings.
Here’s the play-by-play:
1. Place the vessel holding your starter on a scale, and add 45 g flour:
2. Add 45 g water:
3. Stir together and mark the top of the mixture with a rubber band:
4. Wait until the starter doubles or nearly doubles:
5. Test it! If it floats, you’re good to go!
Before long, you’ll get the hang of your starter’s rhythm: how it rises and falls, how it behaves when you feed it more regularly, how it behaves when you neglect it, how it smells at various stages, etc.
When you’re ready to bake, the goal is to “catch” the starter at its peak — this is when it is the strongest/most alive. If you miss the opportunity, and the starter collapses, don’t despair: simply discard some of it (or don’t), and feed it again with equal parts flour and water by weight, stir, and set it aside to rise again.
Maintaining a Sourdough Starter
- Something that deterred me from sourdough for a long time is the waste element: I hated discarding so much and “feeding” so much. I’ve learned over time that there are ways to keep your starter on the lean side to reduce the waste factor. Here’s how:
- After I use my starter for a bread recipe, I do one of two things:
- If there is a fair amount of starter left (a half cup or 100 g), I simply stir it up, cover it, and stash it in the fridge.
- If there are only a few tablespoons of starter left, I like to replenish it with a very small amount of flour and water (45 g of each). Once I add the flour and water and stir it all together, I cover the vessel, and stash it in the fridge.
- Every time I use it or feed it, I discard most of it, and feed it with equal amounts by weight water and flour.
- When life gets in the way, and I can’t find time for sourdough, I tend to it every 2-3 weeks by discarding most of it, and feeding it with 45 g each flour and water.
Storing a Sourdough Starter
As noted above, my preferred storage vessel is a deli quart container. When I store my starter in the fridge, I use the lid that comes with the quart container. When I feed my starter and let it sit at room temperature, I use a breathable lid.
Ideally, strive to feed your starter roughly once a week or every two weeks if you are not finding time to bake regularly. If you are baking regularly, feeding your starter once a week will be a natural part of your baking rhythm. If you are looking for ideas for what to do with the discard, try these sourdough flour tortillas or make peasant bread as outlined in this troubleshooting post.
As noted above, I’ve left my starter for as long as three to four weeks without feeding it, and it has “awakened” beautifully, though I don’t recommend, if you can help it, waiting that long in between feedings.
How to Tell if Your Starter is Healthy
If you are just getting started with sourdough, it may be hard to “read” the various smells of your starter. Depending on what “phase” a starter is in — i.e. freshly fed or neglected for weeks in the fridge — it can smell anywhere from stinky and acidic to fresh and sweet.
Don’t be alarmed if your starter, upon pulling it from the fridge, smells a little funky. It might smell like alcohol or, as one commenter noted: dirty socks. As soon as you discard most of this sharp-smelling starter and feed it with equal parts flour and water, the aroma will instantly change. As your starter rises and approaches a doubling point, it should smell fresh and sweet.
You know you have a healthy starter when it …
- … doubles in volume within 4 to 6 hours (roughly) of feeding it.
- … floats when you drop a spoonful of it in water.
So how do you know if your starter is bad? When …
- … you see mold.
- … it doesn’t rise or is slow to rise after a feeding.
Unfortunately, if you see mold in your starter, you probably should toss it, and start over. Alternatively, you could scrape off the moldy bits, transfer a few tablespoons of what looks healthy (not moldy) to a clean jar, and feed it with equal parts flour and water.
If your starter is not doubling in volume within 4 to 6 hours of a feeding you should spend a few days strengthening it. This is what I always recommend:
- Be aggressive with how much of it you are discarding: throw away most of it, leaving behind just 2 tablespoons or so. Feed it with equal parts by weight flour and water. Start with 40 g of each or so.
- Use water that you’ve left out overnight to ensure any chlorine has evaporated. (This isn’t always necessary, but it might make a difference.)
- Buy distilled water. In some places, letting water sit out overnight will not be effective, and your tap water may kill your starter.
- Feed your starter with organic flour or a small amount of rye flour or stone milled flour (fresh or locally milled if possible). My store sells 2-lb. bags of King Arthur Flour organic all-purpose flour for $3.49 — I use it exclusively for feeing my starter.
- Once you feed your starter, cover the vessel with a breathable lid, and leave it alone at room temperature. After 6 hours (more or less), repeat the process: discard most of it and feed it with 40 g each flour and water.
