Managing Your Sourdough Starter
Before you watch this video on sourdough starter maintenance, please know that it really isn’t a big deal to keep your sourdough culture alive and healthy. A good starter is naturally very hearty and robust. If I were as strong as my starter is, I’d be competing in Iron Man competitions. At a minimum, all you have to do is throw some flour and water in once in a while to keep it alive during periods when you’re baking infrequently. To keep it near optimum health, feed it once a week or so and keep it refrigerated.
If you’re baking regularly, say weekly or bi-weekly, it’s easy enough just to feed it after using the amount called for in your recipe before returning it to your refrigerator. If you really want to be sure your starter is in optimum shape, feed it once or twice the day before baking or the two days prior to baking day. In addition, here are a few points that are worth noting…
- When you feed your starter, feed it with approximately equal weights of flour and water. That equates to about 2/3 to 3/4 cup of water for every cup of flour.
- As a general rule of thumb, the amount you feed your sourdough starter depends on how much of it you have to start with. When practical, you want to approximately double the amount of starter you have each time you feed it. However, if you already have a couple cups of starter on hand and typically only use a cup of starter in your recipe, it doesn’t make sense to have to double the existing two cups of starter. In this case just dispose of a cup or more of the starter and then double what remains.
- If it’s been a long time since you’ve fed your starter and you don’t plan on baking for a while, don’t feel like you have to go through a big rigamarole to keep it happy, just stir in a 1/2 cup of flour and about the same amount of water and forget about it. That will at least buy you a few more weeks before you have to worry about it again.
- If you really don’t think you’re going to use your starter at all for a very long time, (some people don’t bake during the summer months, for example), you could dry some starter and freeze it. It will store this way indefinitely. Then revive it in the fall. See the videos on drying starter and reviving dried starter.
- If you need a whole wheat or rye starter, it’s easy to convert your white flour starter by just a few successive feedings with the flour you want. You may have to adjust the water as some flours are thirstier than others.
- Be sure to store your starter in a container that’s not air tight. This comment from Madelyn dramatically (and humorously) illustrates why.
I’m really belaboring this subject. Once you’ve played around with sourdough starters for a while and baked some with it, you’ll know all you need to know and develop a sense for what works best. If your bread is not rising as much as you think it should (you’re not getting the desired oven spring) then try what I said about feeding your starter a couple of times in the 12-24 hours before starting your recipe.
As with anything on this web site, if you have any questions or comments about anything please ask in the space below.
Jan 13, 2011 Update: In this video I mention a favorite recipe of mine that calls for 2 cups of sourdough starter. It’s been so long since I shot the video (and many favorite recipes ago), that I’ve forgotten exactly which recipe I was referring to. I do know it was in Ed Wood’s book, Classic Sourdoughs. He has many recipes in there that call for 2 cups of starter.
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Gary, I feel your pain. In my case it was a plastic bag of frozen dried starter from a very good batch that I had about 6 years ago. This was the one thing in the freezer that was not marked. My fault I know but, I knew what it was. The wife thought it was old candy or something and out it went. Wil
Happy New Year!!
Here’s a tip on managing your starter that should NOT be over-looked…. Be sure to tell your husband/wife/bf/gf/etc the following:
“The weird looking stuff in the jars at the back of the fridge are supposed to look like that, and are supposed to smell like that. DO NOT DISCARD”…..
While looking for my 2 jars of starter I ignored for about 3 weeks, to give them a good feeding to use on Sunday, guess what…? I couldn’t find them.. The fridge was nice and clean though… While cleaning out the fridge to get ready for the holiday left-overs, my wife found my sleepy starters and said, “What the heck is this?” She opened them, and noting the sour smell, tossed them, jars and all…..
Luckily, it was pretty new starter, a September ’09 vintage. Luckily, I had dried some of “my” starter, so I’ll get to revive it soon….. Oh well… she saw it on the counter when I was getting it going, but in her cleaning frenzy, the un-labeled smelly stuff got tossed…
Everyone have a great New Year..!
