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You can make a starter for bread at home out of thin air! Learn how to make sourdough starter with this step-by-step recipe. Then use it in our best sourdough bread!
Are you looking to start baking sourdough bread at home? As part of our series How to Make Sourdough Bread, we’re showing you how to make sourdough starter at home!
A sourdough starter is essential for making sourdough bread. You can order one online or find one from a friend, but why not make it at home? It’s simple and requires very little hands on time. Wait for 5 days, and you’ll have grown your own starter—out of thin air!
Buy it: To shortcut the process, you can buy a sourdough starter instead. We’ve tested this one and it works well.
What is sourdough starter?
A sourdough starter, also called levain, is a fermented dough filled with natural, wild yeast and a bacteria called lactobacilli. The starter is what makes sourdough bread rise. Instead of using active dry yeast like in other bread recipes, sourdough bread uses a starter. Along with leavening the bread, the starter also brings that classic sour flavor.
A starter is literally full of life! There are 50 million yeasts and 5 billion lactobacilli bacteria in every teaspoon of starter dough. Sound weird? Actually, humans have been doing this for thousands of years; the process is as old as bread itself. For over 5,000 years, humans have mixed flour and water, waited for it to ferment, and then used it as leavening for bread.
Interested in the science behind sourdough starter? Read more here.
How to make sourdough starter: read this first
Making this sourdough starter recipe is a simple process. You simply mix together flour and water, and then wait, wait, and wait some more for the yeast and bacteria to do their thing! It’s a 5 to 6 day process that mostly consists of waiting.
For our sourdough starter recipe, we use a mix of whole wheat and all-purpose flour to give the start a jump start. Once the starter is active and vibrant, we switch to all purpose flour for regular feeding of the starter.
That’s right, we said feeding a starter! Since this little dude is alive, you’re going to have to feed him or her regularly. See our post on How to Feed a Sourdough Starter. You may want to give him a name too! (Ours is named Starty. Original, right?)
Now, jump right to our full recipe for how to make sourdough starter!
Sourdough starter ingredients and equipment
Luckily, you don’t need too many special tools for making this starter recipe. (Of course, you’ll need special tools when we get to How to Make Sourdough Bread!) Here’s what you need for making sourdough starter at home:
- A covered jar to store your sourdough starter (any will work: we use this one)
- Whole wheat flour
- All purpose flour
- Filtered water, at room temperature (we use this pitcher to filter our tap water)
- Kitchen scale (here’s the one we use)
What to make with sourdough starter
One more thing before we get to the recipe: what can you make with starter? Homemade sourdough bread, obviously! Here’s our sourdough bread recipe, complete with a printable to make the process pretty simple.
Outside of bread, there are all sorts of things you can make with sourdough starter: pancakes, waffles, cookies, pizza crust, and muffins. Check out some uses here: Beyond the Loaf: The Many Uses of Sourdough.
Related posts
This post is one of three in our series on making sourdough bread:
Dietary notes
This sourdough starter recipe is vegan, vegetarian, plant-based, and dairy-free.
Frequently asked questions
It usually takes about 5-7 days for a sourdough starter to become active and ready to use. However, the time can vary depending on the temperature and humidity of your environment.
A mature starter will double in size within 4-6 hours after feeding, have a bubbly and slightly sour aroma, and float in water when you drop a small spoonful in.
Once your starter is active, you can store it in the refrigerator. You’ll need to feed it once a week to keep it alive and healthy.
Go to our post on How to Feed a Sourdough Starter, which has tips for troubleshooting.
How to Make Sourdough Starter
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 days
- Total Time: 5 days
- Yield: 1 starter
Description
This sourdough bread starter recipe shows how to make sourdough starter from scratch. No need to order online, you can make a starter for bread right at home!
Ingredients
- Whole wheat flour
- All-purpose flour
- Room temperature filtered water
Instructions
- Day 1: Use a kitchen scale to add 25 grams whole wheat flour, 25 grams all-purpose flour, and 50 grams of water. Stir to combine. The mixture should look like a thick paste. Cover the jar and place in a warm location for 24 hours. The temperature of your room can have a big effect on the speed at which your starter grows. Ideally, you want to be between 68 and 72 degrees. The starter will not flourish in cooler temperatures.
- Day 2: You may or may not see a few bubbles starting to appear in the starter. Either way, discard about half of the starter and add the same ingredients to the jar: 25 grams whole wheat flour, 25 grams all-purpose flour, and 50 grams of water. Stir to combine. Cover the jar and place in a warm location for 24 hours.
