How I Feed My Sourdough Starter
Looking to have your own sourdough starter in your home to make all those delicious sourdough breads and other goodies? Find all the details for how to source it and care for it in this post.
Sourcing your sourdough starter:
I purchased my starter from Three Rivers Kitchen back in January of 2020. Their starter (named “Homer”) is crazy active! I have to admit I’ve forgotten to feed it for 48 hour periods, sometimes longer (not recommended), and I’ve been able to revive it every time. I also love that the flour Three Rivers Kitchen uses to feed their starter is organic.
They actually don’t ship their starter all the time anymore - if you can’t get it from them, Cultures for Health has some dehydrated options. You can also make your own starter, right from the air in your home if you are unable to or don’t want to purchase one.
You can see Three Rivers Kitchen first feeding instructions here.
The first feeding:
I fed my starter within a few hours of receiving it, according to Three River’s Kitchen instructions. They give you organic bread flour for the first few feedings as part of their kit. Depending on where you purchase your kit from, they usually give you specific first feeding instructions along with it.
Unlike other feedings, you won’t be using a 1:1:1 ratio of starter to flour to water, because you don’t have enough starter yet. The first 48 hours I chose to feed my starter every 12 hours and it got super bubbly within the first day.
Mixing the first feeding!
Proud sourdough starter owner! My kids named ours “Elsa”. We were in a Frozen phase.
Whenever you’re feeding your starter, the key is to incorporate lots of air as you mix the flour and water into the starter!
Regular & Maintenance Feedings
What flour should I use to feed my starter?
Currently I use either King Arthur all-purpose organic unbleached flour or King Arthur organic bread flour to feed my starter. I’ve found that the bread flour makes for a more lively, bubbly starter.
When looking for flour to feed your starter, look for organic and unbleached and make sure it’s not fortified with any vitamins or minerals.
Note: when I make my sourdough loaves or muffins, I typically use organic einkorn flour in the recipe (you can grab it off of Thrive Market), instead of the all-purpose or bread flour that I use to feed my starter. It’s an ancient grain that’s a bit more nutrient dense and has less of an impact on blood sugar.
How much flour and water should I feed my starter?
I follow a 1:1:1 ratio of starter to flour to room temperature, filtered water.
So, for example, if I kept 160g of starter, I would add 160 g of flour and 160 g of water directly into the starter, then mix it up with a fork, making sure to incorporate lots of air.
If I know I’m not going to be making anything the next day with my starter, I’ll usually only keep 80 - 100g.
I recommend using a food scale to measure exact gram amounts, rather than measuring cups. This is the food scale I have (not affiliated), but any one that can measure in grams would work.
Don’t forget to measure the weight of your jar before you add your starter to it. You’ll need to subtract the weight of the jar to get your starter weight each day.
Starter Feeding Step-by-Step Instructions:
Step 1: turn on your food scale, wait for it to zero out.
Step 2: place your jar with your starter in it on to your scale.
Step 3: Subtract the weight of the jar from the above number to get your sourdough starter amount.
Step 4: While keeping your jar on the scale, zero out the scale (see your scale instructions for how to do this). Then, using your sourdough starter amount, add the same number of grams of flour into your jar.
Step 5: Once you’ve added your flour, zero out your scale again. Then, following the 1:1:1 ratio, add the same amount of filtered room temperature water to your jar along with the flour and starter.
Step 6: using a fork, vigorously mix the starter, flour and water together until well combined.
Step 7: place the lid back on your starter (or cover it) and place it back into its storage place
Step 8: feed again in 24 hours (see further timing instructions below)
How often should I feed my starter?
Currently, I feed my starter once every 24 hours, but this is because I use it regularly.
Increasing the amount of time between feedings: if you’re going out of town or know you’re not going to use your starter for several days, you can feed it as you normally would, then pop it in the fridge to be used whenever you need it next - just leave enough time for it to activate again.
The cold temperature of the fridge slows down the activity of the the starter, making it able to go longer between feedings.
Once you’re ready to use your starter again, place it back on the counter, let it come back to room temperature and see how bubbly it is. You may need to feed it and wait a day for it to reactivate. You’ll know it’s active again when the bubbles return.
Where should I store my sourdough starter?
I used to store my starter in a mason jar covered with bee’s wrap (as you see in the picture above) in our microwave .
You want a warm, dark location to store it, unless it’s very hot already in your home. During the summer months I’ll sometimes keep mine on the counter if I see it going through its feedings really quickly (more on this below).
Now, I still store it in the microwave, but I keep it in a 1 liter canning jar. Find the one I love here (not an affiliate link). The air tightness of the canning jar seems to have amplified its bubbliness and its forgiveness of forgotten feedings.
