• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Amy in the Kitchen logo

  • Recipes
  • About
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
Home » Bread » How to Make a Sourdough Starter

How to Make a Sourdough Starter

03/29/2018 29 Comments

Pin360
Share8
Yum1
Tweet
Email
369 Shares
Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

Are you looking for an easy sourdough starter recipe?  Only two ingredients and a few minutes a day will give you a sourdough starter that you can use to bake delicious, naturally leavened bread in about 7 days!

Sourdough Bread Day 4

Full length video tutorial – How to Make a Sourdough Starter

 

Step 1 ~ Gather your Ingredients and Tools

Sourdough Starter Tools and Ingredients

  1. Flour – I suggest using a 50/50 mixture of whole wheat and all purpose flour. Mix the two flours together in a large bowl and then store it in a quart size mason jar for easy access.
  2. Water – You can use filtered water or you can do what I do. I fill a jar with tap water and then let it sit out for an hour to allow the chlorine to dissipate. Then it is ready to use without hurting the growth of the yeast. The goal is to use water with no chlorine.
  3.  Glass jar with a loose fitting lid – I use 19.5 oz. Weck Jars because I like the glass top that comes with it. It’s very convenient and easy to clean. I keep two of these jars on hand so that I can switch to a clean jar when I feed my starter. You can also use a wide mouth pint sized mason jar with a canning lid placed on top or a small bowl with a plate placed on top. You want the mixture to be able to “breathe” while it is cultivating.
  4. Spatula – I use the Oxo Spatula for mixing my starter. This particular spatula is super strong so it makes stirring a stiff batter really easy and it’s a breeze to clean. You can also use a wooden spoon or any spatula you have on hand.
  5. Measuring cups and measuring spoons – You will need a variety of different sizes.
  6. Kitchen Scale – This is not necessary but highly recommended if you want to get serious about baking. Once you start baking sourdough bread with your starter you will want one of these scales in your arsenal of tools. In this tutorial I am going to give both types of measurements so if you don’t have a scale at this point it’s not a problem!

* The temperature of your house is important when creating a sourdough starter. As a reference … At the time I created this starter, my kitchen remained about 65 degrees throughout the process. If your kitchen is colder, it could take longer and if it’s warmer, the heat can help to speed up the process.

Patience is key when developing your sourdough starter!

Step 2 ~ How to make a Sourdough Starter


Day 1

Sourdough Starter Day 1

1. First thing in the morning … in a glass jar, combine the following:

  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup filtered water

2. Use a spatula to vigorously stir the flour and water together until there are no clumps.

3. Scrape down the sides of the jar, cover with the loose fitting lid.

4. Set the jar in a cool, shaded spot for 24 hours.


Day 2

On the morning of Day 2 you may or may not see bubbles on top of the starter.

Sourdough Starter Day 2

1. In the morning stir the starter to incorporate air into the mixture, scrape down the sides of the jar and cover with a loose fitting lid.

2. Set the jar in a cool, shaded spot for 24 hours.

 


Day 3

Check the starter for signs of activity. As you can see in the pictures from the morning of Day 3 below … it should be bubbly! The starter has risen some overnight.

Sourdough Starter Day 3
Sourdough Starter Day 3

Starting on the morning of Day 3 … we will start discarding and feeding the starter every morning and give it a maintenance feeding every night before bed. You will only use 3 tablespoons of the starter in the morning and discard the rest.

AM – Discard and Feed 

1. To a clean jar add the following:

  • 3 tablespoons STARTER (40 grams)
  • 1/2 cup of the FLOUR mixture (80 grams)
  • 1/3 cup of filtered WATER (80 grams)

2. Stir vigorously with a spatula until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the jar and cover with a loose fitting lid.

3. Let sit for 12 hours.

PM – Feed

1. To the jar of STARTER add:

  • 2 tablespoons of the FLOUR mixture
  • 1.5 tablespoons filtered WATER

2. Stir vigorously with a spatula, scrape down the sides and cover with a loose fitting lid.

3. Let sit for 12 hours.

 


Day 4

On the morning of Day 4 the starter is very active. This is evident by all the bubbles on top and on the sides of the jar. It has almost doubled in size which is a very good sign!

Use the same AM and PM schedules from Day 3. This is the schedule you will follow until you have a strong starter!