- Day 3: You will likely see a few more bubbles today. The starter should start to smell a little bit sour (in a good way!) Again, discard half of the starter. Today, you’ll switch to using only all-purpose flour. Add 50 grams all-purpose flour and 50 grams of water. Stir to combine. Cover the jar and place in a warm location for 24 hours.
- Day 4: You should see a lot more bubbles and the starter should increase in volume. Follow the same process: discard half of the starter. Add 50 grams all-purpose flour and 50 grams of water. Stir to combine. Cover the jar and place in a warm location for 24 hours.
- Day 5: The starter will be very bubbly and double in volume. It will have a funky sour smell that indicates the magic of sourdough is ready to happen! This starter is ready to use! Follow our instructions for feeding and maintaining a starter to keep it alive on the long term.
Notes
Depending on your room temperature conditions, it might take several more days of the same process to get the starter to be really bubbly and active!
- Category: Baking
- Method: Fermented
- Cuisine: French
Hi! I began my starter, and the first 2 days were going great, but now the days where I’m discarding half and then feeding again, it’s not growing / getting bubbly! It has the brown liquid on the top and it smells like how it should, but it’s not doubling in size! Any recommendations? I live in 80 degree climate so it shouldn’t be a weather issue. Any recommendations would help :)
This happens sometimes! Discard a little more than half next time so it has more to consume. Sometimes it takes just a few extra days to really get going.
Hi, I am new and this is my first attemp to make a sourdough starter. Each day I get a smooth hard layer on the top of the mix. It didn’t rise or produce any bubbles either. I discarded the hard top layer and just added the flour and water to what was remaining but still no rise or bubbles. What am I doing wrong?
. . . excellent a pair of healthy people . . . happiness and long life . . . thanks for sharing . . .
Hi,
I just read through your directions on making the sourdough starter,, simple and strait forward! Now looking forward to giving it a try , Thankyou for sharing!
Have you ever tried a gluten free version? I made your wonderful sourdough bread for my husband and he loves it but I have celiac disease and can’t eat that. It smells soooo good!
I’m sorry! We don’t have any experience with gluten free.
As I said on your message board, the starter was easy and worked so well. I hope the bread comes out similar to the real San Francisco thing. Great instructions. Watched the video several times. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Best instructions I’ve found online! What would you recommend if one forgets to feed the starter on day 3 of this process? Discard or feed ASAP and hope for the best? This is hypothetical, of course, because how could anyone drop the ball on only day 3!? 😉
Hi! You should be able to just keep on rolling with a feeding. However, if it smells strongly of acetone, toss and start over! Hopefully you’ll be eating fresh bread in no time :)
Hi Alex,
It’s been so hot here in Texas that I haven’t baked any sourdough in approximately 3 months. I had reserved some of my starter in a jar tightly covered in the fridge. I got it out today and was going to feed it and start it up again. It had a small amount (1 tsp) of brown liquid on the top which I tipped out. When I took the lid off and smelled it, it had a very strong smell of alcohol. I wanted to know if it it still safe to use. If so, what would your recommendation be to begin feeding it again, i.e. flour to water ratio, what type of four, and tap or filtered water? Also, how many times a day will I need to feed it in order to revive it? Thanks so much!
Hi!
Once you smell that acetone smell you need to start over building a starter from scratch.
If you want to save it for long term next time, you can dry it out using these instructions: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2015/05/01/putting-sourdough-starter-hold
Well, I need More than luck. I need to know why this is not working. I took the first batch to Nine days and Nothing. No bubbles Now, no maturity, nothing, just a sour runny mess. the second batch was good for a day longer, but it then did the same thing. Obviously, I have failed by doing something terribly wrong, but I do Not know what. I had my wife check me as I went each day, and she is a great baker, but she logged Nothing wrong.
I tried to create a SD starter twice in the last two weeks. I get to the third day or fourth day and it turns Real runny. No thickness, No stickiness. It smells sour, but there is No stretch in the surface at all. It just dies! I need help.
Hi! It’s normal for it to weaken around the 3rd or 4th day and you just need to keep feeding it for it to become a fully mature starter. If it’s really stinky and liquid, it is probably a bit warm in your house and you might need to feed it a little sooner than 24 hours. Good luck!
Can someone anyone respond to this question?
Hi! Sourdough starters require cultivating a wild bacteria and yeast. There can be variability based on flour, temperature, climate and other environmental factors. This post is our best attempt to explain the process. Thanks for reading!
I have a question about making the starter. You say to cover the mixture. Do you mean cover air tight? I have seen other starter recipes that say to cover with cheese cloth so that it is exposed to the air and natural yeasts in the air. Can you please comment on this? Thank you
So cool that everyone’s into sourdough now – my starter is about 10 yrs old – he’s called ‘Stay Puft’, y’know, from ghost busters, lol.