Once you have a strong starter on hand — one that is doubling in volume within 4 to 6 hours — you can bake with it (using it at its peak doubling point) or stash it in the fridge. When you feed your starter, place a rubber band around the vessel to mark the starter’s height, which helps gauge when it has doubled
Questions? Thoughts? Shoot!
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81 Comments on “How to Feed, Maintain, and Store a Sourdough Starter”
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying your book (best pizza we’ve had since moving to Maine!) and would love to give some sourdough a try. I see that you’ve linked to Breadtopias live starter vs their dry starter. Does it matter that it’s now winter and the live starter will be shipping to Maine in frigid temps? Thanks.
oh yay! This makes me so happy. Thank you 🙂
I don’t think it matters regarding the weather — the live starter is very thick/sticky and concentrated. I think as long as you roughly follow the instructions on Breadtopia’s website for activating it, you can’t go wrong. But: I don’t think you can go wrong with the dry starter either. I think, but don’t quote me, the live starter may activate more quickly? And therefore you’ll be able to get to baking more quickly.
Thanks!
Hi! I’ve been maintaining a starter for about two months now feeding weekly and storing in the fridge. The last few times I’ve fed it it has barely doubled in volume and doesn’t float – any ideas on what’s happening? Should I feed it again if I test and notice it’s not floating? Thanks 🙂
Hi Catherine! I would discard about 90% of it and feed it with equal parts (by weight) water and flour: try 75 grams of each. Let it sit for at least 8 hours and see how it’s looking. If you’re noticing activity and you think it will continue to rise, let it continue rising; if it looks only somewhat active, I would repeat the discard process.
Question: as you’ve been feeding it, how much are you discarding before you are feeding it? And did you start this starter from scratch?
I’ve had good succes with feeding it with slightly warm water, also heating up the glass jar i store it in beforehand helps. Then experimenting with the location also helps. For me the kitchen was not a good spot because too much air draft and the temperatures there fluctuate. Our back room has a more steady temp and it does really well there
Great tips! Thank you.
How do you make enough starter to do multiple loaves of sourdough? I have stayed away from it for 2 reasons: throwing so much away, and how to get enough ? I have been baking Italian loaves..but want to move forward with this ..HELP?? I love your book and site, I also follow you on Instagram..
Hi Debbie — I hear you! The discard part of it deterred me for awhile as well. These days, if I am baking regularly, I don’t waste much. But if I take a break and have to revive my starter, I do find myself discarding a fair amount to get the starter back up to speed.
To answer your question: if you want to make multiple loaves, I would divide your active starter into 2 or 3 containers (all you need is a few tablespoons of starter in each container). I use deli quart containers. Then feed each one with equal parts by weight flour and water: try 75 grams of each. Each container will give you enough starter for one loaf.
Hello Alexandra, I would like to know if I can pull the sourdough out of the fridge (when using for bread making) and use it right away or do I need to let it warm to room temp? Tks in advance!
Hi Rose! Generally, I take my starter from my fridge, discard most of it, feed it with flour and room-temp water (equal parts), stir it, and let it rise. If you use your starter often, and you pull it from the fridge, and it looks active, you can test it out: drop a spoonful of it in water, and if it floats, it’s ready. But generally, a starter from the fridge needs some time to “wake up” and usually needs to be fed, too.
Hi there,
From this comment it sounds like you take the entire starter out, feed and let it rise, then I presume use some for the bread recipe, and keep the rest? However I thought from reading the article that you take the starter out of the fridge, take a small amount out and put into a separate jar and use this to make the levain, and then with the original starter jar just feed and put straight back into the fridge? Please could you clarify this process – I can’t seem to find any clear guidance – thank you!
Hi Lucy! I do only keep 1 vessel of starter. This is what I do:
I have 1 vessel for my starter (a deli quart container), and I only keep about 100 g of starter on hand at one time, which is on the lean side. I keep it in the fridge. When I am ready to feed it, I discard most of it, leaving behind just 2-4 tablespoons or so; then I feed it with 60 g each flour and water. When it doubles, it’s ready to be used in a recipe, and I scoop out the amount required.
After I use it, I replenish it with a small amount of flour and water: 40 g each water and flour; then stash in the fridge. When I am ready to bake again, I discard most of it, feed it, let it double; then use it.
I hope that clarifies! I like to keep a lean starter because I don’t like wasting a lot of flour, and I don’t always feel like baking with the discard.