Sourdough Bread Day 4
Sourdough Bread Day 4

AM – Discard and Feed

1. To a clean jar add the following:

  • 3 tablespoons STARTER (40 grams)
  • 1/2 cup of the FLOUR mixture (80 grams)
  • 1/3 cup of filtered WATER (80 grams)

2. Stir vigorously with a spatula until well combined.

3. Scrape down the sides of the jar and cover with a loose fitting lid.

4. Let sit for 12 hours.

PM – Feed

1. To the jar of STARTER add:

  • 2 tablespoons of the FLOUR mixture
  • 1.5 tablespoons filtered WATER

2. Stir vigorously with a spatula, scrape down the sides and cover with a loose fitting lid.

3. Let sit for 12 hours.


Day 5 

You can see that the starter is nice a bubbly which means it’s active. The yeast still need to multiply in order to give the starter the boost it needs to rise bread.

Sourdough Starter Day 5
Sourdough Starter Day 5

AM – Discard and Feed

1. To a clean jar add the following:

  • 3 tablespoons STARTER (40 grams)
  • 1/2 cup of the FLOUR mixture (80 grams)
  • 1/3 cup of filtered WATER (80 grams)

2. Stir vigorously with a spatula until well combined.

3. Scrape down the sides of the jar and cover with a loose fitting lid.

4. Let sit for 12 hours.

PM – Feed

1. To the jar of STARTER add:

  • 2 tablespoons of the FLOUR mixture
  • 1.5 tablespoons filtered WATER

2. Stir vigorously with a spatula, scrape down the sides and cover with a loose fitting lid.

3. Let sit for 12 hours.


Day 6

The starter rose overnight and fell back down but it is still not strong enough. Keep going!

Sourdough Starter Day 6
Sourdough Starter Day 6

AM – Discard and Feed

1. To a clean jar add the following:

  • 3 tablespoons STARTER (40 grams)
  • 1/2 cup of the FLOUR mixture (80 grams)
  • 1/3 cup of filtered WATER (80 grams)

2. Stir vigorously with a spatula until well combined.

3. Scrape down the sides of the jar and cover with a loose fitting lid.

4. Let sit for 12 hours.

PM – Feed

1. To the jar of STARTER add:

  • 2 tablespoons of the FLOUR mixture
  • 1.5 tablespoons filtered WATER

2. Stir vigorously with a spatula, scrape down the sides and cover with a loose fitting lid.

3. Let sit for 12 hours.


Day 7

Today we will feed and discard as usual in the morning. About 4 hours after the feeding we will do what is called a “Float Test” to see if the starter is ready for bread baking.

AM – Discard and Feed

1. To a clean jar add the following:

  • 3 tablespoons STARTER (40 grams)
  • 1/2 cup of the FLOUR mixture (80 grams)
  • 1/3 cup of filtered WATER (80 grams)

2. Stir vigorously with a spatula until well combined.

3. Scrape down the sides of the jar and cover with a loose fitting lid.

4. Let sit for 4-5 hours, until doubled in size.

 4 Hours Later on Day 7

As you can see in the picture on the left, the starter has doubled in size in 4 hours since the morning feeding.  I performed a “float test” by dropping a tablespoon of the starter into a jar of room temperature water. The starter floats on the top of the water which indicates that it is ready to bake!

If the starter does not float don’t worry … keep up the daily schedule until it passes the test. It might need an extra day or two depending on the temperature of your house!

Sourdough Starter Day 7
Sourdough Starter Day 7

 

*****IMPORTANT****

Do NOT forget to save some of your starter  BEFORE you incorporate it into the dough!! 

Day 8  Sourdough Bread!

I used the starter from Day 7 to make this loaf of sourdough that was fermented overnight and baked on the morning of day 8. The crust is a nice golden brown and super crispy!

Look at this amazing open crumb!

sourdough bread


Step 3 ~ Maintaining a Sourdough Starter

I highly recommend to keep this schedule of discarding and feeding twice a day for a minimum of 2-4 weeks to build a strong healthy sourdough starter before going to a maintenance schedule. Once your starter is established … you will switch to a maintenance schedule of your choice … either daily or weekly depending on how often you are going to bake with it.

Daily Maintenance – Follow this schedule if you bake several times a week. Your starter will always be ready when you are!

Once a day, to a clean jar add the following:

  • 3 tablespoons STARTER (40 grams)
  • 1/2 cup of the FLOUR mixture (80 grams)
  • 1/3 cup of filtered WATER (80 grams)

If you are not baking that day, discard the remaining starter. If you are baking, use the left over starter to build a levain for your dough.

