Sourdough Starter Care Guide

 

🥖 Our Bakery | Sourdough Starter Care Guide

1. Feeding Schedule - you choose which is best for your purposes.

• Keep at room temp if baking daily: feed once every 24 hours.

OR

• Store in the fridge if baking less often: feed once a week (or simply stir down if you want a deeper sour profile)

---

Feeding Ratio if you bake daily

• 20g of starter (anything beyond the 20 g you can either throw in the trash can - not down the drain! - or add it to your 'discard' jar in the refrigerator.
• Add:
 – 30g rye flour
 – 70g unbleached all-purpose flour
 – 100g water

• Stir well, cover loosely, and let rise at room temp to peak before baking. If left unused, start the process over.
• Use a rubber band around the jar to mark the starter’s level right after feeding.

✨ Want to keep more discard? You can! Just increase the flour and water in the same ratio.

→ Example: Keeping 40g of starter? Feed with 60g rye + 140g all-purpose + 200g water.

---

💡 New! Optional Lower-Volume Daily Feeding

If you’re trying to reduce waste or bake in smaller quantities, try this gentler feeding schedule (a game-changer if you're feeding before bed!).

• 10g of starter (anything beyond the 10g you can either throw in the trash can - not down the drain! - or add it to your 'discard' jar in the refrigerator).
• Add:
 – 15g rye flour
 – 35g unbleached all-purpose flour
 – 50g water

• Stir, cover loosely, and let rise at room temp to peak for baking.

✔️ Still plenty to bake with—especially great for single loaves or less frequent baking.
✔️ Same feeding principles, just scaled down.
✔️ You can always scale back up when baking more!

---

Feeding Ratio if you only bake weekly (or less)

• Remove starter from fridge. Let it come to room temp.
• 20g (anything beyond the 20 g you can either throw in the trash can - not down the drain! - or add it to your 'discard' jar in the refrigerator).
•Add:

    – 30g rye flour
 – 70g unbleached all-purpose flour
 – 100g water

• Let rise at room temp to peak before baking. Return unused starter to refrigerator (adding it to the discard jar)

📝 Want to use the smaller method for weekly feedings? That works too. Use the 10g starter base and the 15g/35g/50g flour and water amounts listed above.

---

What to Look For

• Healthy starter: bubbly, rises and falls predictably, smells mildly tangy.
• Needs food: runny or gray liquid (hooch) on top—just stir or pour off and feed.

Hooch tip:
• Stir it in for a stronger sour flavor.
• Pour it off before feeding to keep the flavor more mild.

---

Tips

• Use filtered or dechlorinated water when possible.
• Acrylic jars work beautifully—lightweight, durable, easy to clean.
• Glass jars are great too. Just leave room for expansion.
• Name your starter for fun! (It’s part of the family now.)

---

📝 Discard Storage Tip

• You can collect discard (which is basically starter taking a nap)  in the fridge and store it for several weeks (some say even months or years with proper care!).
• Stir occasionally and use in muffins, crackers, pancakes, or waffles.
• No need to feed it unless you want to revive it as starter for baking days.
• Toss it only if you see mold or smell anything truly off.

6. Flour Alternatives

While this guide uses rye and unbleached all-purpose (AP) flour, you can absolutely use other flours based on what you have on hand.

Bleached AP flour works just fine—especially for beginners. Your starter might ferment a bit slower but will still thrive.

You can also try whole wheat, bread flour, or even a mix of flours. Expect some variation in texture and activity.

💧 Hydration Note

You may need to adjust the water amount depending on the flour:

Whole wheat absorbs more water, so you might want to add a splash extra.

Bleached flour can be less absorbent, so slightly reduce the water if your mix feels too runny.

The most important thing is to observe your starter. It should be thick like pancake batter after mixing and bubbly once active.

Download the PDF for printing!