Hi Cindi,
You could do that however you really only need to replace your 1/4 cup used out of your 1/2 cup starter with 1/4 cup of flour and water. I just take my starter out of the refridgerator, sometimes more than a week after I have used it last, take out 1/4 cup, replace it with 1/4 cup and put it back in the refridgerator. The tossing and doubling referred to refreshing or jump starting an old starter that had not been used in a long while. Sounds like you have the hang of it. Starter is pretty hardy and it will survive a long time between feedings. Some like to take their starter out of the refridgerator feed it and let it set on the counter for a couple of hours before they use it. I used to do that but found I can just use it right out of the fridge and get the same results. It really comes down to what you want to do and the success you get.
Wil
Hi Steve,
I will jump in for Eric if you don’t mind, and Eric doesn’t mind. You can keep different types of starter if you want. You might want to keep small containers of starters in the refridgerator. You really don’t need much and they would be easier to manage. If you need a larger amount you just take a little amount of your starter and add it to a larger amount of flour and water and in a few hours or so you have a pot of starter brewing. I personally only keep one starter made with rye and whole wheat. I mostly use just that. However, if I want to make a special type of bread, say Spelt, I will put a small amount of starter in some Spelt flour and a equal amount of water. I feed it 2 or 3 times with more Spelt and water and then I have a Spelt starter. I know that Rye flour will help your starter to reach the nice sourness everyone looks for. I believe I have read that Whole Wheat flours in general create a happier home life for sourdough yeast and bacteria —-of the good type, of course.
Wil
Hi Jess, sorry you have not received a response yet. Things get a little hectic for everyone during the holidays. I would say start over, if you haven’t already done so. Follow Eric’s instructions for the pineapple juice, maybe use fresh pineapple juice. It usually works pretty fast and you should not be having the problems you are having. But occasionally it does happen. If you want to try saving it. I would suggest you take a very small amount maybe a teaspoon or so. Try to select an area that does not have any mold or odd looking stuff growing. Mix that with a tablespoon or two of rye flour and water. When you see some bubbles, take a teaspoon again, and do the same thing. You should start to see some action. Then take half of the starter and add an equal amount of rye and water and when it is working, just add an equal amount of rye flour and water to double the amount of your starter. It should bubble and rise in 2 to 4 hours sitting on a counter. Faster if it is warm. At this point you can use any kind of flour you want your starter to be. Rye flour just gives your starter a better chance to succeed. Good Luck!
Wil
Eric,
I wrote earlier telling you my new sourdough starter was not rising. After 10 days it is raising quite nicely. Blew the lid off the canister.
Phil
New to sourdough & got a few questions.
1. Since the nkb only uses 1/4 cup starter & I will make at most one of these a week – can I keep my starter amount in the refrigerator at 1/2 cup or so? It would seem to me that if I am baking once a week, I could pull starter out with it being 1/2 cup – double it to one cup, use that 1/4 cup & then next time just pull out the 1/4 cup since I doubled it just 6 days or so ago… or am I missing something fundamental here?
2. When a recipe calls for 100% hydration of starter -does that mean it should have just recently been fed?
3. If I fed it 4 days ago but it’s been in the refrigerator, do I have to do anything before I use it? Seems as if there’s a lot of talk about doubling & tossing starter before you can bake.
May be a bit too particular on this feeding schedule & I’m sure once I start using it that I’ll free up a bit but right now trying to do sd & nkb there are a few too many variables not to at least try to understand this a bit better.
Thanks for any clarification on this.
Great site. Getting my la cloches tomorrow so planning on starting my nkb tonight!
My question is, can i use whole wheat flour instead of white
Hi,Eric I have a couple of sourdough starter questions and i figured you would be just the gentleman to ask. would it be wise to maintain more than one kind of starter,say one with all purpose,one with rye,one with wheat and so on,or will one maintained with all purpose suffice? Also,will the number of different kinds of flour you use in your kitchen influence the wild yeasts in the air and therefore the flavors I receive from my starter? Just curious and trying to learn as much as I can Thanks Steve
Gday this is a great site Eric thanks so much for shareing so much information. I have created a sourdough culture using your pineapple juice method it took me several goes and about 6 weeks of being VERY stubbon to get it working but now after only about 3wks of using it I notice a really strong smell like acertain or nail polish……? HELP I really dont want to have to start over it still looks normal and rises etc but is it dangerous? I started out feeding it daily once or twice but it started to get a white mold growing on top which I was scraping off before each feed I then decided to keep it in the fridge and now have been feeding it about 3 times a week leaving it out for about 6 – 8 hrs after each feed to rise. We currently are having a heat wave here (NSW Australia) and is has regulary been between 38-48 degrees C (Sorry not sure what that is in F) in the kitchen? Any Ideas how to save it? I had so much trouble starting it I really dont want to have to start over???? Help please!!! Thanks jj
I could use a lttle help getting my starter going. It foams and bubbles after 10 days but it does not rise after I fed it which I do once or twice a day. I have thus far left it out on the counter. In your videos, the starter rises after 3-4 hours. I guess I wondering why mine does not raise and If I need to start over. I will appreciate any help you may be able to give me. Oh, I’ve been feeding it with high gluten flour (14%) in case that’s a problem.
