You can make a sourdough starter in just 1 minute a day! Learn how to get started, how to feed a sourdough starter, as well as tips for storing and using starter and discard. Soon you’ll be enjoying a tangy slice of freshly baked sourdough!
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.
The starter kit took as long as it said it would – 3 days. Easy peasy, done. Making it homemade, as in the Nourishing Traditions method, using only rye flour and water, took 7 days.
YES! Both methods worked!
If you’re looking for more of an adventure, I recommend trying to make your own sourdough starter from scratch. It’s very rewarding since you’ve “captured” the wild yeast from the air. I’m telling you, “creating something from nothing” is pretty neat!
SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE INGREDIENTS
Be sure to read the entire tutorial and tips before starting your sourdough.
- 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 (approx gallon-size) with lid
FLOUR FOR SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE
The best flours for sourdough 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 (see tips below). Stick with unbleached flour, as the bleached version can mess up the rising process. Bread flour is not recommended.
You can also make einkorn sourdough using my einkorn sourdough starter tutorial, or make a gluten free sourdough starter with brown rice flour. Choose whichever flour you have on hand for your initial sourdough starter.
HOW TO MAKE A SOURDOUGH STARTER
Step 1. In a large bowl, combine ½ cup of flour with ½ cup of water. The mixture will be very soupy. 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.
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 water. Stir, put the cover back on, and allow it to sit.
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?
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.
HOW TO FEED A SOURDOUGH STARTER
Once the 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!
ADDITIONAL SOURDOUGH STARTER TIPS
- 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 Tbsp of each, for each bowl).
- 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.)
- 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. It’s the bacteria that gives the bread its sour taste.
- 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.
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.
STORING SOURDOUGH STARTER
Yeast grows incredibly slowly at refrigeration temperatures, which is why you can get away with feeding it only once a week. In order 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 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.
RECIPES FOR USING LEFTOVER SOURDOUGH DISCARD
Once your sourdough starter is established, you’ll end up with extra starter, which you can pour off, or discard, and keep in the refrigerator. You can use that discard in recipes too!
- Sourdough Pancakes
- Sourdough Biscuits (the best flavor of biscuits ever!!)
- Sourdough Waffles
- Make Sourdough Crackers with either starter or discard
SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE FAQS
How old is the oldest sourdough starter?
I’ve read of families using starters originally from generations ago!
Can I toss leftover dough scraps into my sourdough starter?
That’s the easiest way to not waste food, but it doesn’t come highly recommended. Dough tends to have other ingredients too, like salt, eggs, butter, etc. and that wouldn’t be a good environment for your starter.
Instead, freeze your dough scraps, and when you have enough, fry them up and coat them in cinnamon sugar for a homemade version of donuts. Or use them to make my Overnight Pumpkin French Toast Casserole.
What is the point of a sourdough starter?
A sourdough starter captures the wild yeasts and lactobacilli that surround us all the time. This creates a natural way to leaven bread and other baked goods instead of using yeast from the store.
Can I just buy sourdough starter?
You can buy a starter culture to speed up the process of getting your own sourdough starter established. You may also be able to get some starter from a friend. However, it’s cheap and easy to make your own! Just follow the steps in this post.
SOURDOUGH RECIPES AND TUTORIALS
- No Knead Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough 101: The Benefits of Sourdough
- How to Make Sourdough Bread
- How to Make a Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
- Sourdough A to Z eCourse (Plus recipe book!)
Hi. I am in the process of trying my first sourdough starter. Unfortunately, some unforseen circumstances arose and I had to skip a feeding before the initial 7 days was up. I normally feed it in the evening around 9pm, but ended up not doing it at all that night and instead doing it at 7 the next morning? Do you think it will still work, or should I use it as sourdough discard right now to make pancakes or something and start a new batch? I missed day 6 out of 7. Thanks. I appreciate it.
Hi Melissa, I’d keep going! One missed feeding won’t be the end of the world. 🙂
Hi Tiffany,
I’m at Day 3 in the process and have been feeding the ‘starter’ 2x a day with 1/4 cups of flour and water. I was initially following your Einkorn starter recipe (which I am also making) and then discovered this post. It seems this general sourdough starter recipe calls for 1 feeding/day, not 2 like the Einkorn. I am still getting the predicted results you note for the first three day – bubbly, frothy, yeasty smell, etc. Have I blown it with the 2x/day feeding? If not, should I back off to 1 feeding per day through the end of the cycle?
