Sourdough Starter Recipe
Complete beginner's guide to making a sourdough starter from scratch in 5 to 7 days. Two-stage flour method, day-by-day timeline, peak test, and troubleshooting for every problem you'll hit.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 725kcal
Equipment
- 4 Cup clean jar or container with straight sides
Ingredients
- 150 grams Whole Wheat Flour (about one cup) plus more for feeding
- 150 grams Bottled or Filtered Water 90ºF (about ¾ cup) plus more for feeding
Instructions
Sourdough Starter Schedule
- Before you start. Use unbleached flour only. Bleach kills wild yeast. Use filtered or bottled water for the first 7 days (chlorine kills yeast). Warm your water to 90º F to give the yeast a boost. Find a warm spot in your kitchen (80º F to 90º F) for the jar.
- Day 1 (morning). Combine 150g whole wheat flour and 150g warm (90º F) water in a bowl. Mix by hand until no dry flour remains. Transfer to a clean 4-cup jar with straight sides. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a towel. Mark the level with a dry erase marker.
- Day 2 (same time of day). Stir the starter. Remove half and discard (it's not safe to eat yet). Add 75g whole wheat flour + 75g warm water to the remaining ~75g of starter. Stir until no dry flour remains. Cover, mark the new level.
- Day 3. Same routine. Remove half, discard, feed with 75g whole wheat + 75g warm water. Stir, cover, mark.
- Day 4. Same routine. Activity may appear to slow down. Don't panic, the microbial population is shifting. Keep going.
- Day 5 (morning). Switch to unbleached bread flour or all-purpose flour. Remove half (now you can save it as discard for recipes). Add 75g unbleached flour + 75g warm water. Stir, cover, mark. Twelve hours later, repeat the feeding.
- Day 6. Continue twice-daily feedings with unbleached flour. Start checking every hour to find the peak. Note how many hours after feeding the starter peaks.
- Day 7+. If your starter is doubling within 5 hours of a feeding, drop back to once-a-day feedings. If not, continue twice daily for a few more days. Run the levain test (50g starter + 50g warm water + 50g whole wheat flour, watch for doubling in 5 hours) to confirm bread readiness.Add 75g unbleached bread flour and 75g warm (90F) filtered water. Stir until no dry flour remains. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm area (on top of the fridge is common). Repeat this 12 hours later in the night.
- Maintenance. Once established, feed once daily on the counter (if baking 2-3x per week) or once weekly in the fridge (if baking less often).
Video
Notes
Flour notes:
- Use unbleached flour only. Bleach kills wild yeast.
- Whole wheat for Days 1 to 4 (more wild yeast and lactobacillus on the bran).
- Unbleached bread flour or all-purpose for Day 5 onward (slower for the yeast to process, more stable starter).
- Rye flour works too but in my testing didn't perform better than whole wheat.
- Filtered or bottled water for the first 7 days. Chlorine kills wild yeast.
- Warm to 90º F to boost yeast activity. Microwave briefly and check with a thermometer.
- After Day 7, you can use tap water if your tap isn't heavily chlorinated.
- 80º F to 90º F is the sweet spot for environment temperature.
- Below 70º F, your starter will move at half speed. Find a warmer spot.
- Above 95º F, the yeast starts to stress. Move to a cooler spot.
- A sourdough home or folding proofer gives you precise temperature control if you bake often.
- Counter (active baker): feed once daily.
- Fridge (occasional baker): feed once weekly. Take out 2 days before baking and feed twice daily to revive.
- Vacation (1 to 3 weeks): just leave in the fridge. Hooch on top is normal. Feed as usual when you return.
- Long-term (months): dehydrate on plastic wrap, crumble, freeze in a zip-top bag.
- The peak test: starter doubles in size within 5 hours of feeding.
- The levain test: 50g starter + 50g warm water + 50g whole wheat flour doubles in 5 hours.
- If neither doubles in 5 hours, keep feeding twice daily for a few more days.
- Don't use bleached flour. Kills the yeast.
- Don't use unfiltered tap water for the first 7 days. Chlorine kills the yeast.
- Don't use a metal container. Acid corrodes metal.
- Don't seal the jar airtight. The starter needs to breathe.
- Don't try to bake bread before the levain test passes. Your loaf will be a hockey puck.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 725kcal | Carbohydrates: 149g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 4mg | Potassium: 453mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 4mg
