How to Make a Sourdough Starter

You might have noticed that many people are baking with sourdough these days. Learn how to make a sourdough starter with only two ingredients. With only a few minutes a day and about a week later, you will have a nice bubbly starter to use for all things sourdough such as bread, bagels, cookies, and so much more.

Pancakes, waffles, crackers, pretzels, pizza crust, crapes, and bread. The list of what you can make with a sourdough starter is almost endless. The way that I learned how to make a sourdough starter uses just two ingredients and only a few minutes a day over about a week. Read on for the instructions on this simple skill that will bring you years of joy with baking.

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Why Make a Sourdough Starter?

About four years ago, one of my goals was learning to bake bread. I never even knew about sourdough being a natural yeast that you use instead of the yeast packets bought in the store. But as I learned more about the goodness of a starter for both health and self-sufficiency reasons, I couldn’t help but make a starter myself.

One of the top reasons to make a sourdough starter is the health benefits of using it versus a traditional yeast to make bread. Sourdough is a fermented food full of good bacterias that feed your gut with probiotics. Just as any fermented foods (such as sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir or any other lacto-fermented foods). You can read more here about some of the simple benefits to your gut.

Another reason that a sourdough starter is so handy to have around is that it is a natural yeast that just needs to be fed with flour and water. You will not have to continue buying yeast from the store when you bake with your sourdough starter.

What is a sourdough starter?

A starter is many things:

Simply put it is a combination of fermented flour and water that is an active live culture.

A way to capture wild yeast from the air.

A starter is used to naturally rise breads (instead of commercial yeast).

It is used to ferment recipes.

It is full of beneficial bacteria so that breads made with it are easier to digest for most people.

A way for a home baker to be a bit more self sufficient.

Little history of sourdough

What we call a sourdough starter is actually what people for hundreds of years just called yeast or wild yeast. It was on the counter of many home bakers and nothing out of the ordinary.

It wasn’t until the late 1800s that Fleischmann’s introduced their first version of yeasted cakes for home bakers. These little cakes needed refrigeration and to be reconstituted and were not as easy to use as our current day yeast.

But then after WWII, active yeast as we know it was developed for the GIs to be able to have home baked bread with more ease. Even more surprising to me is that it wasn’t until 1984 that they came out with their Rapid Rise yeast.

Amazingly before this time, sourdough starters were the norm for families to make their home baked goods.

This process will take about a week to get it good and bubbly and sometimes a bit longer to make a nice strong starter to bake bread with.

But it is a simple process and will only take a few minutes each day of that week.

What you Need to Make the Starter

Glass container (I’ve used a regular quart jar, medium sized glass bowl, and most recently a sour dough starter jar from Weck that I LOVE)

Wooden Spoon to mix

Filtered or well water – what you don’t want is the chlorine of regular city tap water. When we were on city water, I always used my Berkey water filter for everything. Now I use it, but also don’t mind our well water.

Flour – most any flour will do, but I like to use unbleached organic all purpose flour and a little whole wheat to start the first day.

Loose fitting lid or tea towel to cover the container

Step By Step

If you look up several recipes, you will find just about each one has a different measurement for starting. I like to keep the starter as small as possible and not waste tons of flour. So I use a 1/2 cup measurement when sometimes you will see recipes using a cup or a 2/3 cup measurement for the flour.

Some recipes also start with whole wheat flour. It can be a good way to start as the whole wheat will strengthen the starter and give it a jumpstart. Some do not start with the whole wheat and will still work well.

Day 1

Measure out 1/2 cup of whole wheat or all purpose flour and 1/2 cup of water. Add to the jar and stir vigorously until the flour is incorporated, scraping down sides as needed. It will look like a thick pancake batter.

Cover with a tea towel and leave out on the counter at room temp for 24 hours.

Day 2

Add 1/2 cup all purpose flour and 1/4 to 1/2 cup water. Needs to be like a thick pancake batter still, so start with less water and then add more if needed.

Some recipes say to discard on day 2, but I stared with less flour so I wait until day 3.

Cover again and let sit on your counter for another 24 hours.

Day 3

You should be starting to see bubbles at this point.

Take your starter and discard half of the contents in the jar. You will not be able to use this discard for anything at this point (even discard recipes).

Add 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour to your jar. Stir, loosely cover, and store on the counter for another 24 hours.

Day 4-7

Repeat the steps in day 3 exactly. You should see growth of bubbles each day.

