Learn how to make a sourdough starter recipe from scratch with just flour and water. This versatile ingredient can be used to make breads, cakes, cookies, and so much more.
If you hang around the traditional foods community, chances are you have heard of making homemade sourdough starter from scratch.
I have had my homemade starter for over six years now. It is vital in my traditional food kitchen.
What Is A Sourdough Starter?
A sourdough starter is a live active culture made of fermented flour and water that is full of beneficial bacteria and yeasts.
It is used as a way to ferment recipes and naturally rise bread.
Why You Will Love Sourdough:
If you are unfamiliar, let me fill you in on all the reasons why crazy folks, like me, go through the effort of handcrafting, and maintaining, a beneficial colony of yeasts and bacteria in their kitchens.
Before yeast was isolated and sold in little packets, sourdough starter was a valuable commodity in homes and families, passed down for generations.
Health Benefits
Have you ever heard of phytic acid? Basically, it’s an antinutrient found in grains, beans, and nuts that interferes with the absorption of certain nutrients. They are present on grains to keep them from spoiling.
There is a reason they are there, but there is also good evidence that our bodies weren’t meant to handle them. Proper preparation of grains eliminates most, if not all, of the phytic acid in offending foods.
This is the very reason traditional cultures soaked and fermented their grains, seeds, and beans. These days, we’ve lost that art. And what have we found? People can’t handle grains anymore.
Instead of using instant yeast packets, people in traditional cultures leavened their bread with a fermented starter that captured all the yeasts in the environment.
AKA Sourdough starter
How on earth do we capture native yeasts? Read on, because I explain how to make your very own starter.
Because I love good food
I already confessed my foodie tendencies with you all. I reckon it’s the same inclination that led me into the world of homemade sourdough.
Locally made sourdough starter, with the native yeasts of the area present, is certainly the thing a foodie’s dreams are made of. A jar of healthy, productive starter is teaming with life, as evidenced by all the bubbles you will see rising to the surface.
Once you’ve experienced homemade sourdough baked goods, store-bought breads and pancakes simply don’t cut it. Sourdough has a depth of flavor that just can’t be found in something made quickly with a packet of instant yeast.
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FAQ:
How long does it take to make sourdough starter?
It takes about a week to create an active sourdough starter, but sometimes it can take about two weeks to make a starter ready to bake bread.
Do you have to discard sourdough starter every time you feed it?
When you are first creating your sourdough starter, yes. If you don’t discard you will have so much starter that it will be hard to keep healthy. This is because the more starter you have the more flour and water you will need to add for the yeasts and bacteria to feed on.
After having a starter for a while rather than discarding you can just use it in discard recipes. This is a much more useful way of removing some of the starter rather than throwing it in the trash.
How do you know your sourdough starter is ready to use?
You will know your sourdough starter is read to use when you feed it and after 4-12 hours it doubles in size and is super bubbly. A good way to be able to determine this, is to place a rubber band where the top of the starter is after you feed it. Then after a few hours have passed you can see just how high it has grown.
Another way is to perform the float test. Take a small glass of room temperature water. Add a quarter sized dollop of active starter. If it floats, it is ready to bake with. If it doesn’t it is not active enough.
Sourdough Starter Recipe:
By now, you know why you want to have a bowl of sourdough starter bubbling away in your kitchen, but how the heck do you make one?
Ingredients
Flour (Whole grain wheat, unbleached all-purpose, and einkorn are all great choices.)
Filtered water (I use a Berkey water filter. We have the Royal size for our family of 7. You can find my full Berkey review HERE.)
Tools
Glass bowl (Metal can react with beneficial bacteria and yeasts.)
Tea towel
How To Make Sourdough Starter
Day 1:
On day one, mix one cup of flour and one cup filtered water. Stir vigorously, making sure to scrape down the sides and incorporate everything. Place a clean tea towel over the bowl and set aside. Allow it to sit for 24 hours.
Day 2:
On day two, discard half of the mixture and repeat the process. Add one cup flour, one cup water, stir vigorously, and cover.
Why do you have to remove half the mixture? By day four, you would have sourdough starter overflowing from your bowl. Also, removing half ensures that the right amount of flour and water is feeding the growing colony of beneficial yeast. If you weren’t discarding half, the cup of flour wouldn’t be enough to feed them on days three and four. Basically, you would end up with a lot of extra starter by the end of the process, and none of it would be mature.
Day 3-5
Repeat the day two instructions for days three, four, and five.
