How to Make Sourdough Starter From Scratch (Small-Batch Recipe)

Crusty on the outside, soft on the inside, and perfectly tangy in flavor - homemade sourdough bread is one of the best foods in the world. But, before we can make a loaf of sourdough bread, we need to make a sourdough starter!

A sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water that has been left to ferment over several days, allowing natural yeasts and bacteria to thrive and multiply. It's used to leaven sourdough bread, rolls, pizza dough, and more.

Making a sourdough starter from scratch might sound intimidating, but with a little patience and care, it's actually quite simple.

For this recipe, I chose to make a small sourdough starter to help reduce food waste and costs. Since we discard some starter each time we feed it, using less flour means less waste.

So, if you're ready to dive into the world of sourdough bread baking, keep reading to learn all of my best tips and tricks for building a strong and healthy sourdough starter.

What Is Sourdough Starter?

A sourdough starter is a fermented mixture of flour and water used to naturally leaven bread.

This fermented mixture is regularly fed fresh flour, which provides food for the wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria to feed on. As the yeast and bacteria feed on the flour, they produce carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is what allows sourdough bread to rise.

Why Do You Need Sourdough Starter?

Sourdough starter is used as a natural leavening agent and is an essential ingredient if you want to make authentic sourdough bread. It replaces commercial yeast products like dry active yeast and instant yeast in bread making.

But, sourdough starter can be used for more than a simple loaf of sourdough bread. I use my starter to rise any bread product that would typically use commercial yeast, such as pizza dough and sandwich rolls.

How Long Does It Take To Make Sourdough Starter?

On average, it takes anywhere from 7 to 14 days to make a sourdough starter strong enough to leaven a loaf of bread.

When I was making this particular starter following the recipe outlined here, it seemed to be ready around day 7 and I was able to make a loaf of sourdough bread with it on day 10.

However, keep in mind that this can vary depending on the temperature of your kitchen and the type of flour you use. It's not unusual for a starter to take upwards of a month to really get going.

So, if it's been 14 days and your starter still seems sluggish, don't give up! Keep feeding it regularly and it should be ready to go soon enough.

🥖 Quick Tip: Not sure if your starter is ready? Make a mini loaf of sourdough bread to test it out. Then, if it doesn't rise, you didn't waste as much flour (and you can use it to make breadcrumbs!)

Is Sourdough Starter Hard to Make?

Making your own sourdough starter is not difficult at all. Although, it does require a little bit of planning so you can feed it at roughly the same time each day. It takes me about 10 minutes to feed my sourdough starter every day.

Understanding Feeding Ratios

How much food is the right amount of food for a sourdough starter?

Feeding ratios refer to how much flour and water (a.k.a. food) you use when feeding your starter.

For example, imagine you have a jar of starter that weighs 10 grams. To feed it, you might add 10 grams of flour and 10 grams of water. This creates a 1:1:1 feeding ratio, which means you are adding equal parts starter, flour, and water by weight. A 1:1:1 feeding ratio is the minimum ratio you should feed your starter.

Other Feeding Ratios

The feeding ratio you choose depends on how often you want to feed your starter. Typically, the more food you give it, the less you have to feed it. Personally, I feed my starter a 1:3:3 feeding ratio every 24 hours, which works well for me.

Here is a chart of different feeding ratios to help you decide which one works best for you:

*Note that the amounts shown in this chart are based on starting with 10 grams of sourdough starter. You can adjust the amounts based on the size of your starter.

A Little About Hydration

Most sourdough starters are 100% hydration, which means that they are fed equal parts flour and water by weight.

Sourdough starters with lower hydration (less than 100%) typically contain more flour and less water, resulting in a thicker and stiffer dough when used in baking. On the other hand, higher hydration starters (over 100%) have more water and less flour, leading to a more liquid consistency that can result in a wetter and stickier dough.

How Much Starter To Keep

You can keep a little bit or a lot of starter, it's up to you!

But, if you're not making bread every day, you don't really need to keep a lot of starter around. You can make more when you're ready to bake by giving it more flour and water to eat. Then, you don't waste flour and your starter stays happy and healthy until you're ready to use it.