Thanks so much!
Tim
Hey Tim, I would go follow this recipe with 1 feeding per day if you are not using einkorn flour.
I just got all my ingredients today and have my cocktail sitting by my window to keep warm… thanks so much for this detailed recipe. I’ve been looking for good instructions for a long time and I found and bookmarked yours.
You are so kind and responsive in your comments. You seem like a wonderful person.
I look forward to making some loaves with ya!
Thank you so much for your kind words Mel! Enjoy the process, and keep us updated!
Thanks Tiffany! Now it’s starting to separate. Is that normal?
Also, I made a loaf with whole wheat flour and it was very dense and didn’t have much sour taste to it. The starter smells sour, so what did I do wrong?
Thanks so much!
Hi there!
I’ve just started making sourdough. I got a starter from my sister in law that had sugar and potatoes flakes. I’ve slowly added the flour and water to it and have two starters going.
Is it supposed to be thick?
If I feed it every day to bake some thing (trying to get it right) is it ok to feed it a 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of flour?
Thanks so much! I’m excited for this adventure and so our my kids 🙂
Hi Meredith! The thickness of a sourdough starter will be different for everyone, but it’s also hard to gauge when other ingredients have been added to it. Yes, you can feed it with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup flour!!
Hi Tiffany, I have a starter going with flour, milk and sugar, I’m new at this and found the recipe from an Amish
Site. I’m just wondering if I replace the milk with water, and leave out the sugar each time I feed it would that work , or should I start all over with a new starter. Also can the milk starter be used to make your bread? I have made sweat bread and it was very good. But I want to make regular bread.
Hi Mady! If your starter is fairly young, I’d just start over. You can always use a regular starter for sweet bread by adding honey or sugar or even egg later on, but you can’t take milk or sugar out of the starter.
Could you provide a visual as to what the “domed” starter looks like? My starter has been brewing for over a week and has yet to produce any surface water, however today the surface is almost solid looking with no bubbles. Is this the domed look? Or have I ruined it somehow?
Hi Tiffany, thank you for such useful information. I now am shifting gears and have to be gluten free and will try my hand at the gluten free starter. I travel quite often, sometimes 2-3 weeks at a time. Should I keep it in the frig and “wake it up” with flour when I return? Will that work? Do I keep it in a sealed jar or just a covered jar? Also, this may sound silly, but have you traveled with the starter on an airplane and going through TSA? If anyone out there has done this, please respond. I appreciate your time. Thank you!
Regards,
Kat
Hi Kat! I haven’t traveled with a sourdough starter before, but maybe someone else can chime in. As for the fridge, yes, store it in there in a sealed jar and feed it when you’re back!
I am from Alberta, Canada. We visited friends in Ontario for Christmas and were given some sourdough starter to bring home. My husband put it in his carry-on luggage, in the 1-liter plastic bag used for liquids and gels. There were no issues whatsoever going through security. It sat at room temperature for a week until I bought bread flour and researched how to care for it. I fed it and it appears to be thriving.
*Please note: Toronto to Calgary is a domestic flight so I don’t know whether going through Canada/US Customs would be just as easy or potentially more challenging. Good luck!
Hi, Tiffany,
I was interested to see that your site on sourdough was the only one that I read that used a low temperature for baking the bread. The others had very high temperatures, which is what I was using.
I make my sourdough in one bowl (no kneading; I ‘fold’ a lot) with a mix of all kinds of flour for extra nutrients – amaranth, spelt, buckwheat, rye, ordinary white wheat flour, even a bit of hemp flour from the supermarket, and a bit of freshly ground linseed – so my bread is denser, darker, and doesn’t rise as much. (I think that the hemp flour gives it a soft crust; I don’t always add it.)
I think that your lower temperatures and longer baking actually cooked it better. It’s absolutely delicious toasted.
But it’s a work in progress and every loaf is different. I’ve come to sourdough bread-making late in life and I love it. I almost feel my starter has a presence. My younger daughter gave me my first starter and now I’m telling her tips that I’ve read on the internet.
