
(Last updated 2/7/25)
Welcome! I am so excited to help you get started on your sourdough journey. This online guide follows the printed instructions you received with your starter, with some extra info and photos added. If you have any questions during the process, or have suggestions for things I should add or make more clear, please don’t hesitate to reach out, either through Facebook or Instagram.
Also, be sure to join our private Facebook group, where I provide support and guidance, and we share all things sourdough. If you have not received an invitation to the group and would like to join, please send me a message!

Your active sourdough starter is a living culture of wild yeast and bacteria that acts as a natural leavening agent. When properly maintained, it can last for years. Some sourdough starters are hundreds of years old!
If you purchased an active starter from us, it is ready to use. Refrigerate it immediately for up to a week if you are not ready to feed and use it, or follow the steps below to get started.

Materials: You’ll need a clean glass jar with a lid, unbleached bread flour (or you can use unbleached all-purpose flour), water, spoon or spatula, and a digital kitchen scale.

- We prefer bread flour due to it’s higher protein content, and it seems to make our starter happier, but if you do not have bread flour, you can use unbleached all-purpose flour.
- We use tap water without any issues, but if your tap water has high chlorine levels, you may want to filter it or let it sit overnight to allow the chlorine to dissipate.

Feed: Transfer your 100g of starter to a larger, clean glass jar. Use a scale to feed it 100g unbleached flour and 100g water (equal parts by weight). If you don’t have a scale, use a measuring cup to determine exact size of starter and feed with equal amounts of flour and water. Mix well, then cover loosely.

Before baking, your starter needs to be “fed” to ensure it is active and bubbly. If you received a jar of active starter from us, it should be around 100 grams of starter. Since it will double in size after feeding, you will need to pour the starter into a larger, clean glass jar. We provide a 32 oz. jar in our sourdough starter kits because we have found it to be the perfect size for maintaining the amount of starter we need for regular baking.


Activate: Let the starter sit at room temperature (68°-76°F) until it doubles in size, approximately 4-6 hours, depending on your kitchen temperature.

This is our starter immediately after the first feed. Use your band to mark where the starter is, so that you can easily tell when it has doubled in volume.
PSA: This is as clean as your jar will be, until you get sick of all the dried starter around the rim and wash it. Enjoy.

Bake: Once the starter has doubled, you can use a portion for baking. Refer to your sourdough recipe for the exact amount needed. Make sure to keep some starter in your jar to feed and maintain.

This is our starter about 4 hours after feeding. It has doubled in volume and is bubbly. This is referred to as “peak” activity for a sourdough starter, and many people try to use their starter for baking when their starter is at it’s peak, or just after.
However, as long as your starter is fed regularly, doubles in volume 4-6 hours after being fed, and has a pleasant bread-like smell, it should do just fine in your sourdough recipes no matter when you use it. You can experiment with this and figure out what gives you your desired outcome and works for your own schedule.

This is a good time to name your sourdough starter. It’s a new, living member of your family after all! Our starter is named Mabel.

Establish a Routine to Maintain Your Starter: Your starter needs to be fed daily to stay active and ready to use for baking. Before each feeding, discard some starter if needed so that about 50g remains in your jar. Then, feed the remaining starter with equal parts flour and water by weight. So for example, if I leave 50g of starter, I will add 50g of flour and 50g of water. This is a 1:1:1 feeding ratio. Stir well, cover loosely, and store at room temperature.

To maintain your starter, you will feed it a 1:1:1 ratio of starter, flour, and water every 24 hours. However, if you end up with less starter left after baking and need to create more starter, or you want to strengthen your starter, you can feed it a greater amount of flour and water in equal amounts. For example, if you have 20 grams starter, you can feed it 100 grams flour and 100 grams water (1:5:5 ratio).
- We almost always feed our starter unbleached bread flour. You can use unbleached all-purpose flour instead if you prefer.
- If you are baking a recipe that calls for a larger amount of starter, or will be baking multiple things, plan ahead and skip discarding or use a larger ratio of starter to flour and water, such as 1:5:5 as described above.
- It can feel wasteful to dump all that starter in the trash. You can find all kinds of sourdough discard recipes online, such as discard pizza dough, crackers, and pancakes.
These are “best practices” for feeding sourdough starter. They will keep your starter alive and ready for baking. However, as you’ll find, recommendations vary and many people do things different with great results. We almost always discard all but 50g and feed it 100g bread flour and 100g water, and it keeps our starter strong and healthy. Experiment and do whatever works for you!

Long Term Care: If you bake infrequently or need to take a break, you can store your starter in the refrigerator. While refrigerated, the starter becomes dormant and only needs to be fed and refreshed once a week to stay healthy.

- If you plan to refrigerate your starter, feed it first, let it double, then put it into the fridge. Keep it covered loosely, you want to be sure the gases that build up over time have a way to escape. I use mason jar lids but do not tighten them all the way.
- When stored in the fridge, it is totally normal for your starter to develop a thin layer of liquid on the top (pictured above). This is called hooch, and indicates your starter is hungry. Just stir it into the starter before feeding.
- Your starter may weaken slightly if refrigerated for a long period of time. It should strengthen after a few feeding cycles.

We’re Here to Help: If you have any questions, suggestions, or need help, feel free to contact us on Facebook, Instagram, or through our contact form.

Pro Tips
- Inactive Starter: If your starter isn’t rising or bubbling, try feeding it twice daily for a few days to revive it.
- Keep it Clean: Regularly clean the jar to prevent residue buildup. Every few weeks, transfer your starter to a clean container and wash your jar and lid before returning it back.
- Save Your Starter: It’s always a good idea to save a bit of your starter in case something happens to yours. You can dehydrate it by painting a thin layer on a sheet of parchment paper and then letting it dry at room temperature for 24 hours. Then, break it apart and store in an airtight container. Follow these instructions to reactivate. Alternatively, you can freeze a portion in an airtight container. Thaw and feed it a few times to reactivate.
Leave a Reply