For years I was too lazy to keep my own sourdough starter, blaming a busy schedule, travel and every question I had about looking after one. Now that the pandemic has us at home, I used that as my excuse instead: I researched sourdough from start to finish and put together a series of posts to answer your question, “How do you make a sourdough starter?”
The short answer
A 7-day feeding schedule. Day 1, you start with 100 g of rye flour and 150 g of room-temperature water. On days 2–5 you keep 70 g of starter, discard the rest and add that day’s flours (rye, durum-type yellow wheat, whole wheat) and water; on days 6–7 you keep 50 g. You end up with about 250 g of active starter. From then on, feed it 1:1:1: one part starter, one part whole wheat flour, one part water.
First, what you need to know:
- If you’re baking at home, I recommend starting your starter in a 720 ml glass jar. The wide opening makes it easier to stir, and it doesn’t take up much space. For larger batches, glass containers of 3 to 4 liters are hard to find, so lidded plastic containers will do.
- Make sure the flour you start with isn’t close to its expiry date. Don’t start a sourdough starter with flour that has begun to lose its moisture, color and texture, in short, its character.
- The water must be at room temperature. Warmer or colder water will push your starter’s development in the wrong direction.
Recipe
Sourdough Starter
- Prep7 days
- Makes≈ 250 g active starter
Ingredients
Day 1
- 100 g rye flour
- 150 g room-temperature water
Day 2
- 70 g mother starter
- 50 g rye flour
- 50 g durum wheat flour
- 115 g room-temperature water
Day 3
- 70 g mother starter
- 50 g rye flour
- 50 g durum wheat flour
- 115 g room-temperature water
Day 4
- 70 g mother starter
- 15 g rye flour
- 35 g durum wheat flour
- 50 g whole wheat flour
- 100 g room-temperature water
Day 5
- 70 g mother starter
- 10 g rye flour
- 50 g durum wheat flour
- 40 g whole wheat flour
- 100 g room-temperature water
Day 6
- 50 g mother starter
- 50 g durum wheat flour
- 50 g whole wheat flour
- 100 g room-temperature water
Day 7
- 50 g mother starter
- 50 g durum wheat flour
- 50 g whole wheat flour
- 100 g room-temperature water
Equipment
720 ml glass jar (a 3–4 l lidded plastic container for larger batches), kitchen scale, spoon
Method
- Day 1: mix the rye flour and room-temperature water in the jar. This is the beginning of your mother starter.
- From day 2 on, keep only the amount of mother starter listed for that day (70 g on days 2–5, 50 g on days 6–7) and discard the rest.
- Add that day’s flours and water to the starter you kept and stir. Repeat every day until day 7.
- At every feeding after that, add 1 part whole wheat flour and 1 part room-temperature water to 1 part mother starter (e.g. 100 g starter + 100 g flour + 100 g water). This is called a 100% hydration starter, and most bread recipes are written for it.
Notes
- Make sure the flour isn’t close to its expiry date; don’t start with flour that has begun to lose its moisture, color and texture.
- The water must be at room temperature; warmer or colder water will push your starter’s development in the wrong direction.
If you have questions about starting a sourdough starter, read my post “Sourdough Starter: Frequently Asked Questions.”
If your starter is ready, the “Sourdough Bread Recipe” is up next!
Before you start
- Make sure your flour isn’t close to its best-before date; don’t start with flour that is losing its moisture, color or texture.
- The water must be at room temperature; warmer or colder water holds the starter back.
- You’ll need a kitchen scale; this recipe works by weight.
What “100% starter” means
After day 7, each feed adds flour and water equal to the weight of the starter: say, 100 g starter + 100 g flour + 100 g water. That’s called a 100% starter, and most bread recipes are written for it. In a bread dough, I like to use sourdough starter at about 20% of the flour weight.