Rye is a great thing to feed your starter, even if you don’t want to make rye bread. This is because it contains a really good balance of nutrients for a healthy ratio and partnership between the yeasts and the LABs. Even a small spoonful in mostly white flour, will ensure an active and healthy starter. I’ve been feeding 100% rye for a few years now – then I just make my bread from whatever flour I fancy.
When I started it, I dropped in two currants, as they have a good yeast on them, as well as some LABs. As soon as it bubbled, I took them out.
If you want to take a break from breadmaking and still keep your starter, it will freeze well – just feed it immediately before freezing.
Happy breadmaking!
Thank you so much for your instructions, my friend had given me some of her starter but I didn’t know to feed it so it died and I had to start from scratch. This is my first attempt at sourdough, at baking really lol but it turned out really good. I named my starter “Jack” as in “See Jack help me make bread” lol
Haha! Glad it worked out!
Thanks for the helpful recipe! I’ve been following your advice for 6 days. I have been feeding my starter daily in the morning. Last night, I checked on it and it had nearly doubled in size and finally passed the float test for the first time! I wasn’t ready to start baking since it was quite late. I fed it again this morning and have been monitoring it today but I fear it won’t be ready for baking until late again. How can I make some adjustments to get it on a different schedule? I may be over thinking this but could use some advice! :)
Hi! When it’s good and active, you can put it in the refrigerator until the evening. Then, take it out and feed it so that it’s ready the next morning (this method lines up with “Day 1” on our sourdough recipe https://www.acouplecooks.com/sourdough-bread-recipe-simplified-guide/#tasty-recipes-23323 ). Happy baking!
Would this starter recipe work with whole grain spelt flour? Thank you
It should, but I haven’t tested it!
Thank you so much .nd what about the 50 gms extra wheat flour which I added on the 3rd day is that fine.
Just add 50 grams extra water!
Hii by mistake on 3rd I added 50 gm of wheat flour nd 50 gms of all purpose flour I was only suppose to add 50 gms of all purpose flour plus little more thn 50 gms of water. do I have to start over again .1 more thing my 2 nd day starter was with bubble but 3rd day there were no bubble
Hi! It’s normal for the bubbling to slow down on the third day. You can just add more water to the starter — you just need it to be equal parts.
Hello there! Thank you for the recipe.
I’m in my 3 day and I have almost 4 time the volume. I don’t know why but it is crazy…. could I use the sourdoughs now?
Thanks
Ángela
If it’s still strong tomorrow you should be good to go!
Thanks for the advice. I fed it and it started bubbling yesterday. It grew about double overnight with a lot more bubbles. It looks like the liquid is now on the bottom
Hello, I started mine about 24 hours ago. Still looks like the solids are on the bottom with the liquid on top with no bubbles. The temperature has been around 65° in the day and 60 overnight. Should I wait for it to change before I start feeding it?
I’d just go ahead and feed it. At that temperature though, it may take a few extra days to get really strong!
Hey there! I tried to make starter last week. While I was feeding it with whole wheat flour and AP flour it actually performed well with little bubbles and increasing in volume some at the end of day 2/beginning of day 3. I started feeding with AP flour only on day 3/4/5 and noticed that there were very Few bubbles and the volume did not increase at all. By day 5 of no expansion and the starter Was smelling a little like nail polish, so I decided to toss it and try again. I’m on day 3 of the second attempt and I feel the same thing is happening again! Not as active when I add the AP flour. By day 3 I should see a little more volume, no? Certainly by day 4? I really want to make this work so I would appreciate any and all suggestions. Thanks!
You GUYS! It’s working!!! I kept feeding it and it took about 8 days total. It was doubled in size and very bubbly this morning. I fed it this morning and it’s already doubled in volume about 3 hours after ? going to make dough today to ferment overnight. Sourdough tomorrow! ???
Hi
I tried this and have completed the first shaping. It;s a mess ;(
while I used rice flour to coat the dough and my hands, when i tried to shape with the dough scrapper, it was all messy and sticky. It’s nothing like yours…what could have gone wrong. I followed all the steps ritually. THank you
Hi! Is your starter relatively new? The bread may have needed more time to proof. Also, the bread flour is important for strength, depending on your brand you might need a higher percentage.
Hi there! Two quick questions: I just found your post, but I’m already on Day 3 of making the sourdough starter recipe from King Arthur Flour’s website. I want to transition to your guide because you call for less flour, and flour is hard to find in the grocery stores right now (and because your bread looks amazing!). I’ve been feeding the starter 113g of flour and 113g of water. Is it okay if, starting tomorrow, I discard half of my starter and transition to using your amounts of 50g flour and 50g water?
