Sourdough Starter from Scratch

Step 1

Day 1: Add 1 cup of flour and ¾ cup of filtered water to a glass bowl or mason jar. Stir with a wooden spoon. Cover with a tea towel and let sit on your countertop.

Step 2

Day 2: Discard half of the starter mixture. Then, add 1 cup of flour and ¾ cup of filtered water again. Cover with a tea towel and let sit on your counter.

Step 3

Day 3: Discard half the starter, and again add 1 cup flour and ¾ - 1 cup water. Stir with a wooden spoon, cover and let sit. This time, repeat the discard and feed process twice per day (morning and night for example). You might feel like discarding the starter is wasteful and you will hate to do it. But it’s only for a week and you won’t be discarding anymore. If you really want to save the discard, you can use it for making sourdough pancakes or tortillas, because they don’t require a rise like bread. Just combine all the discard in a storable container in the fridge and pull it out when you want to make pancakes.

Step 4

Day 4: Repeat the twice a day discarding and feeding. Cover with a tea towel and let sit. Make sure you are using filtered water! At this point you may start to see bubbles in the starter. If not, just keep going.

Step 5

Day 5: Repeat the twice a day discarding and feeding. Now you should start seeing a bigger, more bubbly starter.

Step 6

Day 6 and 7: repeat. Your starter should be ready by day 7.

Step 7

You know your starter is ready when it almost doubles in size after feeding it and is bubbly. If your starter isn’t at that point yet, don’t worry! Just continue the twice a day discarding and feeding. The temperature in your home, your water quality, and flour quality are all factors that contribute to how quickly your starter will become active. For some, it takes 12-14 days. Others it could take 5.