easy sourdough starter maintenance
if you’re now the happy parent of a new sourdough starter baby, and looking for a lightweight owner’s manual with video, you’re on the right page. a healthy, active starter is the lifeblood to any great loaf of sourdough.
the thing about starters is that not all starters are the same. all starters consist of flour, water, and the bacteria and yeast colonies that make it *alive*. however, there are starters made from rye flour, wheat flour, all purpose flour, bread flour, etc. there are also liquid starters and stiff starters. the ratios of ingredients can vary, and the composition of a starter can also shift over time.
i have a stiff starter, so to keep it simple, this guide will only speak to how i maintain my stiff starter. my stiff starter has a dough-like consistency rather than a batter-like consistency
one caveat before i begin: i am not a professionally trained baker in any capacity, nor do i claim to be. i am but a humble sourdough nerd who is incredibly curious about bread, has learned a bunch, and continues to learn a bunch 🙂
ok. now that that’s out of the way, i think about taking care of my starter in two parts — feeding and storage. i’ll dive into both parts in further detail below.
how to feed your starter
this is the ratio i use:
1 part unfed starter
1 part whole wheat flour
4 parts all purpose flour
4 parts water at 85 – 90°F
the recipe below is an example of a day where i am planning to bake. if i’m not baking, i like to reserve a very small amount — often only 6g of starter. 6g will look very, very small, but trust me, your starter will bounce back!
feeding your sourdough starter
formula
- 20 g unfed starter
- 80 g water, 85-90°F
- 20 g whole wheat flour
- 80 g all purpose flour
method
- reserve a small portion of your old starter in your jar. this is called unfed starter.
- discard the rest. i am a big proponent of zero waste, so i like to kill two birds with one stone by keeping the discard in an old yogurt container in the fridge to use for fun discard recipes like crackers or banana bread.
- add water at to the jar. stir using a spoon, until starter seems evenly distributed in the water.
- incorporate fresh flour. mix thoroughly with a spoon until flours are well incorporated.
- repeat! i feed my starter once a day, but i know some folks feed theirs twice.
how to store your starter
when i’m keeping up my feeding schedule, i keep my starter in an old, glass peanut butter jar or a mason jar with a lid on my kitchen island counter. i’d recommend choosing a jar that will allow your starter to grow 3x in volume. starters are strong! they will pop the lid off if there’s not enough room. pro tip: write down or make note of the weight of the empty jar without the lid. this will make weighing the ingredients much easier.
when i need a break, i transfer a bit of it when its almost peak (~7 to 8 hours after feeding) into a smaller jar, and store in the fridge. for some time i kept my starter in the fridge during the week and took it out on weekends. you can keep your starter in the fridge for up to a month. i’d also recommend refreshing it at least 2 times before baking with it again. the first time i take my starter out of the fridge, i use an adjusted ratio:
2 parts unfed starter
1 part whole wheat flour
4 parts all purpose flour
4 parts water at 85 – 90°F