Sourdough Starter Recipe
This easy sourdough starter recipe uses just flour and water and walks you through the process day by day. Plan on about 7 days to start, then continue feeding until the starter is bubbly, active and reliably doubles after feeding.
Servings: 1 starter recipe
Cost: $2
Equipment
- 4-cup wide-mouth jar
- spoon or spatula
- rubber band
- kitchen scale, recommended
Ingredients
Day 1
- 1/4 cup about 30 g whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup about 30 g unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup 60 g water
For Each Feeding
- 1/2 cup about 60 g unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup 60 g water
Instructions
Day 1
- In a wide mouth 4 cup jar or bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup wheat flour with 1/4 cup All Purpose flour until thoroughly combined.
- Using a fork, stir in the water until no dry flour is remaining. The mixture will resemble a thick dough or paste that's a little on the dry side.
- Cover loosely with the lid or plastic wrap and leave in a warm spot in the kitchen (ideally over 70˚F) for 24-48 hours.
Day 2
- Check your starter for activity, sometimes you'll see tiny bubbles and maybe a little activity. Sometimes you won't. If you see nothing, give it a stir...cover loosely and allow it to sit for another 24 hours.
Day 3
- By this time, you should see lots of bubbles and expansion of your starter. To gauge how much your starter is growing in volume, you can place a rubber band around the jar at the top of your starter to see if it doubles in size. I prefer to just eyeball it. Discard half your starter (saving the discard in a separate container for later.)
- Add 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup lukewarm water to the remaining starter. Stir to combine until no dry flour is visible. Cover loosely and allow to rest at room temperature in a warm location for 24 hours.
Day 4-7
- At this point, you should see your starter doubling in volume with lots of bubbles each day. Continue feeding your starter each day by discarding half the starter then feeding with 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water.
- Cover loosely and allow to rest at room temperature in a warm location for 24 hours. Beginning around Day 7, check your starter for readiness. Continue daily feedings until it reliably doubles after feeding and looks bubbly and airy.
- To test if your starter is ready to use, feed the starter and time how long it takes to double in size. When your starter doubles in less than 4 hours, it's ready. Alternatively, you can do the float test. Simply fill a glass with water and place a bit of starter in the water. If it floats, it's ready to use. (I'm not a fan of the float test....just saying.)
Notes
- Timing varies: Seven days is a guideline. If your starter isn't reliably rising yet, keep feeding it daily.
- False rise: A sudden rise on Day 2 or 3 followed by very little activity can be normal. Keep feeding.
- Temperature: Keep the starter in a consistently warm area. Cooler kitchens will take longer.
- Measuring: 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water are approximately equal amounts by weight.
- Ready to bake: I look for the starter to double after feeding, become bubbly and airy and smell pleasantly tangy.
- Refrigerator storage: Once established, refrigerate and feed about weekly if you're not baking regularly.
- Discard: Wait until the starter is established before saving discard for recipes.
- Safety: Discard the entire starter if you see fuzzy mold or pink/orange discoloration.
Nutrition
Calories: 4kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 0.03g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.003g | Sodium: 0.1mg | Potassium: 5mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 0.01g | Vitamin A: 0.1IU | Calcium: 0.5mg | Iron: 0.05mg