Your starter is a living culture of wild yeast and beneficial bacteria. With proper care, it will provide you with delicious bread for years to come.
Your starter arrives hungry! Give it a feeding as soon as you can.
Keep at 70-78°F for best activity. Cooler = slower, warmer = faster.
Transfer to a clean jar after a few feedings to prevent buildup.
Use a loose lid, cloth, or coffee filter. Your starter needs to breathe!
For each part starter, add equal parts flour and water by weight. This is the most common ratio and a great starting point.
50g starter + 50g flour + 50g water
Different ratios change how fast your starter peaks and how sour it tastes. See the feeding ratios section below for more options.
Remove all but about 50g (a few tablespoons). This "discard" can be used in pancakes, waffles, crackers, or composted.
Add 50g of all-purpose or bread flour. You can also use a mix of white and whole wheat for more flavor and activity.
Add 50g of room temperature water. Filtered or bottled water is best, but tap water that's been left out overnight works too.
Stir vigorously until no dry flour remains. The consistency should be like thick pancake batter.
Use a rubber band or mark the jar to track how much it rises. A healthy starter should double in 4-8 hours.
Feeding ratios are expressed as starter : flour : water by weight. Changing the ratio lets you control how quickly your starter peaks, how sour your bread tastes, and how your starter fits into your schedule.
50g starter + 50g flour + 50g water
The go-to ratio for everyday maintenance. Your starter will peak in roughly 4-6 hours at room temperature. This is the ratio most recipes assume when they say "feed your starter."
Best for: Daily maintenance, baking same-day, quick turnaround
25g starter + 50g flour + 50g water
More food relative to starter means a longer rise (6-8 hours) and a milder flavor. This is great for building up a weak or neglected starter, and it's what I recommend when your starter smells overly acidic or isn't rising predictably.
Best for: Reviving a sluggish starter, reducing sourness, morning feed for evening bake
20g starter + 60g flour + 60g water
With even more food to work through, this ratio takes 8-12 hours to peak - perfect for feeding before bed and having an active starter ready in the morning. It also produces a milder, less tangy flavor profile.
Best for: Overnight timing, mild-flavored bread, fitting baking into a busy schedule
10g starter + 50g flour + 50g water
A small amount of starter has a lot of food to eat through, extending the rise time to 12-16+ hours. This is useful in warm weather when your starter is peaking too fast, or when you only want to feed once a day.
Best for: Hot climates, once-daily feeding, very mild flavor
5g starter + 50g flour + 50g water
Just a tiny bit of starter with a large amount of food. This can take 18-24+ hours to peak, making it ideal for skipping a feeding day entirely or managing a very active starter in the heat of summer. It produces the mildest flavor of all the ratios.
Best for: Skipping a day, extreme heat, very low maintenance schedules
If keeping your starter on the counter, feed it once or twice daily. This is ideal if you bake frequently.
Best for: Daily bakers
Feed every 12-24 hours
The fridge slows fermentation dramatically. Perfect for casual bakers who don't bake every day.
Best for: Weekly bakers
Feed once a week
This is common, especially with a new starter. Try these fixes:
This dark liquid is called "hooch" - it's just alcohol produced by hungry yeast. It's not harmful!
A strong acetone smell means your starter is very hungry and producing excess acetic acid.
This is usually a timing issue with your starter, not the starter itself.
Don't panic! Starters are remarkably resilient.
To check if your starter is ready to bake with, do the float test:
If it sinks, give it more time to ferment or feed it again and wait.
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