And second question: I only have whole wheat flour and bread flour right now. Do you recommend that I feed it the bread flour only? Or a mix?
Thanks!
Emily
Hi there! Two quick questions: I just found your post, but I’m already on Day 3 of making the sourdough starter recipe from King Arthur Flour’s website. I want to transition to your guide because you call for less flour, and flour is hard to find in the grocery stores right now (and because your bread looks amazing!). I’ve been feeding the starter 113g of flour and 113g of water. Is it okay if, starting tomorrow, I discard half of my starter and transition to using your amounts of 50g flour and 50g water?
And second question: I only have whole wheat flour and bread flour right now. Do you recommend that I feed it the bread flour only? Or a mix?
Thanks!
Emily
Yes, you can switch without issue! I’d do a 50/50 mix of bread and whole wheat.
Hi! I am making my first starter with a (modified) version of your recipe! I am using a mix of Italian wheat bread flour and normal bread flour, it is the only flour I have since everything at the grocery stores is sold out. I chose to do half and half for the first day. I am wondering why you switch to only all purpose flour on day 3. Should I not be using bread/wheat flour after the first couple days?
Also, what do you think is most important to make great sourdough bread? The flour used in the starter or the flour it is fed with or the flour it is cooked with? This question has been killing me so any expertise you have would be great!
Thank you!
Hi! The whole wheat flour at the beginning is useful to get the starter going, but not necessary once it’s active. The quality of the flour in both the starter and the final dough are important and will adjust the final outcome. Good luck!
Is it necessary to discard all of the starter except the one tablespoon the night before starting the bread? I feel like my starter was doing really well until I did this step. Could I just take the 80g for my bread from my starter when its nice and bubbly and sour? Thanks!! :)
Yes, that would work. For our regular feeding, we only use 1 tablespoon because a fully mature starter will grow rather quickly!
Hi there– I started making a starter about almost a week ago, When I woke up on day three, it seemed to have doubled or tripled in size and be very active, but ever since then, it doesn’t hasn’t been expanding like it did previously, even though I’ve been feeding it the way mentioned in your tutorial? Did I miss the peak? Is there a way I can revive it, or is it best to start from the beginning? I’m surprised that it could be ready to bake with that quickly if it tripled in size after only 2-3 days. Thanks!
This is normal! It often gets a burst of life after 2-3 days and then calms down a bit. It should regain vigor after day 5!
Shelley – take Alex’s advice – there’s a lot of flexibility. You don’t need to feed twice a week if you use the starter every couple of weeks and store it in the fridge. That will keep it alive. When you make your dough, mix the starter and water and flour and make a sponge. When that’s bubbly, put a little aside for next time and then finish your dough. I usually let it sit out for a day to make sure it’s active and then just pop it in the fridge until I want it. If you don’t use it for a while it will get a dark liquid on top. That’s fine. Just mix it back in when you use it.
Jennifer – you want your starter to be only flour and water. So if you make a sponge with it, just use those two ingredients and once it bubbles, save some for your next adventure. Then add whatever you want. If you add during your first rise, depending on what you add, it may affect the time. It’s usually easiest to add mix-ins once the dough has risen the first time. Except for sugar, which can be messy and which I add right away.
If you want a softer crust, you can store in a bag but that will just soften the hard crust you already have, it won’t really be a soft crust. Alex’s recipe is giving you a delicious artisanal bread with a crispy crust.
To get a softer crust from the get-go you need a different technique. Best is to use the tangzhong technique, which is what makes those breads in Chinese and Japanese shops so soft. To do it, you mix some flour and liquid and cook it into a custard that you fold into your dough. Measuring by weight, you take five to ten percent of your flour and mix that with five times that amount of liquid – either milk or water. Cook that on the stove to make it into a custard. You will have slightly less flour in your recipe but that’s won’t matter much. You will also have a lot less liquid and that will matter so you need to make that up. Depending on your preferred hydration, make sure you use enough water to get that same level with the reduced amount of flour.
Or more easily, just keep your original proportions exactly the same but make the custard based on that. For example, say you were making a loaf with 500g of flour and you wanted hydration of 70%. That’s 375g water. Still do that. Separately you calculate that 6% of 500 is 30g of flour so you measure out 30g of additional flour that you put into a saucepan. Then you add five times as much water, or 150 grams of water. Cook that into a thick paste and cool it. When it’s cool, throw it in your bowl with the rest of your ingredients and make your bread normally. The bread and the crust will be MUCH softer and the good thing is, your bread will also last longer. You can experiment with different proportions and different ingredients. I’m sure there’s some info about that technique on this site. I used the ratio above this afternoon as a matter of fact and it’s now rising in the fridge over night. Rather than soften a thick, crispy crust, you’ll make a softer crust to begin with.