Must you discard 1/2 every day? Yes, you will need to discard to make sure there is the correct ratio of new flour to feed the beneficial yeast. Otherwise the starter will fall flat as you go on in days. You can use the discard for discard recipes from the last few days as it should be strong enough by then.

On day 6 or 7 you can feed the starter every 12 hours instead of every 24 to make sure it gets really bubbly.

Day 7 or 8

By now if your starter is bubbly and doubling in size within 4 to 6 hours of a feed, you are good to go with the starter. It is now what we call active and ready to use in a recipe. If it is not, continue for a few days with the 12 hours between feedings.

If you aren’t sure if the starter is ready, the float test can help you decide. Add a spoonful of starter to a small glass of room temperature water. If the starter floats, it is ready to bake with. If it sinks, feed it some more.

How to Use Your Starter

Now that your sourdough starter is ready to use, pick out a simple recipe like sourdough pancakes. Continue feeding your starter and make sure it is really strong before making a traditional free form of sourdough bread.

If you plan to bake with it every day, you can leave it out on the counter and will need to feed it daily too. If the weather is hot, this may not be the best way to store it. It will need a lot of feeding.

Another option is to store your starter in the fridge and feed it much less. To keep it active, you will need to take it out and feed it about once a week.

What I tend to do, though, is leave the majority in the fridge. When I want to bake something, I will take out 2-3 tablespoons and start a new jar on the counter. I will add about 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of flour and then water to make it a thick consistency. It usually will need to be fed this way 2 -3 times over a day or so to get it reactivated enough for bread. It would be fine with a feed or 2 for pancakes or something that doesn’t need a lot of rise.

When I get it to the active state that I like, I use it for a recipe. Then I make sure to leave some in the jar (even just a bit on the walls of the jar) and feed it with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour and water. I will then be ready for another recipe for the next day.

Maintaining Your Sourdough Starter

When I first made a starter, I read a lot about it. What I found is that each author seemed to have a different way of starting and maintaining their starter.

Many people swear by making exact measurements with a scale with the flour and water.

Others say to feed on a certain schedule.

I have found that I like to be a little more free with how I use my sourdough. I use it differently with the seasons. The sourdough responds to temperature in my home differently.

So being attentive and going with the flow are how I maintain my starter best. You might like to be more precise.

I first made my starter in the heat of our Arizona home, traveled with it to our family in California to make pizzas. I then moved with it up to the Pacific Northwest and took it on a six week trip in a motorhome. It was neglected and then used a lot, then neglected again when I got busy.

I have found my favorite way is to do what I suggested above and leave it in the fridge for the most part. Then I have a small amount of the starter going on the counter when actively baking. If I find myself getting busy, I put it away for awhile. Thankfully sourdough starters are pretty forgiving and love to be nurtured back into use when it is the right time.

Room Temperature and Your Sourdough Starter

If you have ever baked bread before, you know that rise time is dependent on how warm your house is. The warmer it is, the quicker the bread will rise. It is the same with how quick your sourdough starter will take off. If your house is too cold (below 65 degrees) you might have an issue with it. Keep it in a place that is warm enough for it to become active.

Questions You’ll Most Likely Have

Q: What is that smell?

A: Your sourdough starter should have a nice pleasant smell. Nothing too strong or rotten smelling. The right smell might be a new smell for you, though.

Q: What can I do if I only have city tap water?

A: Fill a jar with the water and let it sit out for 12-24 hours to let the chlorine evaporate or buy a jug of distilled water if you don’t have a filtration system.

Q: Can I use metal bowls or utensils to mix up the starter?

A: I have always read that it may mess up your starter so I have stayed away from metal bowls. But I do like to use a large fork to stir my starter especially when I am reactivating it from the fridge. This quick contact does not seem to be an issue.

Q: Do I really have to discard half of the starter each day?

A: As I said above, it is necessary. It may feel like a waste, but it is actually a way to cut down on waste. To keep the measurements accurate, you would have to feed much larger amounts of flour and water each day if you did not discard. Many more cups of flour would mean your starter would start to take over! And you most likely wouldn’t be able to keep up. If it feels super wasteful, throw it in the compost or to the chickens with your other scraps. In the last few days as your starter is getting close to being ready and you see bubbles, you could use the discard in a discard recipe.

Later on after your starter is ready, but you haven’t feed it recently enough, it will not be active enough for many recipes. You will be able to use that starter for “discard recipes” and then again feed the starter with more flour and water.