Make Your Own Sourdough Starter
If you’re feeling a bit adventurous, you may want to try creating your own sourdough starter from scratch. Baking bread from scratch is satisfying in its own right, but when you’ve also had a hand in the creation of one of the most fundamental components, the leavening agent itself, you’ll feel an even greater satisfaction and connectedness to the process.
Are there kids in your house? This little science project is ideally suited to sharing with any children you can convince to join in. Culture their budding scientific minds while creating your own bread culture.
This video outlines one simple method that worked for me the first time I tried it. In the video, I give credit for this technique to Peter Reinhart. It has since come to my attention that Debra Wink, a chemist and accomplished baker, is the mastermind and author of this Pineapple Juice Technique. A lot of research and testing went into developing and refining the technique. The choice of pineapple juice over other juices is from much trial and error. Debra was kind enough to email her essay on the Pineapple Juice Technique. Click here for a printable copy of it.
As I mention in the video, the wild yeast spores and lactic-acid bacteria that give your starter its leaving properties are all around you. You are simply creating the conditions ideally suited for them to thrive and multiply. I used whole wheat flour in this recipe because fresh whole wheat flour may harbor greater numbers of yeast spores than ordinary all-purpose flour and so increase your likelihood for success. It worked for me, so you might try the same. If, at any time, you wish to transition your whole wheat sourdough starter to a regular white flour starter, it’s super easy to do so.
I’ve listed the ingredients and approximate steps here to save you the note taking.
- Step 1. Mix 3 ½ tbs. whole wheat flour with ¼ cup unsweetened pineapple juice. Cover and set aside for 48 hours at room temperature. Stir vigorously 2-3x/day. (“Unsweetened” in this case simply means no extra sugar added).
- Step 2. Add to the above 2 tbs. whole wheat flour and 2 tbs. pineapple juice. Cover and set aside for a day or two. Stir vigorously 2-3x/day. You should see some activity of fermentation within 48 hours. If you don’t, you may want to toss this and start over (or go buy some!)
- Step 3. Add to the above 5 ¼ tbs. whole wheat flour and 3 tbs. purified water. Cover and set aside for 24 hours.
- Step 4. Add ½ cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 to 1/3 cup purified water. You should have a very healthy sourdough starter by now.
Notes: I do wonder if the fact that I bake all the time with a sourdough starter (and so theoretically have wild yeast floating around our house by the gazillions and covering everything we own) would increase the likelihood that I would have success creating my own sourdough culture from scratch. So I anxiously await feedback from anyone who attempts this process at home. (You’ll see a nifty little form below for comments and feedback. If you’re shy; you can use the Contact link at the top of the page. While I may report your (mis)adventures, I’ll keep your identity anonymous. 
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Be careful about the temp… you don’t want to kill them, just get them comfortable!!!
I had wondered if it wasn’t warm enough. I may put it in the oven for some warmer temps.
Thank you.
I used breadflour. By third day didn’t look like it was doing anything so I turned my oven to proofing (very very low warm temp), shut it off and put it in there and had action by the 4th day. My house is a little cool.
Anyone have any luck with bread flour on the starter? I used it on the 27th to create my own starter and so far I haven’t seen any activity (there appeared to be a little bubbling, but it hasn’t really moved).
I started another batch using whole wheat flour. I guess it’s experiment time.
OK…used my starter for the first time last night (had a business trip out of state for a week which was huge in letting my starter sit in the fridge untouched by curious hands)…let the dough rise over night in the oven with light on and baked this morning already (kids were up…and so am I).
So things I learned for next time…SIFT the flour before measuring it out…I ended up with packed bread flour and way too much! This wound up giving my bread a play-dough consistency instead of light and airy in the center..also requiring a much longer cook time to get the temp to +/-200F internally. I also didn’t score the top in fear of my risen dough falling…and well….KABOOM out the bottom…so my bread looks like a Super Mario mushroom…oh well, still tastes great!
Its amazing that my starter was able to more than double this recipe, given the fact that I had so much extra bread flour….any ideas?