But that wasn’t the point of this particular recipe so apologies to Alex.
Hah! Thank you for the reply!
Pay day 1, was good. Day 2 was great. Day 3 using white a/p flour, nothing happened and fell flat. Day 4, went back to w/w and a/p flour. It is day 5 and nothing going on? Kept in same space the whole time, so I know that is not the problem because it was fine day 1 and 2. Using same room temp bottled water and same flour. What do I do?
Sometimes the starter just doesn’t take! I’d start over — sorry it didn’t work!
After trying many recipes for sourdough, I finally found success with yours! It came out great but I am always looking for ways to improve. I was curious if I were to add sugar, or garlic, what stage would I add it at? Also, my daughter has new braces and really struggles with the tough crust. How can I get a softer crust?
Glad it worked!
For mix-ins like walnuts or garlic, add on top of dough before folding in step 5. I’m not sure if sugar would work, but you could try the same.
If you’re looking for a softer crust, store it in a plastic bag rather than wrapped in cloth!
What is the appropriate way to transition from Day 5 “Ready to bake” to the feeding schedule of twice a week, or as often as bread is being made. This is the part that I find is always left out between Making a Sourdough Starter and Feeding a Sourdough Starter.
Do I go straight from Day 5, bubbling and healthy, into the fridge? Do I use the starter and put the remainder in the fridge? Do I feed and then refrigerate? This is seriously where every blogger and cookbook writer just expects us readers to guess right. I would greatly appreciate a little guidance here.
Bubbling and healthy can be used in the sourdough, or straight into the fridge for feed schedule. Once the starter is alive and well, there’s a lot of room for flexibility in your schedule. Enjoy baking!
I have been I just didn’t know if that would ruin it or not. It looks like it is growing and getting bubbles so hopefully it works! Thank you!
So I’m on day two with my started and both day one and day two after measuring out the flour and water and then mixing them together the consistency is very dry and not like a thick paste at all. I’m assuming I’m adding too much flour but I’m measuring it out with a scale and doing the amounts your recipe says. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.
That’s so weird! You can definitely add a little water to loosen it up.
I had my starter ready but be away for the next 3 days. Can i keep my starter? and how should i keep my starter.
Please advise.
You can store it in the fridge for at least a week! Read more here: https://www.acouplecooks.com/how-to-feed-sourdough-starter/
Is the float test appropriate to tell if the sourdough starter is ready to use?
Yes, the float test will work!
Hi,last night I started my stater for next day bread making, so far it doesn’t seem to double I’ve got 5 more hours to go.
What do I do if it doesn’t double
It needs to be very bubbly and active to be used in the sourdough. Move it to warmer area if you want to speed it up!
Emma – you’re getting two things. One is the yeast, one is bacteria. They have a symbiotic relationship – the yeast produces gas and alcohol and the bacteria also eats the sugars like the yeast does, but produces a lot of the flavors and aromas. I’ve sometimes succeeded in capturing only a bacteria and no yeast. But depending on what combo you get, you’ll end up with something that may smell like parmesan cheese or even vomit – they are actually similar odors caused by many of the same molecules. Sometimes that aroma calms down, sometimes not. But the flavor and aroma of the finished bread is not necessarily going to be bad at all. There are many sourdough starters around and you can even trade them on line and all of them have something just a little different to offer. If you haven’t changed the flour/water by day three, take a spoonful of it, mix it with some new flour and water, and discard the rest. Sometimes that kickstarts the process. When I start a new starter, I just use a couple tablespoons of flour and water until I get something I like. I’ve started many over the years, partly because in the summer I don’t bake as much and once I found out how easy it was, I never worried about losing one. And it never mattered to me to have one going for years and years and that’s good, since I’ve moved around the country quite a bit over the past few years. You should be OK. If nothing happens, just try again. Maybe use a different flour – something whole wheat and not something that’s bleached.
Hello! I am on day three, this is the second starter I’ve made (the first one went horrible and smelled so bad I gagged, a different recipe that I shall never look back to), and it’s starting to smell unpleasant. Not horrible, but I would not like to smell it. Is this ok? I also love the descriptive guide, very helpful to a struggling beginner like me.
Yes, it’s normal for it to spell a little bit funky. Good luck!
how many ounces does the jar for the starter have to be?
Hi! A 16 ounce jar is plenty.
