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  1. Thanks for sharing this recipe! I’m on day 4, so I just add flour and water to my starter or do I need to discard some? I discarded some when I fed it this morning, but now I’m questions if I just needed to add flour and water and not remove anything. Thanks!

  2. I happened upon your blog in search of sourdough starter instructions. Found what I needed!
    Out of curiosity, I went to your ‘About Me’ section, something I rarely ever do. I was surprised to see you are in Central Missouri! we also live in MO. Moved here 3.5 years ago from California. we are in very South East Texas county. How cool that we are probably close. I also homeschool my two kids…well to be honest, they do it themselves now since they are 14 and 17.
    I picked up sourdough during Covid but didn’t stick with it. It was a wild time in our lives as I had just lost both my parents in Oct ’19 (car accident.) Trying to find things to keep me busy. Dealing with covid, in CA, in the midst of deep grief from tramatic loss was debilitating at times. Baking can be my happy place sometimes so it was a good distraction.
    Anyway, didn’t mean to over share my life story. Just thought it was fun to see that we might be in close proximity.
    Thanks for the instructions!

    1. So neat to hear from you! Yes, it’s nice as the children get older and need less help with homeschool! I too love to bake but often neglect my sourdough starter. I can usually salvage it but have had to start over before! I’m not familiar with that part of Missouri, but I bet it is really different from California! Thanks for following along! Please keep in touch!

    1. That’s MY question, too!
      Do you just take a portion and mix in more flour and water and let it raise just like you would normal bread? I have never done sourdough and I’m contemplating it.

  3. 5 stars
    I just started my sourdough starter and I’m on day three today! I am wondering tho, what’s the point in keeping the discard in the separate jar before day 7 if it’s not technically active?

  4. I am on day 7. My consistency is right, it’s bubbling, and it smells like sourdough. But it is not growing at all! Do I just keep feeding and discarding until it does?

    1. You really won’t need to probably. The point of discarding is to keep the amount managable. When you feed everyday, you will need to feed it more and more. The bigger the starter, the more it needs to eat. Once it is established, you will ideally be using it regularly and won’t need to throw any out as you will be using it. I hope that makes sense!

      1. 5 stars
        I’m new learning how to make sourdough bread. My friend and myself really like the sourdough flavor ( not a light flavor but really tasty sourdough lol) what is the best way to make it taste better? I’m looking forward to making your recipe. Thank you.

        1. Hi there! Usually the longer you ferment it the more rich sour flavor it will have. I am working on another sourdough bread recipe. But the way I do it is make my dough in the morning, let it sit out on the counter all day, I do some stretch and folds and then before bed, I shape it and put it in the fridge overnight. Then it’s ready to bake any time the next day. Or you can leave it in the fridge for even longer if you need to. This usually gives it a nice pleasant sour flavor.

  5. Hi there, I would like to try this but in the long run I will be keeping it in the refridgerator. Should I start that way? Or should I start it room temp first?

    1. You must start it at room temperature to get it going. It needs heat to get started. Once it is strong and established you can start storing it in the fridge but you usually need to bring a bring it to room temp before using. Hope that helps!

      1. Hi! I’m on day 7, but my starter is pretty runny. I will try to move it to a warmer spot in the kitchen and feed it a little extra flour vs water. Do I just continue to feed it and perform the float tests to see if ready?

        1. If you don’t like the consistency, definitley add a bit more flour. And yes a warmer spot should help it to grow. I would give it another day or so making sure to discard and feed enough in a warm spot. It should turn out!

    1. I believe this is addressed if you continue to read the article.
      What to Do Once Your Sourdough Starter is Established?

      You are now ready to bake bread. However, you need a recipe. This starter is essentially your “yeast” or “levain” for the recipe. My favorite recipe right now is this one, it’s not my recipe but I do like it. I have several recipes here on the blog that you can try as well. Including some recipes for discard.

    1. If you feel like it is too runny, you could change your water to flour ratio. Add either a bit more flour or a bit less water. If it is bubbly and growing, fixing the consistency is easy!

      1. Thank you! Also I started with all purpose flour but I read that it’s good to do it with wheat. Am I able to add wheat flour to the starter I have or would I need to start a new one with 1/2 Ap 1/2 wheat?