Sam
Aubrey please check out this thread on the fresh loaf and let us know how you are doing.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/15775/seeking-recipe-ideas-long-acidic-fermentation-sourdough
I am trying to duplicate your results. I failed after a 40 hour fermentation. I would like to figure out how I might have failed to render the peptides harmless. I used bakers flour, not considering the slightly increased gluten content over your AP Flour. I wonder if that may have been an issue.
anemic
after switching from pineapple juice to spring water, my once bubbling starter is semi-placid.
i added 1/4 tsp of apple cider vinegar, to my daily feeding, and that got it bubbling again, but not as good as with the pineapple juice.
i am wondering what to do now?
after switching from pineapple juice to spring water, my once bubbling starter is semi-placid.
i added 1/4 tsp of apple cider vinegar, and that got it bubbling again, but not as good as with the pineapple juice.
i am wondering what to do now?
I probably should have posted my experiments on the Almost No-Knead thread, but I’ll just just post a few more comments to respond to Wil’s Jan 21 post. I actually did a final experiment with a 3 day cool fermentation… this is all to test the theory that I can increase the percentage of whole grain and still get a nice textured bread. The 3 day cool fermentation was great and had the best rye flavor and texture. Wil, I agree that probably the final proofing after my loaves are formed should be shorter. I experimented with a much shorter proofing today and improved the grain. I was proofing my loaves overnight to bake in the morning mainly for convenience. To answer “which one are you going to go with on a regular basis?” Depends on what I’m trying to achieve, how much time I have, time of year and who I’m baking for! Definitely will still use refrigeration to store batches of dough. With higher proportion of whole grain, probably go with longer fermentation times if I’m baking in the winter. Don’t think I can do this in the summer! That will be another experiment!
I learned alot this past month and it all started with this starter recipe!!!! Thanks very much.
As I mentioned in a previous comment, this worked perfectly for me. By the 4th day I had a nice sour-y, frothy starter, and I still do, 8 weeks out. It bubbles 15 minutes after feeding, and an hour or two later it has a nice rise and is foaming like crazy.
I just have what I guess is a common issue: No sourdough taste at all. It SMELLS sour, it gets a nice hootch on top, it makes great bread, wonderful texture, fabulous crust…just not sour. I’ve tried every variation too — long/short fermentation, room temperature/cold, anywhere from 1/8 cup to a full cup, different recipes, traditional to no-knead. Maybe I’ll get a hint of a sour aftertaste but that’s it. Sigh. It’s been fun to create a wild yeast starter that behaved as advertised — I just really wanted something sour.
I’ve been wondering if I’ve been posting to the wrong thread. I started out here with the sour-dough starter. Is there a better thread to post to or can threads be moved by the administrator?
Madelyn,
Thanks for the feedback. So, which one are you going to go with on a regular basis? You certainly do have some long fermentation and proofing periods. My garage stays around 45-60 degrees. I will have to try proofing my dough in there for a day or two, then overnight in the house and baking in the morning. We probably should have these posts in one of the “bread making” threads instead of here under “make your own starter”. Great test!
Wil
Adding honey after everything is mixed together – NO PROBLEM!
I’ve done several tests with retarded fermentation that Will recommended and a 50-50 rye-white flour ratio and think the fermentation temperature makes a difference in texture and flavor.
My tests so far were:
1. cool ferment, not refrigerated, allowed to sit at about 65 degrees for 36 hours
2. cold fermentation – refrigerated for 2 days
3. cool fermentation at 60 degrees for 1 day after 3 day refrigeration
4. cool fermentation for 2 days at 60 degrees after 4 day refrigeration
My first experiment with retard fermentation was not refrigerated. My house is about 65 degrees. The dough was prepared in the morning, allowed to ferment for about 36 hours, formed into a loaf the evening of the next day then the loaf is proofed at room temperature overnight and baked first thing in the AM. Great texture for a 50-50 ratio and nice and sour.
I then made another big batch of 50-50 rye to white dough using the almost-no-knead. I think I used a packet of yeast and a few oz of sour-dough starter. I let it rise a few hours and then popped it in the fridge. I form all my loaves at night, let them sit til morning then I pop them in a 500 degree oven in either a Cloche or Romertopf clay baker.
For my first, I took a ball out of the fridge, did the requisite folding of the dough, formed it into a loaf, let the loaf proof at room temperature (which is 65 degrees in my house) and baked the next day. Product was dense, like the natural food store bread I’m trying to avoid.