Thanks
Phil
Great site! I am a newby to starter – a friend gave me one she’s been using for 20 years. Her directions said to feed it and then leave it out for 3-6 hours, then put in the refrigerator. I fed it last night but forgot to put it in the refrigerator! I found it first thing this morning and put it right in, but am concerned I ruined it already after only feeding it twice after she gave it to me on Thanksgiving! Am I ok? Should I feed it again?
I read through some posts on your page and I saw you recommend just feeding with flour and water. My starter instructions call for me to feed it 1 c of flour, 1 c warm water, 3/4 c sugar, and 3 T instant potatoes. Should I continue as directed or switch over to the flour and water only method?
I made my first batch of rolls with this starter a few days after receiving it and it did not go well. The rising was so-so and when I baked the rolls for the instructed amount of time, they were still not cooked through on the inside. My friend’s rolls are so amazing – not sure what I might have done wrong! Any advice would be helpful. (I made the rolls and put them next to each other in a metal baking pan, let them rise and they all melded together. Cooked at 350 for 25 min.) Maybe when I try again it will be better after feeding the starter a few times?
Thanks so much!!! All of this seems a bit overwhelming right now. When my friend gave me the new starter she said it’s like having a baby to care for!
Hi Robert,
You don’t have to throw away the hooch. Just stir it back in and feed, like you are doing.
Wil
Hello there:
Regarding disposal of the hootch that forms atop the starter. I have always mixed mine into the starter before feeding it to restore it to a working state. Do you think the better way to go is by disposing of the hootch prior to the feeding?
Hi Phil,
Here’s a page on making your own sourdough starter.
I just watched you video on feeding starters but I have never made a starter and so I need something more basic that will work. I understand now how to feed one, I just need to get one going. Can you help?
Thanks
Phil
Sometimes it takes a number of tries before you’re successful. You could use a commonly available flour to start with and then go with your local flour once it’s working.
As Loan did, I tried making my first starter, using locally ground whole wheat flour, and it was all bubbly for several days I fed it. Then, when I added more flour and water (maybe almost a cup of each) it stopped bubbling and settled so there is liquid on top and more flour in a bottom level. Is there a way to revive this or do I have to throw it out and start again? My local flour supply is limited and I hate to discard….
Hi loan. Pretty hard to say from here. Sounds like it may not have ever really gotten off the ground so to speak. Sometimes it just takes more than one attempt or it just takes longer than 3 days to work.
It was the first time for me to make a sourdough starter & very successful.After the first 3 days i saw bubbles & i kept feeding. Suddenly the bubble gone,it look like a batter. Please tell me the reason why.Thank you.
Hi Carla,
For long term storage I do keep my dried starter in an air tight freezer bag in the freezer. But I think it would probably be fine in or out of the freezer for years.
i watched your videos and really enjoyed them..i noticed when you dried your starter for storage you had left yours sitting around the kitchen and not in the freezer..my question is.. How long would the dried starter last out of the freezer?
Hi Robert,
You won’t need that much starter since starter is mostly flour. You could start with 3 cups of flour and 3 cups of starter and see if that’s enough. It should be pretty close.
Hello to all
I would like to thank everyone who helped me make my first starter.I was not happy at first,then magic happened. Not to be corney but on the fifth day God created STARTER. As I opened my tubberware l was so happy because it never looked good and to my delight a nice sponge was waiting for me. Wish I could by beer that smelt that good.Anyway I make pizza the old way 1 tsp yeast to 6 cups of flour and get to nice 15 oz balls of dough. Do I need 6 cups of starter?
