Alles, was wir bitten, ist eine Bewertung, erzählen Sie uns, was gut oder schlecht ist, damit wir wissen, was Sie wirklich denken, um unseren Service für Sie zu verbessern!
Flour to first loaf
7 days
to a bake-ready culture
Sourdough · The living starter
The complete sourdough starter guide.
Flour and water, and yet it behaves like a living thing. Here is how to make one from scratch, keep it healthy, read what it is telling you, and fix it when it sulks.
What it is
What is a sourdough starter?
A sourdough starter is a stable culture of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria living in a paste of flour and water. The yeast produces the gas that makes your bread rise. The bacteria produce the acids that give sourdough its flavour and its keeping quality. Feed the culture flour and water and it stays alive more or less indefinitely, which is why bakers pass starters down for years.
There is no need to buy yeast or a kit. The wild yeast is already on the flour and in your kitchen. Your only job is to give it the right food, the right warmth, and a bit of patience while the culture finds its balance. Think of it like debugging: if the starter is not doing what you want, the answer is almost always in the inputs, the flour, the water, the temperature or the feeding schedule.
From scratch
How to make a sourdough starter
You need flour, water and a clean jar. Start with wholemeal or rye flour, which carries more wild yeast than white, then switch to strong white bread flour once things are moving. Keep the jar somewhere warm, ideally 22 to 26C.
- 1
Day 1 · Mix
Mix 50g wholemeal or rye flour with 50g water into a thick paste. Cover loosely and leave it at room temperature.
- 2
Days 2 to 3 · First feeds
Once a day, discard about half and feed with 50g white bread flour and 50g water. Expect the first bubbles and a fruity, slightly sour smell.
- 3
Days 4 to 5 · Build strength
Feed twice a day if it is active. The mixture rises and falls between feeds. A quiet spell around day 3 to 4 is completely normal, so do not give up.
- 4
Days 6 to 7 · Ready to bake
When the starter reliably doubles within 4 to 8 hours of a feed and floats in water, it is ready to raise a loaf.
Once it is established, the exact feed ratio and timing depend on your flour and kitchen. The free sourdough starter calculator works out feed weights and timing for you, so you are not guessing.
The rhythmFeed, wait, watch it rise
4–8h
A healthy, fed starter roughly doubles within four to eight hours at room temperature, then passes the float test at its peak.
Keeping it healthy
Feeding, and knowing when it is ready
Feeding means removing most of the starter and replacing what is left with fresh flour and water. A common maintenance feed is 1:5:5, one part starter to five parts flour and five parts water by weight, but a hungrier starter in a warm kitchen may want more food or more frequent feeds. The warmer it is, the faster it ferments and the sooner it needs feeding.
Ready looks like this: the starter roughly doubles a few hours after a feed, the surface is domed and bubbly, it smells pleasantly tangy rather than sharp, and a small spoonful floats in water because it is full of gas. Understanding how dough rises makes it far easier to time both the starter and the bake.
When it misbehaves
Sourdough starter troubleshooting
Liquid on top (hooch)
A grey or brown layer of alcohol means the starter is hungry. It is harmless. Pour it off or stir it in, then feed more often or move the jar somewhere cooler.
No bubbles or rise
Usually too cold, or the wild yeast has not established yet. Move it somewhere warmer, feed with a little wholemeal or rye, and give it a few more days of regular feeds.
Smells of acetone or nail varnish
A sharp solvent smell means it is very hungry and over-acidic. Do two or three feeds close together, or feed a larger ratio, and the balance comes back.
Pink, orange or fuzzy patches
Coloured streaks or fuzzy mould are the one real red flag. Do not try to rescue it. Throw it out, clean the jar thoroughly, and start again.
Slowing it down
Storing your starter, and using the discard
If you are not baking every day, feed the starter, let it sit for an hour, then keep it covered in the fridge. It slows right down and only needs feeding roughly once a week. To bake again, take it out and feed it once or twice at room temperature until it is bubbly and doubling.
All that discarding produces a lot of leftover starter. Do not bin it. Sourdough discard makes excellent crackers, pancakes and crumpets, and the sourdough discard guide and discard calculator tell you exactly how much flour and water your discard is worth so you can fold it into other recipes without throwing your ratios off.
Common questions
Sourdough starter FAQ
How long does it take to make a sourdough starter?
Most starters are ready to bake with in 7 to 14 days. Warmth speeds it up and cold slows it down. You will often see plenty of bubbles by day 3 or 4, but wait until the starter reliably doubles within 4 to 8 hours of feeding before you bake, as early bubbling is often bacteria rather than the wild yeast that gives you rise.
What flour is best for starting a sourdough starter?
Begin with wholemeal or rye flour. The bran and germ carry more wild yeast and minerals, so fermentation gets going faster. Once the starter is active you can switch to strong white bread flour, or keep a rye or wholemeal feed if you like the flavour and reliability.
Why is there liquid on top of my starter?
That grey or brown liquid is hooch, a layer of alcohol the yeast produces when the starter is hungry. It is harmless. Pour it off or stir it back in, then feed more often or move the jar somewhere cooler. Regular hooch is simply a sign your starter wants feeding sooner.
How do I store a sourdough starter I am not using?
Feed the starter, let it sit for an hour, then cover it and keep it in the fridge. It will slow right down and only needs feeding once a week or so. To bake again, take it out, feed it once or twice at room temperature until it is bubbly and doubling, and it is ready.
Can you kill a sourdough starter?
It is hard to kill an established starter. Neglect just makes it sluggish, and a few days of regular feeds almost always revives it. The real risks are heat above about 50C, which kills the yeast, and pink or orange streaks or fuzzy mould, which mean you should throw it out and start again.
Keep reading
Where to go next
Take the guesswork out of your starter.
Free calculators for feeding, timing and discard. Track your starter's health in DoughRise Pro.
Photography by Nik and Sonia Nadales on Unsplash.