  6. Needing advice, please. I think I killed my starter. Did all of the above, looked great until days 5, 6, and 7.
    It’s no longer rising. Any suggestions. Was way bubblier and rising on days 2 and 3…

    1. I doubt that it is dead. It could be a few things, my first thought would be temperature. If it got colder perhaps it needs to sit near your stove. The other thing would be that maybe you need to discard more or you aren’t feeding it quite enough. You should be feeding it equal amount to the volume of starter. Discard and feed for another day or two and move it someplace a bit warmer and see if that does the trick.

  7. Hi I’m on Day 3 and it already looks like day 7 doubled in size and bubbly! Should I continue with instructions for 3.? My house here in NJ is fairly cold (70-71 ) so I read if you put starter in open lunch bag with warm water bottle that helps which is what I did for day 1&2..
    Thankyou!

    1. Hi there! Great, I am glad it is going well for you. Yes, you should keep going as this will strenghten your starter. You will have a stronger starter that is ready to bake with at the end. Great tip with the water bottle, warmer temps certainly help!

  8. I’m on day ten of doing this, but I’m worried. I’ve seen lots of bubbles, but little-to-no rise. I was under the impression that this yielded a sourdough starter but, so far, it’s only yielded disappointment. Should I be worried?

        1. It is really hard for me to know what is going on with your starter without being there and being able to see the process. This post is wildly popular and I have had loads of people tell me it has turned out. What you see in the post is my exact process and mine turned out as well, I am still using it. You could start over and try again or keep going with this one.

          1. I’ll ask again: should I be worried? I’ve reduced the amount of water lately and have felt like it’s getting closer. Maybe it’s taking longer because I live in chilly Wisconsin lol.

    1. 5 stars
      Heidi- you are being kind of mean to poor Jennifer. She has posted a great resource for us. We all get busy. Maybe you could look for other resources and do some digging instead of trolling.

      1. Thank you Ella! Turns out I think Heidi actually is a troll. I was getting an influx of messages each one growing more and more rude. I began to notice that the messages, while having different names were coming from the same email address. I really don’t understand the point of that type of scam but after answering several of them I became suspicious and now that email address is blocked. Thanks again, kindness goes a long way!

  9. Hello Jennifer, thank you so much for this recipe. It is very easy to follow and add into the homeschool morning routine 😉
    I’m on day 8. I have noticed that the starter bubbles and seems to have a bit of growth but isn’t doubling or passing the line of day 7. I have moved it closer to the stove and have fed it mostly flour instead of water since I found it was getting more runny than the thickness you had recommended. Is there anything else I should try or start over? It seemed to grow between day 1 and 3 but stopped and just bubbles now. Thank you in advance for your reply!

    1. Hey there! Don’t start over, keep at it! Be sure to make something with your discard so that you have some reward along the way and so that you aren’t wasting anything! It will mature and be a great starter for you!

  10. I’m on day seven and it isn’t mature, but it is pretty bubbly. Is that a good sign? Maybe it’s just growing more slowly?

      1. Awesome, thanks. I’ll keep at ‘er! I guess that’s what I get for living in freezing Michigan haha.

  11. I know after it’s established you can use it to make bread, but how do you continue to care for the starter after day 8. Every time you use it do you have to add more water/flour and discard, etc? Do you keep following the same process ? And is it always out of the of the fridge or do you need to refrigerate it at some point ?

  12. 5 stars
    I’m on day 9 and she’s healthy and slowly maturing!! Definitely bubbling! Thank you so much for this recipe! It was so easy to follow and I’ve loved watching and tending to my very first starter! Hoping she’s ready to bake soon!

  13. Hey! On day 3 now, pretty runny but I see your comments in “what to do”. My question is, you mention water/liquid being on top and to just stir to mix but the liquid in mine is on the bottom – does that mean anything?

  14. Hello there! I’m on day 7 and it looks super runny! I had nice bubbles on day 3 but it’s hasn’t done that since i transferred jars! I’ve added a little more flower to it and it’s still runny, I’ve kept it on my island and I saw you said by the stove is best but my house it at 72 normally. I’ve also been using a cheese cloth to cover, is that too thin? Would a paper towel work better?

    1. I think what you are doing sounds good, I’m not sure changing the cover would make much difference other than fruit flies may get through the cheesecloth as the weather warms up. Add less water at your next feeding until it is the consistency you like.

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