Personally, on days I'm not baking, I feed 5 grams of starter in a 1:3:3 feeding ratio (giving me just 35 grams total). Then, when I'm ready to bake, I feed 25 grams of starter in a 1:3:3 feeding ratio to give me 175 grams of starter to bake with.

Helpful Tools

While you don't need any of these tools to make your own sourdough starter, they do make the process easier. In particular, a scale to weigh ingredients and a glass jar to store your starter in are the most useful tools.

• Glass Jar- Since this is a mini starter, I use a small 4-ounce mason jar to make it. When I'm ready to make bread and need a larger quantity of starter, I move it to a bigger glass jar.
• Kitchen Scale- Sourdough baking is all about ratios and hydration levels. In order to ensure your starter is being fed the right amount of flour and water, a kitchen scale is a must.
• Thermometer- While not totally necessary, I like to use a thermometer to check the temperature of the water. Wild yeast prefers a warm environment and I like to add warm water that's between 80-90°F to my starter.
• Rubber Spatula- A small rubber spatula is helpful for scraping down the sides of your glass jar.
• Chopstick- I find a chopstick to be the perfect tool for mixing my starter and getting into all of the corners of the jar.

Ingredient Notes

Here are some notes on the key ingredients. For the full list of ingredients, check out the recipe card below.

• Whole Wheat Flour- I find whole wheat flour to be the most reliable when it comes to creating a strong sourdough starter. In general, whole wheat flour contains a higher amount of wild yeast because it is less refined than white flour.
• Bread Flour- When I bake sourdough bread, I typically use bread flour. So, it makes sense to use bread flour in my sourdough starter as well.
• Warm Water- Wild yeast thrives at temperatures between 80-90°F. Just make sure your water isn't too hot or you could accidentally harm the yeast.

How to Make Sourdough Starter

Here is how to make sourdough starter.

Day 1: Make the Starter

Mix together 5 grams of whole wheat flour and 5 grams of warm water in a small glass jar, making sure no dry flour remains. Cover loosely with a lid, cloth, or plastic wrap and store at room temperature (70-75℉) for 24 hours.

Using all whole wheat flour on the first day helps jumpstart the fermentation process.

Day 2: Feed Without Discarding

Without discarding, add 5 grams of whole wheat flour, 5 grams of bread flour, and 10 grams of warm water to the jar. Stir well to combine and store covered at room temperature for 24 hours.

Day 3: Discard and Feed

At this point, there should be about 30 grams of starter in your jar. In order to keep the starter happy, we're going to begin discarding.

Discard all except 5 grams of starter. Add 5 grams of whole wheat flour, 5 grams of bread flour, and 10 grams of warm water to the remaining starter and stir well to combine. Store covered at room temperature for 24 hours.

Around day 3, you may notice a surge of activity in your starter, which then slows down around day 5. This is completely normal and is caused by different types of yeast and bacteria that are present in the starter before the good yeast and lactic acid bacteria take over.

Day 4, 5, 6: Continue Feeding in a 1:3:3 Ratio

The next several days of feedings are going to be the exact same.

Discard all except 5 grams of starter. Add 10 grams of whole wheat flour, 5 grams of bread flour, and 15 grams of warm water to the remaining starter. Stir well to combine, cover, and store at room temperature for 24 hours.

You can use the same jar every day as long as you scrape down the sides and keep it as clean as possible. Otherwise, transfer the starter to a new, clean jar every day.

Day 7: Evaluate

By day 7, your starter should be very bubbly and doubling in volume roughly 6-8 hours after feeding when stored around 75℉. If not, continue feeding 5 grams of starter with 10 grams of whole wheat flour, 5 grams of bread flour, and 15 grams of warm water until your starter is active and bubbly.

How to Tell If Your Starter Is Ready

Alright, so you've been feeding your sourdough starter for a good 7-10 days now, but how do you know when it's good to go?