You don’t have to discard it. You can use it for something else. The point is that there are various yeasts and bacteria around and if you get one that works, you want to give it a chance to dominate. So you provide new flour and water for a few iterations until you can see that it’s functioning right. Then don’t discard if you don’t want to. Since my original post, I’ve made several loaves using the starter I just created. I have some pizza dough in the fridge at the moment and have not discarded anything. Just saved a few spoons of sponge each time.
The very first times you make a starter, you should discard, or pour off, some of the starter until you can get a consistent reaction. That may take three or four or five times until your preferred yeast dominates the reaction. Then you don’t need to discard anything any more. And you don’t need to discard by pouring down the garbage disposal – you can use the discarded bit for pancakes or whatever other thing you want. It’s just that you’re not 100 pct confident that it will contain enough of your preferred yeast to raise your dough.
What is the purpose of discarding some of your starter? Is it because you will have too much later down the road? I dont understand why you should discard some everyday…?
Yes! If you aren’t using your starter you’ll just end up with way too much if you don’t discard.
Why do you have to throw aasy half the starter? Can’t you use it to make as notger starter to give awat
You can definitely do this!
When making bread with a starter do you have to also use yeast? How much starter do you use if no added yeast?
We use the starter in our sourdough bread recipe. You need to find a recipe that specifically calls for starter. Here’s ours: https://www.acouplecooks.com/sourdough-bread-recipe-simplified-guide/
You guys over-complicate things. A whole article about how to make a starter? Here’s how you do it.
Mix roughly equal amounts of flour and water together. No need to weigh them or to be accurate at all. I use about a half cup of each. You can use more or you can use less. Set the mix on a countertop or dresser somewhere that’s between 60F and 90F.
It will separate. The flour will sink and the water will be on top. That’s OK. Eventually it will start to form little bubbles. That can take anywhere from 12 hours to three or four days. Then it will develop into a sponge and will rise up in the container. Once that happens, let it start to sink back down and mix in some more flour and water, roughly the same amount you started with. The next day, when that mix has bubbled up, discard half of it and add the same amount of flour and water. After doing this four or five times, the yeast will be strong enough to use in your baking.
That’s it. No need to use filtered or purified water or sterilized equipment or scales or measured amounts of anything. You can use enough flour to make the mix into a paste or into a batter.
Every time you use it, you will be mixing it into new flour and water so whatever you’re making, before adding any ingredients other than flour and water, save a spoonful of the mixed together flour, water, and starter for your next bake. Set that aside in a little container to proof. Then you can add salt or oil or whatever else you want to finish your other work. This is how my grandmother made bread when she was growing up and for decades after. It’s how her grandmother made it and hers before.
You can use any type of wheat flour, but the best idea is to use a whole wheat flour. My grandmother used rye, because that’s what they grew. They had to make their own flour. If you have whole rye, that will work as well. You don’t need to mix flours and you certainly don’t need to mix whole wheat and all purpose flour.
If you don’t bake every couple of days, keep it in a covered jar or container in the fridge. You don’t need to feed it unless you’re going to leave it for a few months. You don’t need to feed it regularly.
When you keep it in the fridge, it will separate. That’s OK. The liquid may turn brown. That’s OK too.
If you get mold on it, try to pour the mold off or scrape it off and get some of the starter underneath to start a new batch. Discard the rest. You may be able to save it. But you may have to start again. Mold is a bad thing.
This was hilarious and helpful!!!
Best advise I’ve received yet. Thank you!! ?
You forgot the link to your video. “But first, here’s a video about the process” But no link.
Hi! The video is embedded just below that paragraph!
I’m on my second attempt to make the starter. When I use both whole wheat and all purpose flour the starter is bubbly and looks great! The day I switch to all purpose flour only, my starter looks like it starts to die. All bubbles disappear and it just falls flat and looks watery. How do I fix that?
Hi! This is normal, just keep regular feedings for a few days and it should spring back to life!
Hi I love your website! Great job!! It is so nice to have videos and simple step by step instructions to learn this ancient tradition! Thanks!
So on the morning of day 3 my starter was bubbly and doubled in size! It was awesome, then I switched over from using half whole wheat flour to using all purpose flour only, Day 4 it had hardly any bubbles, Day 5 it was slightly bubbly and there is a little liquid on top (it did get very warm here yesterday) should I just keep going? Or should I go back to using half and half whole wheat and all purpose flour? I should wait until its all bubbly and doubles in volume again before baking with it right?
Hi! It’s pretty normal for it to have a really active day and then go back to less activity. I’d switch to the feeding a starter instructions and keep just a tablespoon (with all purpose flour). And yes, wait until it’s bubbly before baking, but hopefully that occurs on the first feeding (though it may take an extra day or two)!
