Step 1

DAY 1:All you need for today is 20g of water and 20g of flour plus a clean jar. Mix the water & flour together in the jar, pop the lid on loosely (or a piece of paper towel & elastic band). Place the starter somewhere warm for the next 24 hrs. You'll find ideas for how to keep your starter warm here.

Step 2

DAY 2:Once your starter is 24 hours old, you need to check on it and give it a good stir. You do not need to add anything today - just get some oxygen into your mixture and then recover it and pop aside for another 24 hours.Your starter may already have some bubbles forming - this is a great sign. But it's also totally fine if it's not doing anything. Time is everything!

Step 3

DAY 3:On day 3 remove half of your starter (20g) and then add 20g of flour and 20g of water to the remaining 20g of starter in your jar (so there will be 60g in the jar).Mix it together with the end of a wooden spoon, being sure to get lots of oxygen into your mixture. Replace the cover and pop it away until tomorrow.See notes below for more info on using a clean jar vs same jar.Don’t worry if you keep checking it - it’s completely normal  It’s good to notice how it changes in shape, size and smell over the 24 hours.At this stage it's completely normal for it to smell really bad and to have developed a layer of liquid on top (this is called hooch). It might look like the water has separated from the flour but it's just telling you that it's hungry. Stir the hooch in when you feed your starter. It's also quite normal for it to double in size. Keep going - it will be fine

Step 4

DAY 4:Step 4 is to feed your starter in the same way as you did yesterday. Remove 40g of your starter (so there is 20g left in the jar) and then add 20g of flour and 20g of water to the remaining 20g of starter in your jar. Mix it all together and replace the cover. You’ll need to do this twice today, around 12 hours apart. While your starter will be fairly forgiving, set a reminder on your phone if you think you’ll forget  it’s just like having a pet.

Step 5

DAY 5:Step 5 is to feed your starter in the same way as you did yesterday. Remove 40g of your starter and then add 20g of flour and 20g of water to the remaining 20g of starter in your jar. Mix it all together and replace the cover. You’ll need to do this twice today, around 12 hours apart. It's a good idea at this stage to pop an elastic band around the jar you are using. Put the elastic band at the level of your starter when you feed it. This helps you to be able to see how far your starter is rising when it peaks.

Step 6

DAY 6:Step 6 is to feed your starter in the same way as you did yesterday. Remove 40g of your starter and then add 20g of flour and 20g of water to the remaining 20g of starter in your jar. Mix it all together. Replace the cover. You’ll need to do this twice today, around 12 hours apart.

Step 7

DAY 7:YAY! Your sourdough starter is a whole week old. Keep feeding twice a day as you have been for at least 14 days.Now I know you want to get to baking bread … but just remember that the most important thing about this whole process is time. Your starter will be viable after 14 days, however, it will take much longer before it makes really great sourdough bread!You need to keep feeding your starter the same way as you have been, twice a day (discarding before you feed) until it's consistently doubling within around 2-6 hours after you've fed it. Once it's consistently doubling after every feed you can try and bake with it. Your starter will keep maturing as you use it.For more information on how to know when your starter is ready, go here.