Received a starter, from a friend. It had the schedule attached and ‘feed’ recipe. In my enthusiasm to keep the starter going, the schedule made it look to ‘feed’ it before Saturday (I received it on Wednesday) When I took out the 1/2 cu of starter, the recipe my friend gave me said 1 cu of flour, and 1/2 cu of water, it wouldn’t even stir up. SO, I thought maybe I was suppose to just ‘add’ it to the whole thing. HA, yeah now I see that was not correct. Have I wrecked it now? Can I save it? Please help. Thank you. Lesson learned to check website first. yikes!
You can definitely save it!
OK, here’s what I would do: I would take a very small amount of the starter (like less than a quarter cup) and place it in a new vessel: something like a quart container. Feed it with equal parts by weight (do you have a digital scale??) flour and water: try 75 g each flour and water. (If you don’t have a scale, use 1/2 cup flour and 1/3 cup water and see what the consistency gets you … you don’t want it as thin as pancake batter, but it shouldn’t be as stiff as bread dough either.) Give it a stir, cover it loosely with a lid or towel, mark the height of the starter with a rubber band and leave it at room temperature to rise. In 6-8 hours, it should be rising nicely.
Starter question! My starter is definitely doubling in size after being fed but does not float when I put a bit in water. I got this starter from a friend about 4 weeks ago. I forgot about it the first week, discarded most of it and fed it (1 c flour, 1/2 c lukewarm water) and put it back in the fridge and have done this now two weeks in a row. Yesterday i took it out of the fridge, fed it and have let it sit on the counter top and fed it twice over this time. Any suggestions? I really want to bake with it!
Hi Andrea! How long at room temperature are you letting it sit before testing it? Also: when testing it, have you tried a narrow glass filled with water and just a spoonful of starter? Sometimes when I fill a bowl, like a cereal bowl with water, and drop my starter in, it doesn’t look buoyant, but it actually is … it’s just the vessel.
Real fast way to start a sourdough starter is to use some kumbucha to add to your flour with a little water or you cab shread some SCOBY into the flour mix!!
So interesting! Love this idea. We brew our own kombucha. Going to try this!
Couple of things I’d add:
1) It’s actually worth being precise when you feed your starter.
As in, use a scale.
See, most sourdough recipes are developed using a 100 percent hydration starter (always fed with equal parts, by weight, of flour and water). Deviate from this formula a bit and it doesn’t really matter. Deviate from it a bunch, however, and your rise times can be wildly different than you anticipate – as much as sourdough rise times can be anticipated, of course.
Regardless, the hydration of your starter is an easy variable to control and, given the unpredictable nature of sourdough baking, controlling what you CAN control is generally worth it.
2) If you have a starter that is particularly difficult to wake up, consider using a bit of whole wheat or rye flour when you feed it. These less processed flours retain more of the naturally occurring yeast and bacteria that make a starter work, so they can help coax a recalcitrant starter back to life.
*Yes, you are technically making a levain when you add a different kind of flour to your starter, but if that kind of thing is a huge deal to you, then chances are that you already know what you’re doing and aren’t hanging out here, looking for tips!!!
Oh. And if your starter ever smells like a hockey locker room or has pink or orange mold on it, toss it and start over.
Thank you for all of this, Santos! You are absolutely right regarding baking times. I have noticed that when my starter is on the liquidy side, the bulk fermentation happens faster. I have also heard that rye works wonders on an inactive starter. Thanks again for taking the time to share all of this!
Hi Alexandra,
I am a private chef and I have always been amazed with sourdough and foccacia even though never had a chance to bake much. Due to the corona virus, I am forced to stay at home and made my own sourdough and tried your recipe. It was just freaking awesome.
Thank you so much,
Gulen
So happy to hear this, Gulen! Thanks for writing. Happy Baking!
Thanks for this! So far 3 successful sourdough loaves!!
I was wondering how long I can leave the starter out on the counter? I know you recommend putting it in the fridge if you’re not baking with it, but if I’m just taking a day off between baking can it stay on the counter?
Also, when I store it in the fridge for longer periods of time, do I feed it and let it stay on the counter for a bit, or can i put it straight back in the fridge?
Thank you so much for you baking expertise xxx
Hi Becs! So great to hear this.
OK: So I have taken my starter out of the fridge with the intention of baking it and then never getting to it till over a day later, so I would say 24 hours at the very least at room temperature is safe, but maybe not ideal to go beyond 48 hours. That said, if you are baking so often, I think you’ll find that if you take your starter out of the fridge in the morning, discard some and feed it, by mid-afternoon your starter might be ready to mix. And my guess is that if you do the same to a starter that has been left at room temperature, it might take about the same amount of time … just a thought.
Regarding your second question, which is a very good one, I don’t know for sure. I have always removed my starter from the fridge and fed it with the intention of baking with it later on so I leave it at room temperature. Let me do some research and get back to you on that one. Stay tuned!