• Bubbles- If you see plenty of bubbles on the surface and sides of your sourdough starter, that's a positive sign that it's active enough to help your bread rise.
• Size- If you keep your sourdough starter in a warm place (70-75°F [21-24°C]), it should at least double in size after approximately 6 hours.
• Doming- You should notice a slight doming on the top of your starter when it's most active.
• Aroma- A healthy sourdough starter should have a pleasant, yeasty aroma with fruity and mildly sour notes. If you notice a sharp, acetone-like odor, it may be an indication that your starter needs to be fed and isn't quite ready to use in bread-making.
• Float Test- Although not always reliable, the float test can be used to help determine if your sourdough starter is active enough to leaven bread.

The Float Test: Gently scoop a small amount of starter out of the jar and carefully add it to a glass of cold water. If the piece of starter floats, you're good to go. If it sinks, it may need more time or it is past peak activity levels and needs to be fed again.

How Long Does It Take Sourdough Starter To Peak?

A strong, healthy, and active sourdough starter typically takes about 6 hours to peak when stored around 75°F.

Tips for Success

• Don't use chlorinated tap water. Chlorine can make it harder for the yeast and bacteria in your sourdough starter to work properly, which can lead to difficulties in getting your bread to rise properly. For best results, use filtered water.
• Use unbleached flour. Bleached flour is treated with chemicals that make it look whiter and brighter, but these chemicals can also harm the good bacteria and yeast that you want in your starter.
• Keep the jar lightly covered. When you make sourdough starter, it ferments and makes tiny bubbles of gas. If you close the jar too tightly, the gas can't get out and that's not good because it needs room to breathe. But you don't want to leave the jar completely open either, because the starter might dry out.
• Aim for a consistent temperature. Find the warmest spot in your kitchen to store your starter. If the temperature fluctuates a lot, it can be hard to predict when your starter is ready to use.
• Keep it out of direct sunlight. Sunlight can harm the bacteria and yeast in your starter.

How to Maintain Sourdough Starter

Once your starter is established, you have to feed it regularly to keep it strong and healthy.

How to Feed Sourdough Starter (Feeding Routine)

1. Discard all except 5 grams of starter (or however much you need to keep if you plan on baking with it).
2. Add 15 grams of warm water to the jar with your starter and stir.
3. Feed your starter 10 grams of bread flour and 5 grams of whole wheat flour. Stir until no dry flour remains, scraping down the sides of the jar as necessary.
4. Cover loosely with a lid, towel, or plastic wrap and store at room temperature (70-75℉) for 24 hours.
5. Feed your starter daily if storing at room temperature or once per week if storing in the refrigerator.

What is that gray liquid on top of my starter? The layer of gray liquid occasionally found on top of a sourdough starter is called "hooch." It's perfectly normal and safe to eat and is a sign the yeast are hungry. You can either pour it off the top or stir it back into your starter.

How to Store Sourdough Starter

Depending on how often you bake, you can either store your starter on the counter, in the refrigerator, or in the freezer.

Room Temperature

If you bake multiple times a week, storing your starter on the counter is likely going to be your best option. Feed your sourdough starter about every 24 hours when storing it at room temperature.

Refrigerator

If you only bake a few times a month, storing your starter in the refrigerator is a great way to keep it healthy without having to feed it every day.

Feed it every 7-10 days, even if you're not planning on baking with it.

When you do want to bake, pull your starter out of the refrigerator 2-3 days ahead of time and feed it regularly for a few days. This helps it become strong and vigorous again.

Freezer

Freezing sourdough starter is another long-term storage option, but should really only be used for a mature starter that is at least 3 months old.

If you know you're going to be busy for a few months and won't have time to feed your starter, you may want to consider freezing it. Sourdough starter can be stored in the freezer for up to 12 months.

Food Safety Tip: If your sourdough starter smells musty or has visible signs of mold, it's best to throw it out and start over.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

As you can see, learning how to make sourdough starter is a fun and rewarding experience that will benefit you for years to come. And by following the simple steps outlined in this post, you will create a thriving starter that allows you to bake beautiful loaves of sourdough bread for yourself and your family.

Just remember, the key to success is patience and consistency. Don't be discouraged if your starter takes a few days to get going or if it requires some troubleshooting along the way.

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