This sourdough starter guide is a how-to for those new to their sourdough journey. Please feel free to ask any additional questions in the comments, let me know in the comments if there are other aspects of sourdough for beginners that you’d like me to add and address in the original post, or if you’re a sourdough expert please comment with your own tips and tricks for our readers!
How To Feed Your Sourdough Starter
How To Feed Your Sourdough Starter
A how-to guide for feeding your sourdough starter for those new to their sourdough journey.
Materials
- 30 grams sourdough starter
- 125 grams filtered water
- 140 grams unbleached all purpose flour
Tools
- 2 quart size glass mason jars
- 1 wooden spoon (do not use metal)
- Digital kitchen scale
Instructions
- Put a clean quart size mason jar on your scale and set the scale to 0 grams.
- Pour 30 grams of sourdough starter into the new mason jar. Put the remaining starter from the original jar in the fridge to be used for discard recipes.
- Add 125 grams room temperature filtered water to the new jar containing the 30 grams of starter.
- Add 140 grams of all purpose flour.
- Mix the 3 ingredients until it forms a paste-like consistency.
- Place a rubber band around the jar at the top of the mixture to measure how much is has grown.
- Cover with plastic wrap, Bee’s Wrap, or a lid that is NOT airtight. (Do NOT put an airtight lid on your starter. The jar will explode.) Place the new jar on the counter anywhere warm.
- Feed every 24 hours.
Notes
Always use filtered water for feeding your sourdough starter. Chlorine in public water supply will kill your starter.
When To Bake With Your Sourdough Starter
If your recipe calls for “active starter,” such as bread recipes, you will want to bake with your starter once it has doubled in size and before it starts to fall. This is why you want to keep a rubber band on your jar to measure the growth. Discard recipes can be made with old starter that is kept in the fridge.
Taking A Break From Your Sourdough Starter
If you’re going on vacation or can’t feed your starter every day, you can keep your starter in the fridge. It can stay there for a week or two without feedings. Once you need it, take it out, feed it, and give it time to become active. You might need to feed it multiple times to give it back its strength depending on how long you’ve kept it in the fridge without feeding it. If you bake more often you can keep the starter at room temperature. Fermentation will go faster, which means you’ll have to feed your starter more often to keep it happy. I recommend once or twice per day.
Cleaning Your Sourdough Jars, Bowls, and Utensils
When cleaning your sourdough jars, bowls, and utensils never pour any sourdough starter or discard down the drain. It will turn to cement in your pipes. Always rinse jars and bowls outside or in a separate tub in your sink that you can dump outside. Dump your sourdough water where no animals or pets can get into it. Sourdough starter is toxic to many animals.
Sourdough Product Recommendations
- Digital Kitchen Scale
- Quart Size Mason Jars
- Wooden Spoons
- Faucet Water Filter or Berkey Water Filter
- Bee’s Wrap Bread Wrap
- Bee’s Wrap For Covering Jars
- Dish Basin for Cleaning Sourdough Jars and Bowls
- Swedish Dish Towels for Cleaning Sourdough Jars, Bowls, and Utensils
- Sourdough Starter Kit
Sourdough Recipes
Check out some active sourdough and sourdough discard recipes here.
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