Keeping Your Sourdough Starter Active
The rhythm of a kitchen is set by the starter on the counter. Once your culture is established, maintenance becomes a matter of observation rather than strict adherence to a clock.
Read the bubbles, not the calendar
Your starter tells you when it is hungry by how it looks and smells. Trust the visual cues of expansion and collapse over the time elapsed since the last feed.
- Glass jar with loose lid
- Kitchen scale
- Silicone spatula
What goes in.
- 50gmature starter
- 50gall-purpose or bread flour
- 50groom temperature filtered water
Control the volume
Discarding is not about waste; it is about resetting the food supply. Without removing the majority of the existing culture, the colony will consume its new meal too rapidly and become overly acidic.
The method.
Remove the discard
Scoop out all but 50 grams of your starter into a separate bowl. If you are not baking, you can store this discard in the refrigerator for other uses.
Add fresh flour and water
Add the 50g of fresh flour and 50g of water directly to the remaining starter in the jar.
Mix thoroughly
Stir until no dry streaks of flour remain. Scrape down the sides of the jar so you can clearly see the starter level.
Wait for the rise
Place the jar in a spot out of direct sunlight. The starter is ready to use when it has doubled in volume and the surface is covered in small, active bubbles.
Other turns to take.
The Cold Pause
If you bake infrequently, store your jar in the refrigerator after feeding. It will go dormant and can be maintained with weekly feedings instead of daily.
Stiff Starter
Use a higher ratio of flour to water to create a firmer texture, which some find keeps better over longer periods between feedings.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Mark the starting level on the outside of your jar with a rubber band so you can accurately track the rise.
If a dark liquid forms on top, known as hooch, your starter is very hungry; pour it off and feed immediately.
Use filtered or dechlorinated water, as heavy chlorine can inhibit the wild yeast activity.
The ones that keep coming up.
How do I know if my starter has gone bad?
A healthy starter smells like fermented fruit, yogurt, or yeast. If it develops fuzzy mold on the surface or emits an putrid, sharp chemical odor, it is time to discard it and begin a new culture.
Can I use tap water?
Most tap water is fine if you let it sit out for an hour to allow the chlorine to dissipate. If your municipal water is heavily treated, filtered water is safer.
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