My 2nd experiment was taking another ball of dough out of the fridge, letting it sit in a 60 degree room for about 10-12 hours. My basement is 60 degrees. Did the requisite foldering before forming it into a loaf, which was baked the next day. Great improvement on the texture – soft on the inside, crusty on the outside.
My 3rd experiment was taking another ball of dough out of the fridge, but letting it sit in a 60 degree room for about 36 hours. Same great texture but a little more flavor than loaf 2. Not as sour as my first experiment, but rye flavor seemed stronger.
Conclusion: Baking after a long cool (60-65 degree) ferment as opposed to a cold, refrigerated ferment seems to produce a superior texture.
I let my loaves proof overnight so I may be over-proofing, because I don’t get that high a loaf but texture and flavor are definitely improved with a longer, 60-65 degree ferment.
Jack, take a look at Eric’s video, “Managing Your Sourdough Starter”. After I built my starter, I only needed to use 1/4 cup in my recipes so I settled on keeping just 1/2 cup of starter. My starter is 50/50 www and rye flour. When I take a quarter cup out, I replace it with 1/4c of flour (www/rye) and a little less water. I try to do this at least once per week, if I am baking or not, but have gone longer before refreshing. I store my starter in the refrigerator between uses. Hope this helps but check out Eric’s video.
Wil
Tammy,
All sounds good. Glad you didn’t toss it too. If your starter is really thick, you can add an equal amount of water and rye, a tbls or so. If you look at Eric’s starter, that is the way I keep mine. It reminds me a little, of a somewhat wet cake icing.
Madelyn,
You will be ok with the late add of the honey. The only thing I can think of is if it were not mixed in as well as you can get it, you may end up with bands of larger holes in your bread were the yeast would really get active around the honey. But I am not sure. Nothing like a good experiment and then you will be the “go to person” re adding honey or sugar late, after you’ve mixed the dough.
Let us know what you think.
Wil
wil;
i have successfully completed step 3 and have a bubbling, beer -smelling starter.
i am wondering what comes after step 4, as far as care and feeding?
can you help?
thanks for the excellent methodology!
jack
Retarded fermentation = more sourness
I read up on this in Reinhard’s book and I think I understand now so I started another batch for my friend that will not be so long because they don’t like it as sour.
So now I have another question… I’m following the almost no knead. I realized right after I mixed everything together that I forgot the honey so I decided I’ll knead some in with a big spatula. I usually put the honey in with the fluids. Is kneading it in after the fluids and flour has been encorporated a bad thing, do you think? Its all the same thing, isn’t it?
Thanks Wil, Yeah my starter is pretty thick. It does have very small bubbles. I did the wooden spoon test and there were very small bubbles there, but they were there. I have not added rye flour. I will do that. Should I add any liquid when I add the rye flour or just add a bit of the flour? You mentioned going back to step two, so I wasn’t sure.
I sure do appreciate your help. I probably would have pitched it and started over, possibly having the same results and totally wanting to give up. So, thank you.
Oh, I also put a rubber band around my bowl.
Hi Tammy, don’t worry about the “Will”. I called Eric “Erick” the other day. Don’t know what I was thiniking.
Have you tried using some Rye flour yet? Also, how thick is it? Don’t confuse a lot of bubbles with rising. A more liquid starter may show a lot of bubbles, a thick one may not. It will just rise. I put a rubber band around my container and can watch it double, sometimes without much evidence of bubbles. Another method is to dip a wooden spoon in the starter then look at it up close. You should see bubbles. Many bubbles if really active, not so much if still maturing. I have always had better success using whole wheat and rye flours. Starters especially like a little rye flour on their plate.
With all that said, I would just keep it going. Go back a step or two in the process.
Wil
Madelyn, to quote from one of Eric’s “Sourdough NKB” links:
“Many people want to know how to make their bread more sour. Breadtopia reader, Rhine Meyering, enjoys success with this by using just 1/8 cup of sourdough starter and extending the fermentation time by refrigerating the dough. Scroll down this page to his October 7, 2007 post and read what he says. It makes a lot of sense based on my understanding of sourdough baking too.”
Problem is I could not get this link to work anymore.
You may have to do some google searches to find the technical why but it has to do with less yeast having more to feed on for a longer period of time, causes the starter/bread to become more acidic (sour). It is a combination of less yeast and more proofing time. I think Peter Reinhart talks about this as well.
Maybe Eric will jump in and do a better job than I just tried to do.