Hi Alexandra,
I have been baking about 5 sourdough breads based on a tweaked version of your easy recipe and they always come out perfect! I am so happy to have found an uncomplicated sourdough recipe, thank you!
I am baking every second day and just leave the starter in the cupboard the whole time. It’s never seen the inside of the fridge. It works, but is this bad? I still feed it twice a day, regardless if it’s a bake day or not. Can I skip a feed to avoid wasting flour or shall I stick to this routine?
Btw, my starter barely doubles in size and totally doesn’t float, but the bread is always perfect. Does it matter?
Many thanks and greeting from London, UK
Gitta x
So nice to hear this, Gitta!
I have left starter at room temperature for two days (maybe more), and it always revives when I feed it. So, no, I don’t think it’s bad, and if it’s working, keep doing what you’re doing! I’m a big believer in finding what works for you given your environment. And, yes, I do think you can get away with skipping a feeding. I would just monitor how the bread turns out after being on a less-frequent feeding schedule.
So interesting re not floating and not doubling! If your breads are turning out well, then it definitely doesn’t matter 🙂 Questions for you: how old is your starter? And what type of flour are you feeding it with?
I am going to try this recipe tomorrow…to keep my starter going, can I save the discard in another jar and continue to fee it for future loaves like baking the following week? I’m just finishing my first starter and have only watched a couple of videos but really like your instructions. Thank you, JC
Hi JC,
Yes, you definitely can do this. Keep in mind, you can start amassing a pretty sizable amount of discard when you do this, which is fine — it’s all about what you can manage. Every time I use my starter, I discard most of it, and feed it with flour and water. For this reason, I try to keep my starter on the “lean” side, so that I’m not discarding a ton of it. When you have a stash of starter on hand, you can either take a small portion of it, transfer it to a new jar and feed it, leaving the remaining back in the fridge; or you can do as I just mentioned: discard most of it, and feed it. Does this make sense? Let me know if you need me to clarify.
I made a sourdough starter from scratch – equal weight spelt flour and water over the past 4 days. It was bubbling nicely but not doubling in size. Yesterday I tossed half of it and added 75g water 75g spelt four. This morning g it was bubbling but again had not doubled in size. Any suggestions?
Hi DMac, I think you’re doing everything right, and I think you should keep going. I, too, am in the process of building a starter from scratch, and it took over a week for it to start doubling, and even longer for it to start doubling in a timely manner.
Do you think you could get your hands on some organic flour? As soon as I started feeding my starter with organic flour (King Arthur), I noticed a difference. If you can find some organic flour or some freshly milled stone-ground flour, that would be my first suggestion. Next, I would dry discarding even more than half — try dumping 3/4 of it. If the discard is a concern, you can cut back the amount. I’ve been doing 50 g flour and water each.
That worked!
I had originally made my starter with organic sprouted whole grain spelt flour and had 170g of it. As you rec’d, I discarded some and kept 50g to which I added 50g water & 50g organic whole grain ww flour – voila! Bubbles and double rise in 6 hours! Total weight 150g.
Now I have to figure out what to do next.
Wonderful to hear this!! So exciting! I have two favorite simple recipes if you’re looking for some inspiration:
1. Simple Sourdough Focaccia
2.Favorite Sourdough Boule
For two weeks I’ve been trying to get a starter going. I’m using a high protein Canadian unbleached flour (13%), and I get lots of bubbles and it floats when tested. But never ever have I seen a marked change in volume. They say when it floats, it’s ready. Can I use this?
Hi Jack! It’s worth a shot, but if you want to try strengthening your starter a bit more before giving it a go, try this:
• Be aggressive with how much you are discarding: throw away most of it, leaving behind just 2 tablespoons or so. Feed it with equal parts by weight flour and water. Start with 40 g of each or so.
• Use water that you’ve left out overnight to ensure any chlorine has evaporated. (This isn’t always necessary, but it might make a difference.)
• If you can find some organic flour — my store carries small bags of KAF organic flour (maybe there is a Canadian equivalent?) … they’re a little more expensive ($3.49 for 2 lbs) but I use it exclusively for feeding my starter. Organic flour or a little bit of rye flour or some stone milled flour (fresh or locally milled if possible) can make a difference.
Let me know if you give this a go, and if you notice any change in volume. Mark the top of your starter with a rubber band, so you can see if/how much it grows.