Day 6-7
On days six and seven, do the same but feed it every 12 hours, instead of every 24.
By day seven, there should be enough beneficial bacteria and yeast present to bake sourdough bread and other fermented sourdough goodies, like pancakes and english muffins.
You will know it’s working if it bubbles, and doubles in size.
Sourdough Starter Maintenance
Once your sourdough starter is alive and active, there will be some maintenance to keep it going for years and years.
In the refrigerator for occasional use
Storing it in the refrigerator slows down the fermentation process, so one feeding per week, or every other week, is sufficient.
I usually use my starter a couple times per week. If I plan to make pancakes Saturday morning, for example, I will pull my starter out of the fridge Friday morning and add flour and water. By Saturday morning it is bubbly and ready to go.
I remove the two cups of starter needed for my pancake recipe, and put the “master starter” back in the fridge. Since it was fed the day before, it is good to go for another week, or whenever I need it next.
On the counter for daily use
Since the “little guys”, as my kids like to call the bacteria in the starter, are active at room temperature, they will have to be fed more often if keep it in this state.
If you leave your starter out on the counter, you will need to add flour and water every day. You will also have to be baking every day to use up all that starter.
Most people probably won’t use the starter quite so much, unless you own and operate a bakery. I would recommend storing it in the refrigerator between uses.
Helpful Resources
Every day I get loads of questions about sourdough starter, so I devoted a whole post called, How to Care for Sourdough Starter filled with your questions and my answers. You can use this post a reference guide.
Thank you so much for stopping by the farmhouse! I hope this is just the beginning of our sourdough journey.
Check out my other sourdough recipes and posts
- Sourdough English Muffins
- Sourdough Pizza Crust
- Healthy One Pot Meal- Sourdough Skillet
- Sourdough Tortillas
- Easy Sourdough Focaccia
- Dry Sourdough Starter
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Also, tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Sourdough Starter
Ingredients
- Flour, Whole grain wheat, unbleached all purpose, and einkorn are all great choices.
- Filtered water
Instructions
- On day one, mix one cup of flour and one cup filtered water. Stir vigorously, making sure to scrape down the sides and incorporate everything. Place a clean tea towel over the bowl and set aside. Allow it to sit for 24 hours.
- On day two, discard half of the mixture and repeat the process. Add one cup flour, one cup water, stir vigorously, and cover.
- Repeat the day two instructions for days three, four, and five.
- On days six and seven, do the same but feed it every 12 hours, instead of every 24.
- By day seven, there should be enough beneficial bacteria and yeast present to bake sourdough bread and other fermented sourdough goodies, like pancakes and english muffins. You will know it’s working if it bubbles, and doubles in size.
Notes
Sourdough Starter Maintenance
- Once your sourdough starter is alive and active, there will be some maintenance to keep it going for years and years.
In The Refrigerator For Occasional Use
- Storing it in the refrigerator slows down the fermentation process, so one feeding every week, or every other week, is sufficient.
- I usually use my starter a couple times per week. If I plan to make pancakes Saturday morning, for example, I pull my starter out of the fridge Friday morning and add flour and water. By Saturday morning it is bubbly and ready to go. I remove the two cups of starter needed for my pancake recipe and put the “master starter” back in the fridge. Since it was fed the day before, it is good to go for another week, or whenever I need it next.
On The Counter For Daily Use
- Since the “little guys”, as my kids like to call the bacteria in the starter, are active at room temperature, they will have to be fed more often if kept in this state.
- If you leave your starter out on the counter, you will need to add flour and water every day. You will also have to be baking daily to use up all that starter.
- Most people probably won’t use the starter quite so much, unless you own and operate a bakery. I would recommend storing it in the refrigerator between uses.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I am trying this recipe and I have a couple questions. Should I stir my starter before discarding? There seems to be a thin layer of liquid on the top. Also, when I begin to discard do I have to throw it away until my starter is active or can I store the discard in another container in the refrigerator for discard recipes? I have read that you should throw it away until the starter is established. I just hate waste!
Yes, you can stir it in before you discard. You can use it now for recipes. It doesn’t have all of the health benefits as it would if it was completely active, but there’s no harm in using it.
