How to Make a Sourdough Starter

Most sourdough starters fail around day 3, but yours doesn’t have to. This step-by-step system shows you exactly what to expect each day, how to fix problems, and how to get a strong, reliable starter in just one week.

My adventures in sourdough began a few years ago when my sister gave me a really awesome cookbook for Christmas.

One of the recipes inside was for a sourdough starter. You can purchase a starter kit to make the starter, or you can make a homemade starter culture.

I tried both methods, and I was hooked.

From the first mixture of flour and water to watching the small bubbles form to baking that first loaf of sourdough bread, I’ll walk you through all of the steps and what to expect when creating a sourdough starter.

WHAT IS SOURDOUGH STARTER?

Sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water that ferments and collects wild yeast from the air. Because of this natural yeast, you won’t need commercial yeast from the store to bake bread!

SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE INGREDIENTS

Be sure to read the entire tutorial and tips before making sourdough starter.

You have 2 choices for sourdough starters recipes: you can make your own starter from scratch using flour and water, or you can purchase a starter kit. This tutorial is for how to start a sourdough starter from scratch. You’ll need:

• 4 cups fresh flour, divided (whole wheat is best, but any wheat flour will work)
• ½ cup cold (or room temperature) filtered water (not tap water) to start, plus additional for daily feedings
• large bowl (approximately gallon-size) with lid

Factor	Homemade	Starter Kit
Time	5-7 days	1-3 days
Cost	Very low	Higher
Flavor	Unique and local	Standardized
Difficulty	Moderate	Easy

FLOUR FOR SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE

The best flours for sourdough starter recipes are white wheat, spelt, rye, and 100% whole wheat flour.

• A whole grain freshly milled flour is best, rather than all-purpose flour, because the yeast has more to feed on when using whole grain flour.
• If you use all-purpose flour, your starter may take a few additional days to get bubbly.
• You can always switch flours once your sourdough starter is established if you prefer a specific kind.
• You can also make einkorn sourdough using this Einkorn Sourdough Starter Tutorial.
• Or make a Gluten Free Sourdough Starter with brown rice flour.
• Stick with unbleached flour, as the bleaching process kills some of the beneficial bacteria needed for fermentation, and it can mess up the rising process when baking.
• Bread flour is not recommended, since it costs more. It also absorbs more water than other flours, meaning you need a different hydration ratio, and you end up with a chewier texture in your baked goods.

Flour Type	Speed	Flavor	Reliability	Best For
Rye	Fastest	Strong sour	Very reliable	Beginners
Whole Wheat	Fast	Nutty	Reliable	Everyday baking
All-Purpose	Slower	Mild	Less predictable	Convenience and low cost
Einkorn	Medium	Buttery	Moderate	Specialty baking
Brown Rice	Slow	Earthy and nutty	Reliable	Gluten-free sourdough
Bleached Flour	Slow	Mild	Unreliable	Not recommended
Bread Flour	Medium	Complex	Reliable	Not recommended for beginners

If you’re interested in milling your own grains or making your own flour, I highly recommend Mockmill. For my full review, check out this post.

HOW TO MAKE SOURDOUGH STARTER

Ready to learn how to make sourdough starter? Follow these simple instructions.

Step 1. In a large bowl, combine ½ cup of flour with ½ cup of water. The mixture will be very soupy, similar to pancake batter. Lightly cover the bowl with a lid, leaving it cracked so that air can flow freely. (If bugs and insects are an issue, you may cover the bowl with a cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band.)

Some people prefer to use ½ cup of flour and ¼ cup of water, both of which weigh 60 grams. This is a 100% hydration ratio. That means using an equal amount of flour and water by weight, not volume. I like to use ½ cup of each, because it is easiest for me to keep track of and feed consistently to get the sourdough starter going.

Step 2. Place the bowl in a warm spot where it can sit undisturbed. This could be outside on a patio, on a kitchen counter, in a pantry cabinet, or in the oven with the light on. Yeast thrives better with more rather than less air circulation.

Step 3. Every day, for the next seven days, at approximately the same time, feed the starter ¼ cup of flour and ¼ cup of water. Stir, put the cover back on, and allow it to sit. Only 1 feeding per day is necessary.