I have an Alaskan sourdough that I have tried for a week and it does not seem to want to reactivate. Is it possible to not get it to double? There is some bubbling but I keep splitting it and trying another day. Is it time to pitch it?
I would stick with it Chuck! Try discarding most of it … or if that makes you nervous, transfer 2 tablespoons of it to a clean container. Add equal parts (by weight if possible) flour and water. Stir, cover with a breathable lid, and let it sit. If you are able to get your hands on some organic flour or freshly milled flour, these types of flours work wonders on starters. A little bit of rye flour also works miracles. See how the starter looks after 8-12 hours, then repeat this dumping and feeding process. To keep discard to a minimum, you can use as little as 50 g each flour and water for feedings.
Keep me posted.
Hi – thanks for all your help! I’ve started with my second started using some of my leftover original starter. Is this what you are meant to do? It’s on my bench and I’ve fed it and it’s doubled in size but it still doesn’t float. Should I feed it every day or just leave it out of the fridge and wait for it to float? Thank you.
Hi Irene! OK, I think you should continue this process: Dump out most of your “second” starter and feed it with equal parts (by weight if possible) flour and water (start with 50 g each). Stir it up and let it sit. When it doubles test it again with the float test. If it doesn’t double, repeat this dumping and feeding process. This may take several days or longer. If you can find some organic flour or freshly milled flour, it will help speed things up.
Gearing up to bake a loaf. I pulled my starter from the fridge this morning and fed right away and again this eve. If it floats in the morning am I good to bake?
Also – your notes say to use an bit’ of starter and equal weight flour and water to feed – what weight starter are you using when you feed? Thanks! Also – your moves of shaping your boule were mesmerizing!!
Hi Simone!
If your starter floats, you should be good to go. I do also like to monitor how quickly it doubles in volume after feedings. If it doubles within 6-8 hours, that’s a good sign too.
Typically right now when I feed my starter, I discard most of it, leaving behind 2-3 tablespoons in the vessel. Then I add by weight 60 g each of flour and water.
So glad you liked the shaping vids 😍😍😍
Hello, I fed my starter and it’s now sitting on the counter with a tea towel on it. After the 8-12 hrs is up, should I feed it again or do I always have to discard some first before feeding it? I read I should feed it 3x before baking it.
I would like to bake it within the next day or two.
Hi Christina! It’s really all about how mature your starter is. If you are still in the “building” phase and your starter isn’t yet rising predictably after feedings, I would dump out most of it, and feed it again. If your starter is mature and you want it to be especially active before baking it, you can feed it 2 to 3 times before using it, just keep in mind, your starter will starter to get huge. This is fine. It’s all a matter of what you are comfortable with. I try to keep my starter on the lean side, and I find 1 feeding to be sufficient before baking, but this is just my preference. So, my advice is this: don’t dump it if your starter is mature and active; dump most of it and feed with fresh water and flour if you’re still building up its strength. Let me know if that makes sense.
My starter has more than doubled in size but isn’t floating. I tested it with a tall narrow glass with a spoonful of dough. Can the starter be ready because it has doubled but fails the float test?
Hi Peggy! Possibly. But, I think the float test is a more reliable cue than doubling. I would try discarding most of your starter, and feeding it with equal parts by weight flour and water, mixing it, and letting it rise again. When it doubles, test it again.
How mature is your starter? As in, how many days/weeks old is it?
Hi! I’ve been working on my starter for a couple of weeks now and have been having some issues getting it to float. Right now each time I discard and feed I’m using 50g starter, 50g wheat flour (stone ground), and 50g of white flour. It is doubling in size but not floating. At one point I had two starters going—just to see if less starter to water and flour would help—but the second one with less starter did not double. I’m wondering how much starter you recommend keeping each time you feed, proportionate to the water and flour?
I’m feeding every day, twice a day (based on my starter’s rise and fall). I’m keeping it at room temp in the microwave – except when we need to use the microwave, that is 🙂
Thanks!
Hi Holly! Can you clarify for me? Are you taking 50 g of your starter, transferring it to a new container, and adding 50g wheat flour and 50g white flour? Are you adding any water or just more flour?
What temperature (roughly) is your kitchen?
Hi Alexandra, love your sourdough tips. 🙂 What room temperature do you suggest? And what type of water? I have trouble getting a starter to really bubble up and was wondering if either of those could be the problem. My house varies from 70 summer/68 winter at night to 76 summer/74 winter during the day. My water is softened water that goes through a reverse osmosis system or I do have a regular tap water faucet. I’ve tried many different starters over the years and never can get one to really work. Or could something be affecting the air in my house? I diffuse essential oils. Any advice would be great. Thank you!!!
