How to Feed Sourdough Starter
Total Time
5 mins
Prep Time
5 mins
Rating
5 out of 5 stars
(11)
Ingredients
1.5 cups
- 100 grams active sourdough starter (1/2 cup)
- 100 grams filtered water (1/2 cup) room temperature to lukewarm
- 100 grams all-purpose flour (1 scant cup)
How would you rate this recipe?
Preparation
Step 1
Bring Starter to Room Temperature: If your starter is refrigerated, remove it from the refrigerator a few hours or the night before to come to room temperature. If your starter is at room temperature, you’ll want to feed it daily or at least every other day to keep it bubbly and happy.
Step 2
Feed the Starter: Using a kitchen scale to weigh in grams, discard all but 100 grams of your starter in your glass jar. Add 100 grams flour and 100 grams water and stir thoroughly with a silicone spatula to combine.
Step 3
Let it Rise: Scrape down the sides of the jar, cover with a loose-fitting lid, place a rubber band on the jar to track how far the starter has risen, and let it grow at room temperature (70-75 ̊F). Once it has at least doubled in volume (4-6 hours), it is considered 'active sourdough starter' and you can use it to make sourdough recipes. Once it falls and is no longer active, you can repeat the feeding process in step 2.
Step 4
Save recipe for the next time?
Chef's notes
Use filtered non-chlorinated water or spring water. Chlorine can hinder the growth of the yeast and bacteria. To dechlorinate your water, you can boil and cool or set your water into a vessel and leave it on the counter for 1 day to naturally dechlorinate and come to room temperature.
We commonly use organic all-purpose flour, but you can substitute 25-50% of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat or rye flour to help increase starter activity.
A Weck Jar is my favorite because it weighs exactly 400 grams without the lid so the math is easy, and it has a loose-fitting lid which is important to prevent pressure buildup. To save time, keep a note of the weight of your empty jar. You can zero out the scale before adding each ingredient for easy measuring.