I find using special baking paper to line the tins or Pyrex dishes for the final rising is a big help. Because the paper can pop out a bit while you’re putting the dough in, I peg the paper in place with 3 or 4 clothes pegs. Once the dough is in you just remove them.
I’m finding that since eating my own sourdough I’ve lost a bit of weight and my knees are less sore, which is not something that I was expecting, so I hope I’m not imagining things! But never look a gift horse in the mouth!
You have such an interesting website – Thank you!
Renate
(Australia)
You’re so right Renate – every loaf IS different! I’m glad the lower temperature worked for you!! ♥
My starter is going even though it’s been a cold Spring here in the South. I am using your heating pad idea and coaxing him (my starter) along. I haven’t made my first bread yet, a little timid.
Even though I made my starter with unbleached bread flour and a pack of active dry yeast, I want to make rye sourdough. I read your caution about switching flours for the starter, but is it okay to use rye flour to make the bread?
I have enjoyed your sourdough 101 tutorial as well as all the questions from your followers. Thanks.
Hey Lucy! Using rye for the bread, you’re fine. The caution is just when you’re changing flours for the starter itself. Great job keeping your starter alive – it HAS been a cool Spring so far!!
Tiffany, I am SO excited about this sourdough starter. I have tried making starter before using regular flour and the results were pretty dismal. Seven days of feeding and the yeast never really thrived. Today is only day 2 with your rye flour recipe and wow!, it’s amazing. I used organic rye and spring water and it is already ALIVE with bubbles. Since I will be feeding and watering him for 7 days, I have named him.. Stan the starter. My teenage kids think I have finally lost it, but don’t discourage me in the hopes they will be the recipients of some really great sourdough bread. Thank you for the great recipe and wonderful tips.
You’re very welcome!!
Can this be made using coconut or almond or oat flour?
No it can’t Karen. Those flours cannot be subbed for wheat flour in a 1-1 ratio.
Hi Tiffany – I’ve had this blog post “pinned” on Pinterest for ages, and am just getting around to trying it now – well, tomorrow (after I get some rye flour). Just one question: you say “filtered” water in your ingredient list. Would Brita filtered water work, or just plain old tap water (it’s filtered at the city level where I live)?
I’m excited to give this a try!
Honestly Beth, I’ve done this with both city tap water and Brita filtered water and I didn’t notice a difference. You obviously want to use the best ingredients you can, whenever possible, but if tap is what you have, then that will work!! (it’s what I currently have too 😉 )
I’d like to try my hand at gluten-free sourdough. Any thoughts on developing a gluten-free starter? What would be the best GF flour(s) to use, in your opinion? Would the procedures remain the same or vary depending on the flour/flour mix used?
Hi Marty! I’ve done a GF sourdough starter with brown rice flour before. The procedures are basically the same. Here’s the post I wrote:
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2013/07/gluten-free-sourdough-starter-with-brown-rice-flour/
Hi,
I was wondering after 7days and feeding it a 1/2 cup of rye flour and 1/2cup of water, and then using it to bake bread. What do I do next to ensure I have enough starter for two loaves next week? Put in the fridge feeding it the same amount or less or can I skip the fridge and keep it put continually while feeding it? Thank you 😉
Hi Becky,
To have enough starter for two loaves of bread you’ll need to take how much is needed for the recipe and then add another cup. That’s the amount of starter you need BEFORE you pull some aside for the recipe (you want to keep about a cup leftover to continue feeding). Depending on when you want to bake and how much you need will determine whether you add daily or fridge, and how much you feed.
I want to try sourdough starter, but th only confusion is, it’s winter here in Perth, should I give it a try now or wait until spring.
Thanks.
Fortunately, time of year doesn’t matter with sourdough starter Anisha. Go ahead and give it a go!
Thanks Tiffany, as you have asked to keep it in warm place, can you recommend where to keep it ( may be I my sound kiddish, but am quite new to baking breads n hence such query), also want to check as I don’t want inside the house n fridge to smell sour n yeasty.
If it’s in a jar, I keep it in a cabinet above my microwave. If in a bowl, it’s on top of the microwave itself. Some people put it above the fridge! You have to get up close and personal in order to smell it, so I wouldn’t worry about that unless your kitchen is very small and more closed than open. 🙂
I keep it in our stove with the light on in the stove. Don’t forget to take it out if you are turning the oven on!