Wil
I apologize Wil, I spelled your name wrong in the previous e-mail.
HI Will,
I added more flour and have been giving it a good stir 2 -3 times a day. I still only have a few bubbles. It has now been 9 days since I started the process. Do I need to start over, or just have more patience?
Thanks so much for your help.
Tammy
Hi Bob,
What you’re doing has as good (or better) a chance of working as anything. I’d give it a few more days then start over if need be. Sometimes multiple attempts is all that’s required.
Don’t add commercial yeast.
I am in my 5th day of creating my own starter but no signs of life yet. would adding some bought yeast to the pineapple mixture help jump start the process or should I continue on to step 3 and add more flour and water – or should I start over – I am using unsweetened juice from the pineapple can and unbleached white flour. Your thoughts please.
PS – I received the danish hand tools – looking forward to using them
Typo alert, I had meant a “hot” 400 degree oven.
I have a very old book called “Sunset Cook Book of BREADS”, it has lots of wonderful recipes about bread and most of the recipes from this book only use 1 packet of yeast for 2 loaves of bread. This book was first published in 1966. In this book there is a section on sourdough and their starter is made with milk that had sat out for 24 hours and then flour was added. But the recipes for making bread calls for adding flour mixed with baking soda to reduce the sour taste. I have tried a couple of the recipes and it gives just the right amount of sour taste for me. The recipe starts out with 1 cup of starter, 2-1/2 cups of water, 5 cups of flour mixed together and leave to sit for 18 to 24 hours. Then you mix 3 tbsp of shortening, 2 tbsp of sugar, 1 tbsp salt, 1-1/2 tsp of soda and stir into the batter. Then you turn the batter onto 2-1/2 cups of flour and knead until the dough cannot absorb any more flour. Shape into two loaves, place into 5 by 9 inches tins, let rise until doubled and bake in a not 400 degree oven for 45 min. The results are really good. It has a good aroma and the crumb is as chewy as the no knead bread but not as sticky.
Less starter would make it more sour?! That does not compute!
I doubled the Almost No-Knead recipe – 15 oz white, 15 oz rye flour. I used one packet of active yeast and about 3 tbsp of my starter and adjusted fluids. Last time I used about a 1/2 c of starter for this volume.
I’m in the process of reading the Reinhart, but I didn’t finish! I just wanted to throw another batch together and figured the active yeast would make it less sour.
Back to studying bread theory in the Reinhart book then! I don’t understand the less is more with the starter.
Madelyn, glad to hear your experiment turned out well for you. You would be correct about leaving out the vinegar. However, using less starter will actually tend to make your bread more sour in a delayed process. Try just the quarter cup of starter and no vinegar and see if you like that.
Wil
I’m reporting back on my retarded fermentation experiment suggested by Wil.
I used the Almost No-Knead recipe with my home-made sour-dough starter, 50-50 rye to white ratio. I didn’t exactly put it in my fridge, but rather, my house is pretty cool so I left it in my coolest room for 2 days, formed the loaves one evening and baked them when I woke up.
Great texture… really good sour-dough taste. A friend I bake for said, “too sour”, but I think its more a matter of preference. This was pretty much like the sour-dough I’ve had in San Francisco when we lived there.
I have another batch going now. This time I’ve decreased my sour-dough starter and substituted a packet of commercial yeast and eliminated the vinegar to see if I can decrease the sour factor a bit for my friend’s preferences, but still maintain flavor and texture. I considered eliminating the starter completely but wasn’t sure there was quite enough yeast for the quantity I was making and didn’t want to use two packets of yeast.
And I used to think bread was hard! Thanks, Wil!
Hi Tammy,
I doubt that it needs to be in a warmer location, long term. You could move it to a warmer location just to see if that gives you a boost in the action. It sounds more like a yeast population thing. Your starter simply has not grown enough to give you a great volume of activity. Just keep it fed and over time it will come around. I don’t know how much starter you are dealing with but, throw a teaspoon of flour into it without adding anymore water, stir it up real good and see if that generates some excitement for the “yeasties”.
Wil
Hi Delia,
It doesn’t get much easier than this sourdough no knead recipe.
Have fun!