Hi Tracy! Thanks 😍
What room temperature do you suggest? 68ºF (Upstate New York in the spring … a little warmer in the summer, a little cooler in the winter)
And what type of water? I use tap water. If possible, I use water that has been left to sit out overnight. I have heard that water and the chlorine in water can affect the dough. When you let it sit out overnight, the chlorine will evaporate.
I don’t think the essential oils could affect the starter. Do you think you might be able to find some organic flour? It really helps. A little bit of rye flour can also help get your starter going.
Are you feeding your starter with equal parts by weight flour and water?
Hi Ali,
Thank you!!!
I will use the regular tap water and leave it out overnight. I never thought about leaving it sit out. I was using the RO water because I’d read about the chlorine and thought the RO would remove it, but I don’t really know for sure.
I’m using KA bread flour, but it’s not organic, so I’ll see if I can find organic flour online. I’ll also look for rye flour.
I’m using equal parts starter, water, and flour (30 grams).
Thank you for the tips. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Take Care!!!
Tracy
Perfect! Keep me posted 😍
My starter was working beautifully but this week I pulled from the fridge and have been feeding it twice a day (every 12 hrs) good flour, good water, discarding half. It doubles easily but won’t for the life of it float! What could be wrong? Just continue process and be patient?
Hi! I would be more aggressive with how much you are discarding. Throw away nearly all, leaving just 2-3 tablespoons behind; then feed with equal parts by weight flour and water. Start with 50 g each. If you can get some organic flour or freshly milled stone milled flour, that is ideal.
But yes, be patient. How old is your starter?
It took 2 weeks to start and then I’ve had it and baked it with it for about a month. I just did a float test and it worked! But its the middle of the afternoon for me so I’m hoping it will be okay to wait until this evening to start making the dough?
OK, great! Sorry, I’m likely too late here. What did you end up doing? Sometimes waiting a few hours is fine, sometimes it’s not. When you see the starter beginning to fall, that’s a sign it’s beyond its peak. Sometimes I find if I see my starter peaking at 2 or 3 pm, but I’m not ready to mix, I’ll deflate it a bit; then add a small amount (20 g) each flour and water, and it typically will rise again very quickly and be ready for me to mix after dinner.
Ali, I think I had just forgotten how long I’d had it out of the refridgerator. In the morning it didn’t float. I stirred it up, left it and by afternoon it did. So I guess it just needed more time!
Ok, awesome, glad it started behaving for you 😍
Hiya, so during this time in lockdown I’ve had sooo much time on my hands .. so I’ve nurtured my starter, I too didn’t like throwing the discard away.. I ended up with 10 babies!!! Lol in the end I gave them to friends and relatives who are enjoying the process!! I made alsorts cinnamon buns being a big favourite in the family.. I’m feeding my starter each day.. maybe missing a day as I’ve not got it in the fridge.. I’m now noticing that it stinks!!! The family say it smells like stinkie socks.. lol. It’s still active, bubbling nicely.. am I doing everything right.. also, I put 75g flour to 75g Luke warm water.. is this good? I’ve tried making crackers from the discard but just didn’t seem as thick as the crackers on the recipe.. I throw half the discard away.. your help with my confidence in becoming a sourdough pro would be much appreciated xxx
Hi Vanessa! If it stinks, I would discard most of it (more than half), and feed it with fresh flour and water. And yes, 75 g each flour and water is good, but you definitely can get away with feeding it less if you want to keep your starter on the leaner side/if you don’t want to use so much flour at one time.
This is the advice I always give when people want to strengthen their starter: be aggressive with how much you are discarding: throw away most of it, leaving behind just 2 tablespoons or so. Feed it with equal parts by weight flour and water. Start with 40 g of each or so. Use water that you’ve left out overnight to ensure any chlorine has evaporated. (This isn’t always necessary, but it might make a difference.) If you can find some organic flour — my store carries small bags of KAF organic flour … they’re a little more expensive ($3.49 for 2 lbs) but I use it exclusively for feeding my starter. Organic flour or a little bit of rye flour or some stone milled flour (fresh or locally milled if possible) can make a difference.
Hi Alexandra,
I have an active starter going and it is working well in bakes so far – thanks! If I feed it in the morning and then use it in a recipe when it is at peak height (usually about 5 hours later), do I need to feed what’s left right away or can I leave until I would have otherwise given it a feeding (about 10-12 hours after the first feeding)?
Thank you
Hi Beth!