I’m so confused 😩. My starter was doing well, but day 4 killed it. No bubbles. No rising. I keep reading “pour off half,” and use an and add a cup of water and a cup of flour, but half of my starter is more than the cup measurements. Am I supposed to add equal measurements 1:1:1 or am I supposed to add whatever half of my starter is to 1 cup of water and 1 cup of flour? I’m so sad.that my progress seems to have stopped and I don’t know what to do. I’ve been measuring out my starter in grams, using half of that measurement, and then doing a 1:1:1 ratio for my flour and water.
Keep going. It’s common to see bubbles and activity in the beginning and then not see anything for a few days. It can take up to a couple of weeks to see complete activity!
Okay! So should I be using half of my starter, which is at over 600g before pouring off, or should I cut back the amount of starter to match closer to a cup measure?
Cut back on the amount of starter to match closer to a cup measurement. You basically want to feed however much starter you have, that much flour and water.
Hello Lisa-
I’m currently on day 5 and the past 3 days I’ve gotten a good amount of liquid and no bubbly growth. Day 2 I had to transfer to a different container because tripped in size. It also doesn’t smell sourdough like. I’d hate to go through the next few days of doubling up feedings if I should just be starting over. I’m wondering if it was the transfer of container or the metal spoon I used once or the metal measuring cup I used? Advise on if I should just restart?
Thanks!
Keep going! It can take up to a few weeks.
Hi! After the starter is established, how do we store it in the fridge? Does it need to be tightly covered with a lid/plastic wrap or loosely with a tea towel like we did on the counter? Thank you!
I like to cover it with a plastic lid! Anything that is air tight works.
Hi Lisa, I’m going on day 6 now with my starter. It’s been going well, I’ve seen bubbles but not too much growth. I’ve also experienced it separating some days and after reading comments am not worried about it now. My house is very cold, as we are in winter now. What should I do if I don’t get bubbles and it doesn’t double in size?
I would find a warmer spot to put your starter. That is probably why you don’t have a lot of activity yet.
Thank you, I’ve been continuing and even leaving my heater on to keep my house warm. I’d like to confirm whilst feeding do I continue to halve my starter and then add 1 cup flour and 1 cup water? I’m a little confused cos below people are mentioning 1 cup starter to 1 cup water to 1 cup flour. So should I take out a cup of starter instead of halving it?
Follow up questions…for the container, should the glass lid just rest on top or should it be airtight? How big should the container be? Also do you use a cloth until you move it to the fridge?
Thank you in advance!!
Rest on top when it’s on your counter. Lid sealed tight in the fridge to prevent it from drying out.
Can you use the discard right away or you shouldn’t until day 7? I am about to start my journey tonight.
You can use it right away. I like to wait until day 7 for the benefits, but you can use it any time.
Hi, I’m past the week of feeding and my starter hasn’t doubled. Should I feed it once or 2x a day? It still very liquid like.
I would feed it 1x per day until you notice it rising and bubbling.
I have tried this starter recipe twice now. The first time I used flour that had been sitting in my cupboard for months, so I assumed it was just too old because it rose and bubbles on the first day but then developed that green juice on top.
At this point, I started over and bought fresh whole grain flour. The first day it doubled in size and looked bubbly but the second day it looked flat. I continued but now on day three it has no bubbles and looks very dry, it has a sort of matte white sporadic crust on top. Should I start over or just keep going…or change something ?
Also, my house is super warm 75 – 85 degrees.
Thank you for sharing!!!
Lorena
Are you discarding and feeding daily? I would keep going. It’s fairly normal to get bubbles around day 2 and then to not see them again for a few days.
Hi Lisa, I have been using your recipe for my starter. I am on day 9 now and have been feeding it twice a day. I was doing 1/2 starter, 1 cup bread flour, 1 cup water. But my starter was very runny and had that clearish liquid layer on top. On day 5 I starting doing 1/2 of the starter, 1 cup bread flour, and 1/2-3/4 cup water. Since then my starter will bubble and start to grow slightly, but it does not doubled in size. I also have not had any liquid layer on top. I have tried the float test many times. Most of the time the starter has sunk to the bottom. A small piece did float once on day 7 or 8. Is there anything I need to change? Do I need to start over?
I don’t think you need to start over. I would follow a 1:1:1 ratio. One cup starter, one cup flour, one cup water.
Thank you for making such a nice clear easy recipe.
I have tried to make starter before but either I forgot to feed it or got scared a few days in and threw it out.
Now with more experience making sourdough from friends’ starters, I am trying again. I’m on day three and this is the place I always get nervous because to me it starts to smell like sour milk.
This time I am gritting my teeth and will keep going! I will let you know how it goes!