Is filtered water necessary? I live in Ottawa and evidently, our tap water is some of the cleanest around. I’d rather avoid a step if I can, and the need to buy a filter of any kind. Thanks :D
Tap water should be fine! Sometimes tap water can interfere with a healthy starter, but no reason not to try :)
I’ve fed my starter for two days. it still looks like the paste and thick. Is that ok and right?? By the way, I use all rye flour instead of plain flour. Thanks!
Yes, this should still be ok!
Instead of discarding part of the starter everyday, could you actually use it to make starters in different stages? I could easily see this being used to give away as gifts if you get all that “discarded” started going too. I know you’d have to really keep track of which jar was in which stage…or am I overthinking it and it needs to be discarded lol
Hi! While you are building the starter it’s better to just discard. Once you have it live and thriving, you can definitely use any “discard” to create new batches for gifts!
Can I use all purpose flour to make a starter?
Yes!
make other starters! it becomes a lot, but the starter you were going to throw out you can use as a mature starter for another starter dough.
All the discarding…. sounds very wasteful. What else can we do to utilise them to the fullest?
Look on the internet for many recipes that use discarded starter!
So I started this 5 days ago, and forgot about it. Should I just throw it out or start up with day 2 options? Hopefully round two I’ll be a better mom.
Oh no! It would probably work best if you threw it out and started over — so sorry :( Let us know how it goes!
Hi. I’ve used bread flour for my starter. Is that ok ? After 3 feedings and discarding it’s growing substantially. How will I know when it’s ready for use?
Yes, bread flour should work great! I’d wait through 5 days of feeding to make sure it’s not and robust before starting to use it!
Hi,
Thanks so much for the recipe, I am at day 1 now! I wanted to check with you if the process would be much shorter in warm locations? I live in India and the temperature currently is close to 95degrees. After day 1 itself I see quite a lot of bubbles and sour smell. Is something wrong? Please let me know,
Thanks,
Radhika
Hi! Yes, it may go faster in a warmer area! Once you see it get really bubbly, and then fall back a little bit, you can feed again (as though it is the next day). Good luck!
Thank you!
So it’s been 5 days and my starter smells like nail polish remover. And has a few bubbles but isn’t really growing substantially. Does this sound right or should I start over? Is it possible to actually go wrong in terms of safe to eat?
Hi! If you get that acetone smell — the yeast ran out of food (flour) and started to break down. You should start over. I don’t think it would be unsafe to eat, but it would be gross!
Thanks again! I’ll follow your recommendations!
PS. Your kid is so cute! I am also adopted, and, at 62, only discovered my birth family’s heritage last year. Turns out I’m Irish, so Erin Go Brah for St. Patty’s Day!
Take care!
Cool! Thanks!
How do I cover the jar, both initially and after it is ready to be kept in the fridge? Should I use cheesecloth, plastic wrap, something else, or nothing? Can the jar be sealed with a screw on lid or will it explode from the gasses in it while it’s still maturing at room temperature? Can it be sealed continuously while it’s living in the fridge? Can it be stored in a plastic container with a locking lid like Lock and Lock?
Can the bits that are removed while you’re feeding the starter in the first few days be used for baking even if the starter isn’t really mature yet (like, could you throw it into a regular yeast bread recipe for flavor?) And, if I’m baking other yeast breads during the start up week, will my sourdough starter pick up those yeasts from the air in my kitchen?
Sorry. I have a lot of questions…
Hi!
I generally cover loosely with a screw on lid — there’s plenty of yeast already on the flour and if you check every day you won’t get any gas buildup. You can store it in the fridge fully covered and secured.
I think you could definitely add the discard starter to another recipes, but I haven’t tried it!
Good luck!
:)
I had good luck using my discarded starter in an Irish soda bread recipe, because I hate to discard flour in this time of scarcity. (I collected the discards in the refrigerator for a few days.) I divided the weight of the discarded starter in half, and used that amount to reduce both the liquid and the flour in the soda bread recipe, since the starter is fed 50/50% flour & water, by weight (not volume!). Does this make sense? For example, if I wanted to use 100g. of discarded starter in a recipe, I would reduce the flour by 50 g. and the water or other liquid by 50 g. and then otherwise follow the recipe adding the starter with the liquid ingredients.
Yes, I think that would work!
I just bought a bag of Einkorn wheat flour (from an ancient, non-genetically modified type of wheat). Do you know of any reason why I could, or why I should not, use it for the all-purpose flour in my starter? I’ve never had much luck making starters, but I’m getting better at making bread since I got a scale sifter attachment for my Kitchenaid. Thanks!
I think it would probably work great!
