Keeping Your Sourdough Starter Alive
A healthy starter is a living culture that relies on consistent attention. When you treat the flour and water as a stable ecosystem rather than just ingredients, the process becomes second nature.
Understand the rhythm
Your starter only needs as much attention as you have time to bake. If you aren't ready to bake, put it to sleep in the fridge.
- Digital kitchen scale
- Straight-sided glass jar
- Non-reactive stirring tool
What goes in.
- 50 gmature starter
- 50 gall-purpose or bread flour
- 50 groom temperature filtered water
Weight over volume
Always use a scale. Measuring flour by volume is too inconsistent, and consistent feeding ratios are what keep your yeast colony predictable.
The method.
Discard
Remove and discard all but 50 grams of the old starter from your jar. If you are starting fresh from the fridge, let the jar sit at room temperature for an hour first.
Feed
Add 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water to the jar. Stir vigorously until no dry streaks remain and the texture is like thick cake batter.
Wait
Scrape down the sides of the jar so you can see the rise. Cover loosely and place in a spot out of direct sunlight.
Monitor
It is ready to bake with when it has doubled in volume and shows small, consistent bubbles throughout the mass. This usually takes 4 to 8 hours depending on ambient temperature.
Other turns to take.
Refrigerator Maintenance
If you only bake occasionally, keep the starter in the fridge and feed it once a week. Remove it 24 hours before you plan to bake to revive it with two feedings.
When it doesn't go to plan.
If you see a dark liquid on top called hooch, your starter is hungry; pour it off and feed immediately.
Use a rubber band around the outside of the jar at the starter's level to track how much it grows.
If you accidentally use too much starter, just increase the amount of flour and water accordingly to maintain a 1:1:1 ratio.
The ones that keep coming up.
Does it matter what kind of flour I use?
Use unbleached flour. Bleached flour can contain chemicals that inhibit the yeast's growth.
How do I know if it has gone bad?
A healthy starter smells like yeast or ripe fruit. If you see pink or orange streaks, or if it smells like rotting garbage, it is contaminated and must be discarded.
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