You do not need to feed it right away, but you may want to. This is what I like to do: If after I use my starter in a recipe, I’ve depleted most of it, then I’ll replenish it right away with a little bit of flour and water (40 g each) and stick it in the fridge. I keep a very lean amount of starter on hand, so this is what I prefer to do. If you have a good amount of starter on hand, and you would prefer to stick to your feeding schedule, then you definitely can leave it. I’ve left my starter for 24 hours at room temperature without feeding it … you know, when life gets in the way … and it looks a little funky, but once I discard most of it, and replenish it with fresh water and flour, it perks right up.
Let me know if this clarifies or if you have any other questions.
Thanks!
Hi, loving your guidance and recipes! Last weekend I successfully made your focaccia and a sourdough loaf – one very impressed family!
But my question relates to storage containers. When I am activating my starter, I let it sit with a cloth or paper towel over it. But when it is in the fridge between bakes, it has a screw on lid. Is this correct? I noticed in one of your posts you mention a ‘breathable lid’. Can you elaborate? Thanks
Hi Nicola! Truthfully I don’t know what is right, but I have heard horror stories about glass (or other) containers exploding due to having a tight lid on top. So I always cover my starter with a breathable lid. I have a couple of these that I love. If you have had no issues with your screw-on lid, keep doing it!
Wonderful to hear about the focaccia and sourdough loaf 😍😍😍
Hi, I’ve just discovered your site and it’s by far my fav so far! Your mothers peasant bread is amazing!! Thank you! The reason I tried it is because I’m totally fed-up with my sourdough disasters!!
I have what I think is a healthy starter – bubbles, floats etc. but when I feed it, I don’t put in as much water as I find it makes it very runny and I have a problem with my dough being too wet (which I’ll post a question about on that post!) Is it ok to make my starter thicker or would it be better to have a runnier starter and hold back a little on the water when making the dough?
Oh, and I hate to waste the discard so I make crackers with mine and they’re fab!
Many thanks, Marion.
Thanks for writing, Marion! I’m sorry to hear about all of your sourdough troubles … it’s truly frustrating. Can you tell me a little bit more about your starter? Did you make it from scratch? Are you feeding it equal parts by weight flour and water? You definitely can make it thicker — sourdough, I think, is all about making little decisions and tweaks that work for you and your environment.
There it is, thank you!
Yes, I started it from scratch then got a little help from a friend’s. I admit that it’s been fed various flours over the months, but has always seemed quite healthy. I make a new levain when I want to try a loaf and usually feed it 1:1:1. But it always seems runny – healthy, bubbly and floats, but runny. So I started holding back on the water.
My first 2 loaves were actually quite good (although the dough was a bit sticky) but it’s gone downhill from there. At first I didn’t realise that you should use your starter when it’s at it’s peak so I did that with my recent loaf…which turned out the worst one so far! Looked like a flying saucer! 😀
After reading your posts, I’ve started 2 new levains: 20g starter, 50g rye and 50g water and the other is with 50g strong white bread flour. I live in Scotland and my flat isn’t that warm so I’m keeping them in the microwave with just the light on…will see how they get on and try your recipe later.
Sorry for the long comments, but yours is the first site I’ve come across where someone is kind enough to reply to my questions; thank you for being so helpful, this is so frustrating! 😀
Marion 🙂
Sure thing! Happy to help … when I can 🙂 🙂 🙂
OK, this is all great to hear. My suggestion is to start with the bread flour one … rye flour is wonderful for starters and lends a delicious flavor, but it can be a little tricky to work with.
So strange that the loaf you made with your peak starter turned out poorly. I wouldn’t let that deter you, however. After you feed your starter with equal parts flour and water, let it rise, and when it doubles or nearly doubles (4 to 6 hours later, ideally), that’s when you should use it.
Try that and let me know how the mixing process and bulk fermentation goes — I’m curious as to when you do your stretches and folds if you find the dough gains strength and elasticity? And how long does it take for your dough to double in volume? And when you shape the dough into a boule, do you feel the dough has strength and elasticity?
Help please. My starter is really giving me trouble. I’ve had it for about 3 months and have made countless loaves of bread, waffles, pancakes, and so on. I feed it regularly and don’t usually refrigerante it, although I have 2x for a week each time. I didn’t have any trouble bringing it back. Recently it is not working out. My loaves don’t rise. The starter smells fine and is bubbly but does not double. The only changes have been flour brand (I switched to an organic white from a conventional white) and it’s now very hot. The kitchen where I keep it is often one of the hottest rooms in the house. Thank you for any input.
Hi Joy!