Step 4. The starter will go through a bubbly and frothy stage and eventually subside. The starter will smell like yeast and/or wine, but the smell should always be pleasant. If the starter ever smells sour or rancid, it has been contaminated and should be thrown away.

WHAT WILL MY SOURDOUGH STARTER LOOK LIKE ON EACH DAY?

As you start making sourdough starter, you’ll see it go through 3 phases:

1. Activation Phase (Days 1-2). Bacteria dominate, and early bubbles form.
2. Dormant Dip (Days 3-4). Activity drops. Don’t give up here!
3. Stabilization Phase (Days 5-7). Yeast strengthens, a liquid layer forms, and the starter becomes usable.

Let’s walk through the first week of the fermentation process.

Day 1

One big bubble and a few smaller ones – both signs that the starter is headed in the right direction. If yours doesn’t have bubbles after the first day, have no fear. Sometimes it takes a few days before you see any sign of life. Keep feeding the sourdough starter as directed.

Day 2

Lots of bubbles! This is officially the “bubbly” stage. Life exists, and it’s producing carbon dioxide!

Day 3

The bubbles have subsided, and it’s more “frothy.” It smells distinctly sweet – the smell of natural yeast.

Day 4

The frothy stage is nearly over, and there’s a small layer of liquid gathered at the top – another good sign. This is when you’d want to pour it off before feeding the starter (see tips below). If the liquid isn’t separated enough to easily pour it off, just mix it up into the starter before you feed it.

Day 5

The frothy stage is over, and there’s even more liquid than before. The sweet smell is still there, but it may be more pungent, similar to the smell of wine.

Day 6

Lots of liquid and a thin, consistent layer of foam on top. Almost there!

Day 7

Done! Liquid on top, intermittent foam. At this point, the liquid could be poured off, and the starter would be suitable to make bread.

Is My Starter Ready?

Sourdough starter is ready to use if it has these characteristics:

• Doubles in size within 4-8 hours
• Smells pleasantly sour (not rotten)
• Shows consistent bubbles throughout

HOW TO FEED A SOURDOUGH STARTER

Once the sourdough starter is officially created, it enters maintenance mode. The frequency of feedings is determined by how much active sourdough starter you need and how often you plan to use it. Here are some ideas on a feeding schedule:

• At a minimum, the sourdough starter can be kept in the refrigerator and fed once a week merely to sustain life (the yeast). This method isn’t recommended until the starter is 4 weeks old and well-established. Choose this method if you don’t plan on baking with sourdough very frequently.
• You can continue to feed your starter daily as you have been and use sourdough discard in Sourdough Pancakes or Sourdough Biscuits. Choose this method if you plan on baking with sourdough often.
• Feed the starter daily with as little as one Tablespoon of flour and water – enough to continue daily growth but not produce a large quantity of starter. Choose this method if you fall in the middle – you want to bake with sourdough fairly often, but not have so much discard that you don’t know what to do with it!

When you feed a sourdough starter, the goal is to create a FRENZY of hungry bacteria to get that rise and flavor (which may require one or two feedings) and then only have a little bit left over for next time to repeat the process.

However, as you add flour and water to your starter, you end up making more starter than you need. This is what we call discard.

SOURDOUGH DISCARD

So far, we’ve just been adding to the sourdough starter to get it going. Once your sourdough starter is established, you’ll want to scoop out some of the extra and discard it.

Why Discard Some of the Starter?

You typically only need ½ cup of active sourdough starter for most recipes, although you can start with as little as 2 Tablespoons. When you’re continually feeding it, you’ll end up with quite a bit more. 

For example, if you start with 1 cup of sourdough starter, you need enough flour and water to feed the entire 1 cup of starter to create a frenzy, which might be A LOT. And once it rises and bubbles, it might be more starter than you actually needed… so now you have too much active starter AND you had to feed it extra.

You can either throw away the excess or use it in other recipes. No need to waste food!

Recipes For Using Leftover Sourdough Discard

These recipes use sourdough discard to replace some of the flour and liquid in the recipe. Unlike recipes that use an active starter, they don’t have a long rise time on the counter – you just mix the sourdough discard with the other ingredients and bake.