Weekly Maintenance – If you only plan to bake once per week or a few times a month use the weekly maintenance schedule.

Once a week, discard and feed your starter and place it into the fridge.

  • 3 tablespoons STARTER (40 grams)
  • 1/2 cup of the FLOUR mixture (80 grams)
  • 1/3 cup of filtered WATER (80 grams)
Print
Sourdough Starter Day 5

How to Make a Sourdough Starter

★★★★★ 4.5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Amy
Print
Pin

Description

How to make a sourdough starter from scratch.


Ingredients

  • whole wheat flour
  • all-purpose flour
  • filtered water

Instructions

Day 1 –  First thing in the morning … in a glass jar, combine the following:

  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup filtered water

Use a spatula to vigorously stir the flour and water together until there are no clumps. Scrape down the sides of the jar, cover with the loose fitting lid. Set the jar in a cool, shaded spot for 24 hours.

Day 2 – In the morning stir the starter to incorporate air into the mixture, scrape down the sides of the jar and cover with a loose fitting lid. Set the jar in a cool, shaded spot for 24 hours.

Days 3-7 –

      Morning Discard and Feed To a clean jar add the following:

  • 3 tablespoons STARTER (40 grams)
  • 1/2 cup of the FLOUR mixture (80 grams)
  • 1/3 cup of filtered WATER (80 grams)

Stir vigorously with a spatula until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the jar and cover with a loose fitting lid. Let sit for 12 hours.

      Evening Feed To the jar of STARTER add:

  • 2 tablespoons of the FLOUR mixture
  • 1.5 tablespoons filtered WATER

Stir vigorously with a spatula, scrape down the sides and cover with a loose fitting lid. Let sit for 12 hours.

Day 8 – Perform the float test by dropping 1 tablespoon of starter into a bowl of room temperature water. If it floats, it is ready to bake bread. See my Beginners Sourdough Bread Recipe. If it does not float, continue to discard and feed every day until it passes the test.

Keywords: sourdough starter, wild yeast

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @amyduska on Instagram and hashtag it #amyinthekitchen

 

Pin360
Share8
Yum1
Tweet
Email
369 Shares

You may also like:

Simple Homemade Tomato Soup - Easy to make with a few ingredients. Rich and creamy, goes perfect with grilled cheese sandwiches! #tomatosoup #tomatoes #homemade #comfortfood #simplerecipes

Homemade Tomato Soup

Homemade Almond Butter is easy to make with only 1 ingredient! #almondbutter #vitamixalmondbutter

Homemade Almond Butter

This easy 4 Ingredient Strawberry Chia Seed Jam is the perfect healthy alternative to regular jam. It's made with whole food ingredients that are natural and healthy. It's super easy to make with no cooking involved! #chiaseedjam #homemadestrawberryjam

Strawberry Chia Seed Jam

Gluten-Free Chocolate Pancakes are simple to make with wholesome ingredients. An allergy friendly pancake recipe with delicious hot chocolate sauce and berries. #glutefree #glutenfreepancakes #valentinesdayrecipe #chocolatepancakes #pancakes

Gluten-Free Chocolate Pancakes

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. sara says

    02/14/2019 at 8:59 pm

    Hi. This is my third attempt at making the starter. I’m using all purpose white flour. I have read that white flour needs to be fed less frequently, like 24 hours. Is this so or should I stick to 12 hours? Also should it smell like glue?

    Reply
    • Amy says

      02/17/2019 at 11:08 am

      Hi Sara, until you have an established starter, I would stick to the 12 hour feeding schedule. Has it become active yet? Are you seeing bubbles?

      Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to my Kitchen!

Join me every week and together we'll make delicious, healthy recipes using simple ingredients! Read More…

Popular Recipes

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with White Chocolate Mousse

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies

Southern Style Carrot Cake

Southern Style Carrot Cake

Easy Cheesecake Recipe

Simple Cheesecake Recipe

Tiramisu Cheesecake | This is one of the best cheesecakes I've ever had! AmyintheKitchen.com

Tiramisu Cheesecake

Easy Hot Crab Dip

Hot Crab Dip

Lemon Cheesecake with Lemon Curd.

Lemon Cheesecake with Lemon Curd Topping

Instant Pot Cheesecake Recipe

Find a Recipe!

Categories

WEEKLY MENU IDEAS!

Join my free email list and get quick and easy recipes sent straight to your inbox every week!

Footer

  • Online Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Links Disclosure

© 2014–2019 · Team Duska LLC