This is the advice I always give: be aggressive with how much you are discarding: throw away most of it, leaving behind just 2 tablespoons or so. Feed it with equal parts by weight flour and water. Start with 40 g of each or so. Use water that you’ve left out overnight to ensure any chlorine has evaporated. (This isn’t always necessary, but it might make a difference.)
Great to hear you are using organic flour.
Mark the top of the vessel with a rubber band and note the time. Let me know if you see any progress.
Hi Alexandra, Loving your site!
So I have a start that I have had for years (I keep some dried out and some frozen). Currently I am noticing it double in about 3 hours, so super fast.
Anything wrong with that?
Hi Greg! So nice to hear this… thank you 😍
Nothing wrong with that! How nice you have such an active, vibrant starter! That’s half the battle.
Ali I received my starter from a local bakery. I was told to feed it with equal parts, by weight, of starter, flour and water. I do that and have an active starter but is that correct?
Thanks!
Valerie
Hi Valerie! There is no right way to do it — if your starter is active, keep doing what you’re doing. I feed my starter with equal parts by weight flour and water, and when it doubles, which is usually within 4-6 hours, it’s ready to go.
How soon can I use it after I’ve refrigerated the starter.
After you refrigerate it and remove it, you’ll want to discard most of it or transfer a couple of tablespoons to a new vessel; then feed it with flour and water. Let it rise. If it doubles in volume within 4-6 hours, it’s strong and ready to go. If it doesn’t, I would discard some of it, and feed it again, and see how long it takes to rise. Once you have a starter doubling in volume within 4-6 hours of a feeding, it’s ready to go.
Ali, I have an active starter (very tiny) that I keep fed every week mostly when I bake – which seems to be once a week. I would like to try your sourdough boule but did not see in the recipe anywhere how to feed the starter so that I end up with 100g of Levain to use in the recipe. Can you please give me the proportions I should use to feed my starter before I am ready to bake so I can end up with 100 gm. and a little leftover? I have been baking a smaller boule which calls for a 10:40:40 ratio. Thanks!
Purnima
Hi Purnima! I just posted a new blog post with information on how I feed and maintain my starter as well as sourdough FAQ’s and troubleshooting. Find it here: 4 Common Sourdough Mistakes
Thanks Ali!
I am quite excited to try your recipe today!
Purnima
Hi Ali,
I am so thankful for your thoughtful information on all things sour dough. This is the first time that I have not “killed” the starter given to me. Following your suggetsion, I used King Arthur’s starter. Your Focaccia recipe was fabulous and the Easy Sour Dough Bread recipe turned out well ( I hope to encorporate more air in future loaves).
I have a question about my sour dough starter and your sour dough pizza recipe. After a week in the refrigerator, my starter consistently has a “crust” on top of it and some dried flakes of starter on the edge of the container; below the “crust” it is doughy, similar to what I see in your videos. When feeding the starter from the refrigerator, I have tried just using the “soft” starter below the crust and tried stirring the “crust” into the starter before I feed it, with no noticable difference in results. The pizza dough balls developed a similar crust after 3 days in the refrigerator. The pizza dough did not rise very much at all after I formed the round discs and left it on the counter for 30 minutes before cooking on a pizza steel.
Any thoughts? Is the “crust” okay? Should I try to stir it in to the starter? Is there something that I need to do differently maintaining the starter?
Thank you,
Allison
Hi Allison! So great to hear all of this. Regarding your questions:
“After a week in the refrigerator, my starter consistently has a “crust” on top of it and some dried flakes of starter on the edge of the container; below the “crust” it is doughy, similar to what I see in your videos. “
Question: What kind of a lid are you using on your storage vessel in the fridge? Is it airtight? Or breathable.
“When feeding the starter from the refrigerator, I have tried just using the “soft” starter below the crust and tried stirring the “crust” into the starter before I feed it, with no noticable difference in results. “
I do the same. I stir in the dried bits from the side. The only time I have found a very hard crust on top of my starter is when I’ve used a breathable lid in the fridge and left it there for too many days. If the crust is really hard, I would probably just throw it away. If it is just somewhat hard, it will eventually dissolve/re-hydrate in the starter.
“The pizza dough balls developed a similar crust after 3 days in the refrigerator. “
Again, what type of vessel are you storing the balls in?
“The pizza dough did not rise very much at all after I formed the round discs and left it on the counter for 30 minutes before cooking on a pizza steel.”
This sounds as though the dough might have over fermented. Next time, I would try ending the bulk fermentation sooner … stop it when the dough increases in volume by 50%; then divide and shape the balls and get them in the fridge.