How to Make a Sourdough Starter | Simple Step-by-Step Photos (2024)

You can make a sourdough starter in just 1 minute a day! Learn how to get started, how to feed a sourdough starter, as well as tips for storing and using starter and discard. Soon you’ll be enjoying a tangy slice of freshly baked sourdough!

My adventures in sourdough began a few years ago when my sister gave me a really awesome cookbook for Christmas.

One of the recipes inside was for a sourdough starter. You can purchase a starter kit to make the starter, or you can make a homemade starter culture.

The starter kit took as long as it said it would – 3 days. Easy peasy, done. Making it homemade, as in the Nourishing Traditions method, using only rye flour and water, took 7 days.

YES! Both methods worked!

If you’re looking for more of an adventure, I recommend trying to make your own sourdough starter from scratch. It’s very rewarding since you’ve “captured” the wild yeast from the air. I’m telling you, “creating something from nothing” is pretty neat!

SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE INGREDIENTS

Be sure to read the entire tutorial and tips before starting your sourdough.

• 4 cups fresh flour, divided (whole wheat is best, but any wheat flour will work)
• ½ cup cold (or room temperature) filtered water (not tap water) to start, plus additional for daily feedings
• large bowl (approx gallon-size) with lid

FLOUR FOR SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE

The best flours for sourdough are white wheat, spelt, rye, and 100% whole wheat flour. A whole grain freshly milled flour is best, rather than all-purpose flour, because the yeast has more to feed on when using whole grain flour. If you use all-purpose flour, your starter may take a few additional days to get bubbly. You can always switch flours once your sourdough starter is established if you prefer a specific kind (see tips below). Stick with unbleached flour, as the bleached version can mess up the rising process. Bread flour is not recommended.

You can also make einkorn sourdough using my einkorn sourdough starter tutorial, or make a gluten free sourdough starter with brown rice flour. Choose whichever flour you have on hand for your initial sourdough starter.

HOW TO MAKE A SOURDOUGH STARTER

Step 1. In a large bowl, combine ½ cup of flour with ½ cup of water. The mixture will be very soupy. Lightly cover the bowl with a lid, leaving it cracked so that air can flow freely. If bugs and insects are an issue, you may cover the bowl with a cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band.

Step 2. Place the bowl in a warm spot where it can sit undisturbed. This could be outside on a patio, on a kitchen counter, in a pantry cabinet, or in the oven with the light on. Yeast thrives better with more rather than less air circulation.

Step 3. Every day, for the next seven days, at approximately the same time, feed the starter ¼ cup of flour and ¼ cup water. Stir, put the cover back on, and allow it to sit.

Step 4. The starter will go through a bubbly and frothy stage and eventually subside. The starter will smell like yeast and/or wine, but the smell should always be pleasant. If the starter ever smells sour or rancid, it has been contaminated and should be thrown away.

WHAT WILL MY SOURDOUGH STARTER LOOK LIKE ON EACH DAY?

Day 1

One big bubble and a few smaller ones – both signs that the starter is headed in the right direction. If yours doesn’t have bubbles after the first day, have no fear. Sometimes it takes a few days before you see any sign of life. Keep feeding the sourdough starter as directed.

Day 2

Lots of bubbles! This is officially the “bubbly” stage. Life exists and it’s producing carbon dioxide!

Day 3

The bubbles have subsided and it’s more “frothy.” It smells distinctly sweet – the smell of natural yeast.

Day 4

The frothy stage is nearly over and there’s a small layer of liquid gathered at the top – another good sign. This is when you’d want to pour it off before feeding the starter (see tips below). If the liquid isn’t separated enough to easily pour it off, just mix it up into the starter before you feed it.

Day 5

The frothy stage is over and there’s even more liquid than before. The sweet smell is still there, but it may be more pungent, similar to the smell of wine.

Day 6

Lots of liquid and a thin consistent layer of foam on top. Almost there!

See Also

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Day 7

Done! Liquid on top, intermittent foam. At this point, the liquid could be poured off and the starter would be suitable to make bread.

