How to Care For Your Sourdough Starter.
Before you can bake amazing sourdough, you need to understand the heart of it all: the starter. This bubbly, flour-and-water mixture may look simple, but it’s a living ecosystem — and it’s what gives sourdough its unique rise, flavor, and character.
What is a Sourdough Starter?
A sourdough starter is a live culture of wild yeast and beneficial bacteria (mainly Lactobacillus). It’s created by mixing flour and water and allowing it to ferment over time. As it ferments, wild yeast from the flour and air begin to feed on the carbohydrates in the flour, producing gases that cause bread to rise.
Unlike commercial yeast, which is a single strain (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), a starter is a diverse community of microbes working together in balance.
The Science Behind Wild Yeast
Wild yeast exists naturally on flour, in the air, and on your hands. When you mix flour and water and let it sit, you create a perfect environment for these yeasts and good bacteria to grow.
Here’s what’s happening inside your jar:
Yeast feeds on sugars in the flour, producing carbon dioxide (bubbles!) and a little alcohol.
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) produce lactic and acetic acids, which give sourdough its tangy flavor and help preserve the bread naturally.
This fermentation process also breaks down some gluten and phytic acid, making the bread easier to digest and more nutrient-dense.
Together, yeast and bacteria create a stable, symbiotic culture — a healthy, happy starter.
Sourdough takes more time and intention, but the payoff is immense: better bread, deeper flavor, and a rewarding connection to your food.
How to care for it :
A sourdough starter is like a little pet that requires regular feeding, attention, and care. The more you nurture it, the more it will reward you with vibrant, flavorful bread. Your starter is alive — it needs feeding, warmth, and a little love to keep it healthy and active.
Just like any living organism, a sourdough starter thrives when it’s well cared for. When you feed it fresh flour and water, it becomes stronger and more robust, producing more yeast and bacteria. These microbes are what give your sourdough its rise and distinctive flavor. Without regular feedings, your starter can become sluggish or even die off.
Here’s everything you need to know to keep your starter healthy and strong.
Daily Feeding Schedule (Room Temperature)
To keep your starter active, it needs to be fed regularly. At room temperature, you’ll need to feed your starter once every 24 hours.
Feeding Your Starter (Room Temp)
Discard: Remove half of your starter (about 50g). This prevents the starter from growing too large and ensures the remaining culture stays active.
Feed: Add 50g of water and 50g of flour (ideally unbleached) Use a clean jar or container with room for the starter to expand.
Stir: Mix thoroughly to incorporate air and hydrate the flour.
Scrape down the sides of the jar to keep things tidy and prevent any dry bits from developing mold.
Loosely cover the jar with a lid or cloth—your starter needs to breathe, but you want to keep dust and pests out.
You can experiment with different feeding ratios, but the minimum is 1:1:1 (Starter : Flour : Water )
Repeat this process daily. Your starter will gradually become more active, bubbling and growing in size.
Storing Your Starter (Room Temp vs. Fridge)
You can choose to keep your starter at room temperature (which requires daily feedings) or store it in the fridge (which requires feeding once a week).
Room Temperature
Ideal for active bakers who bake regularly.
Needs daily feeding and attention.
The starter is at its most active and ready to bake within 4-6 hours of a feeding.
When storing at room temp, make sure to scrape down the sides to prevent mould.
Fridge Storage
Perfect for infrequent bakers.
Feed once a week: Remove the starter from the fridge, let it come to room temperature, discard half, and feed it.
After feeding, allow it to sit for 4–6 hours to become bubbly before returning it to the fridge.
Tip: If you plan to bake, feed the starter at least 1–2 days ahead to give it time to wake up.
MUST BE SEALED going into the fridge.