Thank you
Robert Janet via las vegas
Hi Liz,
Any flour has the starch that the starter breaks down to the sugars it feeds on. So you’re fine!
I have got 3 different starters going right now: one type is a rye/wheat starter, one is a kamut starter and I have a whole wheat starter.I was wondering if you had suggestions as to the type of flour to use when you are feeding your starter. I was just feeding them today and only had King Arthur white flour in my cupboard so I used that for all three — will that be OK??
I was wondering if I could substitute sea salt for the corn meal on the second “proof”. I’ll try tommorrow and let all you salt fans know how it turns out.
Just revived your starter I purchased with no problems. I have been using starter for 3 years now and lost mine in a refridgerator snafu. Made pizza with it tonight and I can’t wait to make bread with it. I was reading your postings and watching some of the videos and I’d like to share my tip for feeding or reviving starter. When the weather is cooler I set my jar on a reptile warming pad and my starter loves it, so does yours it seems. When reviving starter it is like it’s on steroids, boy does it take off. The pads maintain 80 degrees and if I’m going to cook tomorrow I feed and set it on the pad overnight, works great!
Hi. Just a quick thank you. Loved the video. I really just needed reinforcement that I probably didn’t kill my starter. I’m new at this, since I just inherited starter from a neighbor. I’ve been making some incredible bread for a couple of months now. I took out the starter this morning, then left forgetting to feed it before running out the door. Ugh. So, I just fed it and put it back in the frig … Thanks, Annie
It worked fantastically!!
Thank you.
Eric:
Kudos to you and your fabulous website that provides an amazing wealth of bread knowledge.
I am using your methodology for making the sourdough starter with great success which will be the basis for a an array of German breads I plan on baking soon.
Thanks again for all the great information.
Best regards,
Bob
Hi Pamela,
Are you baking all whole grain bread?
I have tried a home made dough enhancer to help with better rising. What are you thoughts about that?
Hi Joanne,
Sorry the picture upload didn’t work. I think I have it fixed now if you don’t mind trying again.
[img]2_P1070049-1.JPG[/img]
I received my order of starter, dough whisk and scrapper. The starter is working fine and I am looking forward to make bread with it. Thanks again.
Sr. John Paul
Hi there!
I am Joanne Adams, the head baker at Bowdoin College in Brunswick Maine. We have been in the media the last few years for being #1 & recentlly #2 college foodservice in the country! We are trying very hard to regain our #1 ranking! I have a great baker who makes all of our homemade breads, focaccia, & Kaiser rolls daily. The one thing our program has lacked thus far has been a great sourdough made with a starter. We have recently been trying to incorporate this into our program but it is something we have never worked with before & need some tips. We have watched your videos & they are very helpful.
We are looking to make a commerical size batch that we can continuously use & feed. We would refrigerate it on the weekends & bring it out to use during the week. Could you give us a method & recipe for this size batch? Also if you have a starter that you use daily do you have 2 actual starters & feed one & use the other rotating them daily? Is sourdough starter best left at room temp or refrigerated daily?
Any help you could give us would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Joanne & Crew!
P.S. I attached a pic of the crew! Dan is the bread baker, George is the cookie guy, & I am their leader…LOL!
Hi Michael,
There’s a fair amount of latitude on how you handle it. When I feed my starter the day before baking, I let it sit out for a few hours to feed on its meal then stick it in the fridge until it’s time to bake. Or, depending on the time and my schedule, I’ll feed it then put it straight away into the fridge then take it out a few hours before starting the recipe. The starter will continue to digest its food even while in the fridge, just at a much slower rate.
You probably don’t want to let starter sit out all night or it will deplete too much of its nutrients.
The thing is, if your starter is healthy and robust, however you decide to manage it, it will likely come back strong when you go to add it to your dough when you start your recipe.
Hi,
Enjoyed the video on making your sourdough starter. I have a question: When feeding your sourdough starter (or expanding the quantity) the day before baking should you leave the starter at room temperature until baking time the next day or refrigerate after feeding ? I would be most grateful for an answer.
Thanks
Michael Sims
Thanks Eric for the info, that is exactly what I did, I figured the time I made the batch that didn’t rise as usual was when I fed it and then used it right away, so…. it wasn’t all that hungry. Made 4 loaves the other day, fed the starter let it sit overnite on the counter and made the bread the next day, all perfect loaves except the whole wheat one, which is always alittle flat anyway. The seeded loaves with little or no whole wheat are usually always perfect.