Wow. Today is my seven day for my starter and how it has grown. I can’t wait to bake my bread. I was looking for a good basic recipe do you happen to have one. This is my first time every making a sourdough bread so I want my success in this whole process to be that successful. Please send me or let me know where I can get a easy sourdough bread. Thanks. Delia
HELP!!!!! My sourdough starter is…..not what it should be. I’m in “phases 4″ according to Peter Reinhart’s book, but it’s still not doing much. It bubbles a little. I mean VERY little. The book said to give it a couple more days. If nothing more happens, do I start over? Is it the time of year? Do I need to keep it someplace warmer then my kitchen?
Thanks
Tammy
Eric,
Today was the last feeding of my whole wheat starter and it is in a word magnificient
So I am going to give it a second feeding this evening and tomorrow I plan on making my first loaf of No Knead bread… Will let you guys know how it turned out.
May even try my hand at a picture.
Will have to use a dutch oven, Am waiting for the La Cloche to be in stock again. Hopefully in time for my birthday in March.
re: Sam’s concern “It stays up for about 2 hours, then falls…but not quite back to its original height. I think I’m supposed to be happy with this!”
Mine never looked quite as frothy and happy as the first rise, but I’ve been maintaining and using mine over and over and the yeasties are indeed thriving and content so I would not worry if you don’t see it ever go back to its original height. If I feed it and leave it on the counter for a while the most it looks is a little frothy. And when I stir it, it looks a little gluteny.
Honestly, I would call the sour smell hoochy! Or the hoochy smell sour!!
So how does one know when its a bad hooch? What happens when good starters goes bad?
Sam, everything sounds normal. Just stir your starter and it will rise a little bit again as the little critters find new food (flour) to eat. The sourness will come in time and will be enhanced if you store the starter in the refrigerator between use and feeding.
Wil
Oy! Ok, I just finished building my own starter…using whole wheat flour, and 5 days later, it is finally doubling (and then some this morning) at feeding time. It stays up for about 2 hours, then falls…but not quite back to its original height. I think I’m supposed to be happy with this!
I do have one question however…my starter smells more hoochy (is that a term?) than sour…is this normal for whole wheat? I’m using King Aurthur brand flour.
Thanks y’all!
-Sam
Madelyn, I would say sure. Depending on the type of bread and the flavor you are looking for, retarding or slowing down the fermentation process, either using less starter, refrigeration or both, will increase the chance your bread will reach it’s highest potential for flavor and structure. You are dead-on when you start to connect with a style of making your bread that gives you the flavor and structure you, and of course those you serve it to, like best.
Wil
Thanks so much, Wil. I’m not into fast and have already tried the No-Knead method several times, but am starting to prefer the Almost No-Knead over the traditional No-Knead. Can I use the Cook’s Illustrated Almost No-Knead and incorporate a retard fermentation into that? (this is fascinating stuff
)
I goofed, I should have used the term ” retard fermetation.” The fermatation is not delayed, it will actually be working in the refrigerator but at a much slower rate. That is why you have to watch your dough when you take it out as it will proof quickly when coming to room temperature.
Hi Madelyn, yes the denseness is a factor of whole grain flours. Using a rye/wwheat starter will not help with the denseness. Try a delayed fermentation process, using a 50/50 rye and w.wheat starter to make your rye bread. Use your recipe and after making your dough, let it sit at room temp for an hour or two, then put it in your refrigerator for at least 2 days. On baking day, take it out, shape and let it proof at room temp for about 1 hour then bake as usual. See if that doesn’t give you what you are looking for. You should have lots of holes in your finished bread. If you want a faster process, then you will have to consider using vital gluten to your recipe.
Wil
I’ve been making rye bread with a sour-dough starter I made with KA unbleached bread flour and the recipe above. I’ve tried upping the ratio of rye to white to make a healthier bread but then I end of with a pretty dense bread, which was still edible toasted but just denser and heavier than I prefer. I was wondering the other day if I make a sour-dough starter from rye and whole-wheat flour are the yeasties more appropriate for those flours? And if I used such a starter with a higher proportion of rye and possibly some whole wheat would it yield a different product (not as dense) than using a white flour starter? Or is the denseness more a factor of the whole grain flours? This was going to be my next experiment. Thank you for the sour-dough starter recipe!!! Its wonderful.
