Sourdough Starter

An easy method for making a sourdough starter from scratch with no special ingredients or equipment. With a little patience and attentive feedings, you'll be baking sourdough in no time!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 5

Resting Time 10

Total Time 10 5

Servings

Ingredients

To Start Your Starter

30 grams (¼ cup) all purpose flour
30 grams (⅛ cup) water

To Feed Your Starter

30 grams (¼ cup) all purpose flour
30 grams (⅛ cup) water

Instructions

To Make Your Starter: Combine 30 grams flour and 30 grams water in a clear container. Cover loosely and place in a warm place for 24 hours.
To Feed Your Starter: Pour off 30 grams of the starter and discard it. To the container with the remaining 30 grams of starter, add an additional 30 grams of flour and 30 grams of water. Stir vigorously, recover, and return the container to its warm place. Feed according to the guidelines below until it's ready to use.

Notes

Feeding Frequency:

For the first 2-3 days, feed your starter once per day. You want to give the yeasts sufficient time to get established when you have a new starter.
Once you start noticing bubbles (often on day 3 or 4), increase feedings to twice per day. You want to feed the yeasts enough to encourage quick growth.

How to tell your starter is ready to bake with: Some indicators that your starter is ready to use are that it's bubbling vigorously and predictably and it smells pleasant.

The discard: Discard is great to keep for recipes once your starter is established, but I recommend just tossing it when you're just starting out. The flavor can be unpleasant at this stage. I keep a very small starter when starting out to minimize waste here!

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