Description
Follow these simple steps to create your own active sourdough starter using only flour and water. This guide covers daily feeding and maintenance for beginners.
Ingredients
Scale
- 100g Whole Grain Flour (Rye or Whole Wheat recommended for initial mix)
- 100g Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 100g Unchlorinated Water (room temperature)
Instructions
- Day 1: Mix 50g of whole grain flour and 50g of water in a clean glass jar. Stir until no dry spots remain. Cover loosely and let it sit at room temperature (68-75°F or 20-24°C) for 24 hours.
- Day 2: Discard half of the mixture. Add 50g of all-purpose flour and 50g of water to the remaining starter. Mix well, cover loosely, and let sit for 24 hours.
- Day 3: You may see some bubbles. Discard half. Feed with 50g all-purpose flour and 50g water. Mix and let sit for 24 hours.
- Day 4 to Day 7 (or until active): Repeat the discard and feed process every 24 hours using only all-purpose flour. You should see consistent doubling in size within 4-8 hours after feeding by Day 7.
- Maintenance (Once Active): Once the starter reliably doubles after feeding, switch to feeding once every 12 hours if keeping it on the counter, or once a week if storing it in the refrigerator.
- Feeding Ratio: For maintenance, use a 1:1:1 ratio by weight (e.g., 50g starter, 50g flour, 50g water).
Notes
- Use filtered or bottled water if your tap water is heavily chlorinated, as chlorine can inhibit yeast growth.
- Keep the jar loosely covered; the starter needs air but protection from dust.
- If you see dark liquid (hooch) on top, stir it in or pour it off before feeding. This means your starter is hungry.
- A healthy starter should smell pleasantly sour, like yogurt or mild vinegar, not like acetone or strong nail polish remover.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 0 min
- Category: Baking Foundation
- Method: Fermentation
- Cuisine: General
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 100g
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 0.5
- Sodium: 2
- Fat: 0.5
- Saturated Fat: 0.1
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.4
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 38
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 5
- Cholesterol: 0