I give up… obviously I’m doing everything wrong in trying to make starter. 3rd try wasn’t the charm LOL
It took me 21 days to have my starter rise (and double in size) for the first time! Everything I read said it would be ready in a week, or at the most, two weeks. Took me three weeks- I ALMOST gave up. Be patient! (I fed my starter 60 grams of filtered water and 60 I bleached all purpose four once a day ).
Julie, flour should be unbleached. ?
Today will be the 3rd try for me making starter. As a newbie .. should it be thin and runny? Should it smell like beer a little? Do I have to throw out half or can I add to it as I bake daily? Help? I cannot find answers anywhere… ?
Hi! Yes, it will be fairly thin and runny and smell a little yeasty and funky in a good way. If you are baking with it daily, there’s no need to throw it out. If you are feeding the starting without baking, you will need to discard some or else you’ll have way too much! Good luck :)
I’m guessing that the very first day it should be like a paste? I bought a brand new scale and weighed all ingredients and in my jar it’s paste….
Yes! Not much to look at.
When you are first growing you say throw a little out…can you be more specific? I’m on day 3 but yesterday I fed it equal parts water and flour…I want continue correctly. Pasquale needs to be fed in 12 hours! Any help!? Lol
Hi! I discard about half of the starter. You don’t need to be too specific.
After two days, it’s started to come alive. I have a reasonably warm kitchen which could be the reason why, so far, it seems to be growing. I’m using a small glass Kilner jar for now. But I’ll need something that’s a little safer to use, just in case the whole things starts to overflow. I’m rather concerned at the prospect of it exploding. My next thought is. What do I call it? As it’s a living thing. I need to give it a name. Has anyone else given their starter a name?
Yes I named my first little starter Joanna :3
Hi there, yesterday was day 5 of my starter. It had lots of volume, sour smell and bubbles. I discarded all of it but the 1 tablespoon and added the 50g of water and 50g of flour. This morning, no bubbles and no volume :( Is it because my house isn’t warm enough? If so, is there a way to save this batch? Or should I start a new one from scratch. Thanks!!
It may just be temperature. The starter should be fine, just give it a little more time and it should gain strength.
On the night that you feed the dough before preparing to proof the next day is it correct that I mix
1 tablespoon of the starter with the flour and water as it says in the instructions to then discard the rest but then would be out of starter. Need clarification. Thank you in advance.
Hi!
The tablespoon you use to prepare the starter will make enough for the following day’s bread with some leftover to make more starter.
Last night I put it in my Wolf oven with the oven set to proof so temp was 85. No growth.
Weird! I’d try discarding all but about 1 tablespoon and trying again for a few more days. Sometimes they are just hard to get robust.
Followed your directions and it will not grow. Smells sour, I get bubbles but not more than a half inch of growth overnight.
Hi! Do you have a slightly warmer place to keep the starter? It may just be on the edge of really growing!
Hi,
This is my 2nd try, and yhe starter on the 3rd day will start to have some fluid!! Is that OK? Or that means it’s bad and I have to discard it?
A little fluid is good! If your house is warm, you may want to feed it a little sooner than 24 hours.
So glad to read this. I’m housing the starter in the heated kombucha box that stays between 82 and 90. Day 1 it was very bubbly and doubled in size. Day 2 there was a large amount of watery fluid in the middle and smelt horrible. So I’m starting over again and now I will feed her again before bed.
This was the most wonderful experience. Thanks só much. At the moment it is very cold, so I really strugled with my starter. On day 6 I decided to increase the temp to 28°c in that area. It made all the difference! It took me eventually 9 days to develop a healthy starter.By day 13 I have already baked 3 loaves. THANKS SO SO MUCH. Just one question, Can I leave my loaf in the duch oven the whole time? My oven has an uneven spread of heat?
If you just remove the lid from your dutch oven, it will work, but you’ll likely have a very crusty bottom to the loaf.
I cannot wait to try this! Before I do, since we are measuring the starter ingredients by weight, do we discard half by weight, byvolume, or does it really even matter? Also, should you cover the starter with a lid if possible, or is plastic wrap better? I made a starter last year and only covered it with a tea towel, thinking exposure to the air would allow more of the natural yeast to be incorporated into it.
Hi!
I’ve grown a starter several times and have not found it to be too sensitive. I just discard about half the starter visually. Same thing regarding covering the starter; there should be plenty of yeast already existing in the air and the flour itself. I have found that you can get a lot of activity after day one or two, and then it settles down for a few days before becoming more regular around day 5. Have fun with it!
Thank you!
I have two more questions (for now). What is the best way to maintain a starter without starting over every time? Are there any alternatives to using the Dutch oven and the banneton?