Be careful what jar you use to store the starter. It tends to at least double, if not triple, in size after you feed it so take that into consideration in jar size. I’ve had mine burst out of its container on me many times. Sourdough starter is sticky, so it’s kind of a pain to clean up. Nothing some Branch Basics can’t take care of though - just make sure you let it soak for a bit.
When should I feed my starter in my daily routine?
This is totally up to you. I usually feed my starter either while I’m making dinner or after my kids go to bed. This timing works well for if I want to make sourdough pancakes or waffles for breakfast, there’s always enough starter.
How much starter do I save, and how much do I discard?
Technically, you only have to save 50g of your starter to keep it alive, but I usually keep at least 100g or more if I know I’m going to be making a loaf of bread. You can discard what you don’t want then keep reusing the same container. I only wash my canning jar that holds my starter maybe once every 2-4 weeks.
What does it mean to discard starter?
When you discard starter, you’re typically either throwing it away in the garbage (I wouldn’t put it down your sink) or putting the “discard” in a container in your fridge to use for sourdough discard recipes. When sourdough discard sits in the fridge, typically as long as you use it within 3-5 days, you don’t need to feed it again before you use it in a discard recipe.
Side note: if you have backyard chickens, you can also feed any discarded starter to your chickens. We plan to do this with ours eventually.
There are some who choose to keep large amounts of discard in their fridge for longer periods of time, then feed that discard jar once per week before placing it back in the fridge. They simply add their discard each day to this same discard jar in their fridge. This way they always have some on hand and it’s rarely getting wasted.
What does a healthy starter smell and look like?
The longer you have your starter, the better you’ll get to know when it’s happy and well-fed and when it’s not. Because the starter changes to acclimate to our home, each one is going to be unique.
Ideally you want your starter to be relatively thick and very bubbly. When you pour it out of the jar you’ll hear these bubbles and see them in its thick, stringy texture.
Your starter should smell fermented, a bit sour, but nothing that will make your nose crinkle up. Trust me - when your starter smells off, you’ll soon be able to recognize it right away.
How do I prepare my starter to use it for sourdough bread or other recipes?
Depending on the recipe, it’ll say if you need active or fed starter or if you can use discard starter straight from out of the fridge. If it needs to be active starter, such as for sourdough bread, plan to feed it 3-4 hours before making your loaf. It’s most active 3-4 hours after a feeding, so you’d want to time your bread making with this high level of activity (you’ll know it’s at its most active because it will have doubled in size, at least).
A freshly made sourdough loaf. Find the recipe I use here.
Sourdough Banana Bread Muffins. Find my recipe here.
Sourdough discard egg-free waffles (can also be made into pancakes). Find the recipe here.
If you’re making muffins (such as my Sourdough Banana Bread Muffins), it’s more likely that the starter needs to be active, but not necessarily freshly fed. For these recipes, you can stick to your daily 24-hour feeding schedule then use it at any point in the day.
For recipes that use all discard and no flour, such as my sourdough waffles, you can grab the discarded starter straight from the fridge. Since it’s not fermenting any flour in the recipe, it doesn’t matter if the starter is still cold and not very active.
Trouble Shooting Your Sourdough Starter
What if I forget to feed my starter?
If you forget to feed your starter, no worries! I do this all the time. I’ve had to revive my starter many, many times.
Discard all of it but 50g - 70g, then feed it using the 1:1:1 ratio I described above. It may need a few feedings to reactivate, especially if it’s been a few days.
If 24 hours goes by and it still hasn’t reactivated, again toss all but 50g - 70 g and feed it using the 1:1:1 ratio.
If it still hasn’t re-activated 24 hours after that second feeding, you can try leaving it for another several hours to see if it just needs time to catch up before you feed it again.
When I forget to feed mine, I’ve had to experiment with feeding it every 12 hours or 24 hours (or past) to see what it needs. Depending on what season of the year we’re in, this can change its preference.
Why does my starter smell like alcohol or have a strange, acidic smell? What’s that brown liquid on top?
These smells typically mean your starter is underfed. This can happen when you forget to feed it or when temperatures are very warm in your home. Higher temperatures make for a more active starter, meaning it goes through its feed faster.
Try lowering the water to flour ratio (so use 10-15 g less of water than you do of flour). Also consider if you need to move it to a cooler location.
If you start to get that brown liquid on top, that’s called hooch. As long as there’s no mold, hooch is actually completely fine. You can choose to mix it with your feeding, or drain it off the top before you feed your starter.