Thanks again
Dennis
Hi Dennis,
After feeding starter, give it time to digest its meal. Usually the best time to use the starter for baking is somewhere around the time it takes the starter to peak in volume after you feed it. But it that doesn’t suit your schedule (rarely does), then keep in the fridge until it’s ready to use. I just shoot for baking withing 24 hours of feeding but have often gone a few days with decent results.
I would take a small amount of the “clean” starter from the tub and feed that until you have a good batch in the quantity you need. It should be fine.
Eric, need your help. A few months ago, one of my pals took the Alaskan Cruise and gave me some Alaska Jack’s Sourdough Starter. I followed the directions and put this in “clean” plastic tub with cover. Things went well for weeks and I had to leave it in the refrig for 3 weeks. When I got back I thought I would feed it. When I opened the container, the smell was great, and it looked great, but on the walls of the plastic tub were round white mold circles with blue/green dots in the center of the circle. Was my plastic tub comtaminated, or was the dry starter contaminated? Why is the mold growing on the sides of the container and not in the sourdough ?
Great site, have used many of the recipes many times, but, I’m having a small problem. I have created my sour dough starter and have used it a number of times, but the last time it didn’t seem to get the intitial rise on the dough and not that oven spring that I normally got the first couple bakings, I had it in the ref. for a couple weeks took it out and feed it and it doubled like normal, stired in another 1/2 cup of flour and 1/3 water the next morning and made my bread. should I have waited until the next day after feeding it to use it?
i guess what i’m asking is do you feed it one day and use the next without feeding the starter? or do I feed it and then make the bread the same day? i have been leaving it out overnite after I feed it also. I bake 4 loaves about every 3rd week, that sour dough is awesome……….
thanks for the help
Dennis
Hi Holly,
Bread flour is fine to use. That’s what I use. People use all kinds of different flours successfully. The yeast is feeding off the complex carbohydrates in the flour so any flour aught to do.
I just got your dried starter a couple days ago (very quickly thank you)and I was wondering. This may be a stupid question but I wanted to make sure. Is bread flour ok to use for feeding my starter? King Arthur unbleached bread flour. Also, does it make a difference once the starter is active whether I use bleached or unbleached?
Thanks.
~Holly
Hi Gayle,
It’s kinda hard to tell from here. One thing I wonder is how much starter you have now. If you feed a quart of starter with 1/4 cup of flour, you’re not going to notice any change, but if you feed 1/4 cup of starter with a 1/4 cup of flour and 1/3 cup of water, it should double. In other words, to check the viability of your starter, you should add at least as much flour as the volume of starter you have on hand. That may mean tossing a bunch of your existing starter so you don’t end up with a house full of it.
I would take a 1/2 cup of starter and feed it 1 cup of flour and 2/3 cup of water and let it sit for 6-8 hours and see what you get.
Hi Eric. I have a starter problem, I think. It was growing fine for a week on counter, I fed it everyday and it was doubling in size. I then refrigerated and left town for a few days. I have resumed feeding-1/4 cup of flour and 1/8 cup of distilled water. I cannot get it to double in volume. I have lots of bubbles on top, this is Carl’s starter, I have not baked with it yet, now, I am afraid to try. Is the “rule of thumb” if it does not double it is not going to make my bread rise?
Kelly, you can use Spelt flour which many gluten intolerant people can tolerate. However, even Spelt is not totally gluten free, but it is close. You can read more about Spelt here or google it. Rye would probably be good also. It has very little gluten.
Ted, yes I have restored starter foung in the back of the freezer that was over 5yrs old. It took 2 weeks to bring it back for bread baking.
Wil
I have brought refrigerated liquid starters back to life after 5 to 10 years dormancy(no feeding).
It takes about a week to bring the starter back from an intense sour state.The breads turn out fine.Has anyone had similiar experience?
What kind of flour should I use? Our son has a gluten intolerance and
he eats only sprouted bread now. I do have some sprouted flour but this
is very expensive. Do you know if using white or wheat flour in the sour dough is the same as the bread from the store? Do the gluten levels change in the process?
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