• Sourdough Pancakes
• Sourdough Biscuits (the best flavor of biscuits ever!!)
• Sourdough Waffles
• Make Sourdough Crackers with either starter or discard

STORING SOURDOUGH STARTER

Yeast grows incredibly slowly at refrigeration temperatures, which is why you can get away with feeding it only once a week. For the yeast to successfully leaven a batch of bread, it must be “revived”, so to speak. The steps are below, along with an example to help you better understand the time frame involved.

• Three and a half days before you plan to bake bread, remove the starter from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. (Monday night)
• Once the starter is at room temperature, feed it with equal parts flour and water. (Tuesday morning)
• Later that day, feed the starter again with equal parts flour and water. (Tuesday afternoon)
• That evening, if you have foam and liquid rising to the top of the starter, you are ready to bake bread. If you do not, continue feeding daily until there is foam and liquid rising to the top.
• Follow the steps in this sourdough bread recipe to mix up your dough, let the bread rise, and bake your first loaf (Wednesday morning or later, depending on how fast the previous steps went).

With the time involved in “reviving” refrigerated sourdough, it’s often easier to keep the starter at room temperature and reduce the feedings to only a Tablespoon or two daily. You’ll have to choose what will work better for you and your bread-making routine.

HOW TO FEED SOURDOUGH STARTER A DIFFERENT FLOUR

You can easily switch to a different flour once the home made sourdough starter has gone through the first seven days. To do this:

• Split the starter in half, placing half in the refrigerator. This is your backup in case your attempt to switch flours fails.
• Feed your starter as desired (per the options above) using the new flour.
• Within a few days, the starter should be successfully converted.
• If, after a few days, you no longer see bubbles and liquid forming at the top, the conversion was not successful. Use what you have in a non-bread recipe and try again with the refrigerated starter.

ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR SOURDOUGH STARTERS RECIPES

Sourdough Starter Recipe Tips

• When using your homemade sourdough starter in a recipe, leave behind approximately ½ cup of starter to feed. This ensures you have enough yeast to continue fermenting at the same pace you have been. Discarding does not affect the yeast’s ability to multiply in the long run.
• Use water kefir instead of filtered water to produce a ready starter in less time.
• The good, healthy bacteria live in the water that often collects at the surface, called “hooch”. It’s the bacteria that give the bread its sour taste, and it’s a sign that your starter is hungry and ready for feeding. Pour the liquid off for a milder flavor or keep some of it in for that extra tang.
• The yeast lives in the dough portion of the starter. The yeast is what must be fed so it can multiply to the point of causing the dough to rise.
• Feeding the starter more often will cause the yeast to multiply faster.
• In general, thicker starters yield better baked goods, so use less water when feeding the starter. Alternatively, if the starter feels too thick for a recipe, add water.
• Track the growth. Put a rubber band around the jar when you feed the starter so you can see how much it rises. Once the sourdough starter is established, you can expect it to double in size after feeding.

Sourdough Starters Recipes Problems

• Starter doesn’t fit in the jar. If your starter outgrows your clean jar, you may split it between two jars. Continue the feeding process, dividing the flour and water between the bowls (2 Tablespoons of each, for each bowl).
• No bubbles. Your starter might need a warmer environment. Use a kitchen thermometer to check the temperature – you want it to be around 70-75F.
• Bad smell. Sourdough starter does have a unique yeasty smell, almost like wine. But if it stinks or smells rancid, it has likely been contaminated. Toss it and try again!
• Discoloration on the surface. You might have mold. If it’s just on top, you can scrape it off and move some of the uncontaminated starter from the bottom to a new, clean jar. If the whole thing is discolored or smells off, throw it out and start again.
• Too watery. If your sourdough starter is super soupy, reduce the water slightly when feeding.
• Weak starter with other cultures. If you are culturing other items simultaneously, be sure to leave at least 3-5 feet of space between each item so the yeasts do not cross-contaminate. (Sourdough won’t make your kefir “bad,” but over time, both cultures can weaken. Best just to keep them apart.)

SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE BREAD FAQS

SOURDOUGH RECIPES AND TUTORIALS

• Sourdough 101: The Benefits of Sourdough
• How to Make Sourdough Bread
• Einkorn Sourdough Sandwich Bread
• Toasted Coconut Sourdough Banana Pancakes
• How to Make Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
• Sourdough A to Z eCourse (Plus recipe book!)