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How to Make Sourdough Starter

How to Make Sourdough Starter with step by step instructions. This post includes tips, troubleshooting of common problems, and storage suggestions.
Keyword baking, Sourdough, Starter
Prep Time 5 days
Total Time 5 days
Author Recipe adapted from SBS

Ingredients

Starter

  • 50 gms - 1 3/4 oz. flour see Tip #1 and Variations
  • 50 gms - 1 3/4 oz. bottled water lukewarm (see Tips #2 and #3)

To feed the Starter

  • Flour see Tip #1
  • Bottled water lukewarm (see Tips #2 and #3)

Instructions

Day 0 – “Create” your Starter

  1. Place the flour and water in a medium clean, dry jar with a lid and stir until well combined.
  2. Loosely put the lid on the jar and set aside in a warm draught-free place (see Tip #4) for 48 hours (see Tip #5).
  3. After 12 hours, there won’t be much change in your mixture although a few bubbles may start to appear through the side of the jar.
  4. After 48 hours, the starter may have risen just a little and a dark skin would have formed. There may be a few bubbles on the surface and also noticeable through the side of the jar – but not always. Proceed to the first feeding.
  5. If you don't see these signs, set aside for another 24 hours – if there are no signs of activity by then, just continue with the first feeding. It will smell nasty – it’s normal!

Day 2 - First feeding after 48 hours

  1. Remove and discard all but 50 gms of the sourdough starter from the jar.
  2. Add 50 gms plain flour and 50 gms lukewarm bottled water to the jar and stir well to combine.
  3. Use a clean spatula to scrape the sides of the jar down to clean (see Baker’s tip #6).
  4. Loosely put the lid on the jar and set aside in a warm draught-free place 24 hours.
  5. After the first feeding and rise, the starter would have risen slightly (up to 50%) and random bubbles will be visible on the surface as well as through the side of the jar indicating the wild yeast is active and starting the multiply.

Day 3 - Second feeding after 24 hours

  1. Remove and discard all but 50 gms of the sourdough starter from the jar.
  2. Add 50 gms plain flour and 50 gms lukewarm bottled water to the jar and stir well to combine.
  3. Use a clean spatula to scrape the sides of the jar down to clean (see Baker’s tip #6).
  4. Loosely put the lid on the jar and set aside in a warm draught-free place 24 hours.
  5. After the second feeding and rise there will be more visible bubbles but they will be smaller and more uniform. The aroma will be less pungent and a little sweeter.

Day 4 – Third feeding after 24 hours

  1. Remove and discard all but 25 gms of the sourdough starter from the jar.
  2. Add 50 gms plain flour and 50 gms lukewarm bottled water to the jar and stir well to combine.
  3. Use a clean spatula to scrape the sides of the jar down to clean (see Baker’s tip #6).
  4. Loosely put the lid on the jar and set aside in a warm draught-free place 24 hours.
  5. After the third feeding and rise, the starter will become more vigorous and may rise by up to 100% in less than 24 hours. Bubbles will be very evident on the surface as well as through the side of the jar. It will have a pleasantly sour, tangy, sweet aroma.
  6. Day 5 onwards – Feeding every 12 hours
  7. Depending on the strength of your sourdough and how quickly it ferments it may double in size in less than 24 hours. You may also notice that once it doubles it starts to lose volume and falls back on itself indicating that it needs regular feeding from this point.
  8. If your starter has not doubled in 24 hours or less, continue the discarding and feeding process every 12 hours until it has the ability to double in size in 8 hours or less. When it does, it is now "active" and ready to use, or store in the fridge to be used at a later date.

Recipe Notes

Variations
Rye sourdough starter: at the beginning, use 40 gms rye flour (and feed with unbleached organic plain flour).
Wholemeal sourdough starter: at the beginning, use 50 gms organic wholemeal flour (and feed with unbleached organic plain flour).
White sourdough starter: at the beginning, use 50 gms unbleached plain flour (and feed with unbleached organic plain flour).
Tips
#1. You can use any kind of flour you have. I have made mine with plain flour. However, many people recommend using organic wholemeal flour and then switching to unbleached organic plain flour for feeding until it is established. Once mature, you can then just switch to regular plain flour or bread flour for feeding.
#2. Use bottled water (or water that is filtered and has been allowed to stand uncovered for at least 4 hours for the chlorine to dissipate) to give your sourdough starter the best possible chance of success. I use the filtered water I get straight from my fridge and it works.
#3. It’s a good idea to embrace measuring both your flour and water in grams/oz. when making and maintaining your sourdough starter. It is the most accurate way of measuring and will give you the best possible chance of success.
#4. The ideal temperature for proving sourdough starter is between 21°C-23.5°C (70°F-74°F). Don’t be tempted to keep the starter at higher temperatures to accelerate the process as it won’t necessarily mean you will get a better result. Higher temperatures can encourage more ‘bad’ bacteria to grow than the ‘good’ ones, which will ultimately ruin the starter. I keep mine in a cupboard in the kitchen.
#5. After each feeding, it’s a good idea to mark the side of the jar with tape (or an elastic band) so you can see how much it grows in the specified time.
#6. Make sure you scrape down the side of the jar after every feed – this will make it easier to see how much the starter has risen each time.