HOW TO FEED A SOURDOUGH STARTER

Once the starter is officially created, it enters maintenance mode. The frequency of feedings is determined by how much active sourdough starter you need and how often you plan to use it. Here are some ideas on a feeding schedule:

• At a minimum, the sourdough starter can be kept in the refrigerator and fed once a week merely to sustain life (the yeast). This method isn’t recommended until the starter is 4 weeks old and well-established. Choose this method if you don’t plan on baking with sourdough very frequently.
• You can continue to feed your starter daily as you have been and use sourdough discard in Sourdough Pancakes or Sourdough Biscuits. Choose this method if you plan on baking with sourdough often.
• Feed the starter daily with as little as one tablespoon of flour and water – enough to continue daily growth but not produce a large quantity of starter. Choose this method if you fall in the middle – you want to bake with sourdough fairly often, but not have so much discard that you don’t know what to do with it!

ADDITIONAL SOURDOUGH STARTER TIPS

• If your starter outgrows your clean jar, you may split it between two jars. Continue the feeding process, dividing the flour and water between the bowls (2 Tbsp of each, for each bowl).
• If you are culturing other items simultaneously, be sure to leave at least 3-5 feet of space between each item so the yeasts do not cross-contaminate. (Sourdough won’t make your kefir “bad,” but over time both cultures can weaken. Best just to keep them apart.)
• When using your homemade sourdough starter in a recipe, leave behind approximately ½ cup of starter to feed. This ensures you have enough yeast to continue fermenting at the same pace you have been. Discarding does not affect the yeast’s ability to multiply in the long run.
• Use water kefir instead of filtered water to produce a ready starter in less time.
• The good, healthy bacteria live in the water that often collects at the surface. It’s the bacteria that gives the bread its sour taste.
• The yeast lives in the dough portion of the starter. The yeast is what must be fed so it can multiply to the point of causing the dough to rise.
• Feeding the starter more often will cause the yeast to multiply faster.
• In general, thicker starters yield better baked goods, so use less water when feeding the starter. Alternatively, if the starter feels too thick for a recipe, add water.

HOW TO FEED SOURDOUGH STARTER A DIFFERENT FLOUR

You can easily switch to a different flour once the home made sourdough starter has gone through the first seven days. To do this:

• Split the starter in half, placing half in the refrigerator. This is your backup in case your attempt to switch flours fails.
• Feed your starter as desired (per the options above) using the new flour.
• Within a few days, the starter should be successfully converted.
• If after a few days you no longer see bubbles and liquid forming at the top, the conversion was not successful. Use what you have in a non-bread recipe and try again with the refrigerated starter.

STORING SOURDOUGH STARTER

Yeast grows incredibly slowly at refrigeration temperatures, which is why you can get away with feeding it only once a week. In order for the yeast to successfully leaven a batch of bread, it must be “revived”, so to speak. The steps are below, along with an example to help you better understand the time frame involved.

• Three and a half days before you plan to bake bread, remove the starter from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. (Monday night)
• Once the starter is at room temperature, feed with equal parts flour and water. (Tuesday morning)
• Later that day, feed the starter again with equal parts flour and water. (Tuesday afternoon)
• That evening, if you have foam and liquid rising to the top of the starter, you are ready to bake bread. If you do not, continue feeding daily until there is foam and liquid rising to the top.
• Follow the steps in this sourdough bread recipe to mix up your dough, let the bread rise, and bake your first loaf (Wednesday morning or later, depending on how fast the previous steps went).

With the time involved in “reviving” refrigerated sourdough, it’s often easier to keep the starter at room temperature and reduce the feedings to only a tablespoon or two daily. You’ll have to choose what will work better for you and your bread-making routine.

RECIPES FOR USING LEFTOVER SOURDOUGH DISCARD

Once your sourdough starter is established, you’ll end up with extra starter, which you can pour off, or discard, and keep in the refrigerator. You can use that discard in recipes too!

• Sourdough Pancakes
• Sourdough Biscuits (the best flavor of biscuits ever!!)
• Sourdough Waffles
• Make Sourdough Crackers with either starter or discard

SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE FAQS

SOURDOUGH RECIPES AND TUTORIALS

• No Knead Sourdough Bread
• Sourdough 101: The Benefits of Sourdough
• How to Make Sourdough Bread
• How to Make a Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
• Sourdough A to Z eCourse (Plus recipe book!)

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