Eric,
I just watched you video on capturing wild yeast to make a starter. I did it a little differently, but it worked great. I put a half cup of KA high gluten flour and a half cup of water. Stired it and covered the bowl with a single layer of cheese cloth and let it sit for 7 hour on the counter. Then, I transferred the starter to a plastic container with a snap on lid and added a quarter cup of flour and an equal amount of water, plus 2 tablespoons of pineapple 3. On day 4, during the night, I heard a loud pop and got up and went into the kitchen to see what the problem was. It was dark and I stepped on the lid of my container which had been “blown” half way to the fridge. I washed the lid and set itloosely on the container. Before this time, I had noticed only a few bubbles. That was 2 months ago and it’s still very active. Meanwhile, thanks for the great job you do.
Phil
oops, strike the “after a few days” above! It should have been…
On my last try that ended up being successful after I had switched to unbleached white flour, I fed it with equal parts of milk and sugar and flour like the Amish starter.
Mike,
My first experience with sourdough was an Amish starter made with equal parts of starter, flour, milk and sugar. I found the same recipe in Joy of Cooking using half as much sugar. I’ve seen that recipe referred to as “Herman starter”. It was very healthy and active but it finally went bad and had to be discarded. I’ve had several failed attempts at making my own starter too. On my last try that ended up being successful after a few days after I had switched to unbleached white flour, I fed it with equal parts of milk and sugar and flour like the Amish starter. It really took off! I turned some of it back into the flour and water starter after it got going well and now feed the Herman starter with half as much sugar as the Amish recipe, like in the Joy of Cooking recipe. A good thing about the Herman starter is that you can freeze it for several months and if your starter goes bad you’ll have a backup.
SUCCESS! We just cut into my sour-dough rye. I used the deli-style rye bread recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day except that I used my sour dough starter that I started on Dec 20. I used my romertopf clay baker for the first time. WOW, I must say it is so good. I am a novice when it comes to bread baking. I’m OCD about cookies and cakes baking when I have lots of time off like around the holidays and I’m pretty good at that, but I’ve found I have to adjust my entire mind-set to make bread. I didn’t grow up around bread making so its that much harder to figure out. Did not start having any success til I bought a digital thermometer to monitor my temperatures. Its nothing like making cookies and cakes. You sorta have to be braver and more creative because its not an exact science. Too many variables. I laughed when I read the Rookie Procrastination article – that was me! But then you just have to jump in and be brave! And prepared to adjust if things aren’t quite as expected. In typical OCD fashion I have a second rye bread on the rise… used that beer recipe. Thanks so much for the easy to follow starter instructions.
I want to thank you for such a detailed step by step recipe. I love when the recipes are this detailed because it makes bread making much easier and less intimidating for newbies like me.
i thought i would give a go at a sour dough starter. it’s supposed to be straight forward but i have had no luck with three attempts. first attempt was hard white wheat i ground up three weeks prior to attempt. mixed 3 1/2 Tbs flour w/ 1/4 cup water, on day two i fed it and it started getting active but then suddenly seperated into hooch and muck. tossed it. try#2 3 1/2 T flour & 1/4 cup pineapple juice, two days later i fed it, after 2 more days no change, added a little rye – no change, this is day five – no change. try #3 3 1/2 T rye &1/4 cup water, on day 2 now but no signs of life. i will let it go another couple days. any ideas? i live in colorado, make yeasted bread all the time. is wild yeast regioal or everywhere, i thought everywhere but i am getting nothing. ideas welcome. thanks, mike
Hi all. Just wanted to say that after years of baking, in the past weeks I finally had a hankering to bake some sourdough. Breadtopia was one of the first sites that popped up on a search for a starter recipe, and even though I’ve been told by bakers that the Pacific NW (Seattle) is notorious for breaking hearts when it comes to growing a starter, I was intrigued by the pineapple juice and gave it a shot.
After some minor adjustments (moved the jar from a coldish countertop to a warmer room), I had some serious starter by the fourth day. My first loaf wouldn’t rise much but still had a decent flavor; the second had a great oven spring and was pretty good (I added a little yeast that time). Just wanted to say thanks to Eric and all the commenters; this has been a great help and we’re all looking forward to holiday sourdough.
Hi Madelyn, good job sticking with it. The pineapple juice won’t hurt it. Just be careful with the oven temp. Heat is the one natural enemy of sourdough starter. Try to keep under 80 degrees.
Wil
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