If you’ve ever dreamed of baking your own sourdough bread, it all starts with a strong, healthy starter and I'm here to guide you through it step-by-step!
In this series, I’ll be sharing the daily process of creating a sourdough starter from scratch using just flour, water, and a little patience. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refresh your skills, you’re welcome to join in!
So welcome to my sourdough journey!
After a few years away, I've decided it's time to bring back homemade sourdough bread into our kitchen and I’d love for you to join me.
If you've ever wanted to try making your own bread, it all starts with one simple thing: a sourdough starter. Which the first time around I got from a friend but this time we are trying it from scratch to show you the whole process.
And trust me it's much easier than it sounds! I am not a sourdough expert, yes I made it in the craze of 2020 but I didn't make the starter from scratch so we are making this together and I will be sharing everything I learn, I have been following along with Chef Patrick Ryan who is great at explaining sourdough and also all the tips from my Uncle who is an incredible cook.
What is a sourdough starter?
A sourdough starter is a simple mixture of flour and water that captures wild yeast and good bacteria from the environment. Over time, it grows, bubbles, and becomes the natural yeast you need to bake beautiful sourdough bread, no packets of yeast required!
Now, let’s jump into Day 1.
Day 1: How to Start Your Sourdough Starter
We’re officially starting our sourdough journey today!
It’s something I've wanted to do again for a long time and if you were around for the sourdough craze of 2020, you might remember how satisfying it was to bake fresh bread at home. There’s just something so special about making your own loaf from scratch and the flavours are perfection!
The best part? You only need three simple things to get started:
You will need to Start:
- 🥖 A glass jar with a lid i started with a 500g but moved to a 1.5L Jar
- 🥖 50g of flour (I'm using rye flour, but you can also use Wholemeal or a good quality white flour as Rye is harder to find.
- 🥖 50ml of water (filtered or pre-boiled and cooled)
How to make your starter:
- Weigh out the flour and water I like to do my water separately & second so I don't overfill my jar with it.
- Mix them together in your jar until fully combined.
- Pop the lid on, but don’t seal it tight! Just sit it on top to allow some airflow.
- Place your jar somewhere warm.
(Near a sunny window or close to the kitchen if you're cooking is ideal!)
And that’s it for Day 1!
We’ll leave it to rest for 24 hours before feeding it tomorrow.
Day 2: Feeding Your Starter for the First Time
If you’ve followed along from Day 1, amazing!
If you’re just joining us, make sure to check out Day 1 above.
After sitting overnight, it’s time to give our starter its first feed.
This helps encourage the wild yeast and bacteria to grow and build strength.
For Day 2, here’s what to do:
We are NOT discarding (removing) any of the starter yet, we’re simply adding more flour and water to build it up.
Add to your jar:
- 🥖 50ml of filtered or cooled pre-boiled water
- 🥖 50g of flour (again, rye, wholemeal, or good quality white)
Instructions:
- Pour the water and flour into your jar with your starter from yesterday.
- Stir it really well to fully combine everything
- Sit the lid lightly back on top, again, not sealed.
- Leave your jar in a warm spot for another 24 hours.
That's it for Day 2! 🥰
We’ll check back in tomorrow to see how it’s growing and give it its next feed.
Day 3: First Discard and Feed
Welcome back to our sourdough journey!
Today we’re moving on to Day 3, and it’s time to feed our started and it is the first time we will be doing a discard. Which simply means throwing out or removing some of the starter we have and then feeding is adding in more flour and water.
Here’s what to do today:
You will need:
- 🥖 100g of flour (use the same type you have been using if possible)
- 🥖 100ml of filtered or cooled boiled water
Instructions:
- Measure 100g of starter and discard the rest, we just throw this away as it isn't ready yet to be used for anything
- Add in your 100g of flour and 100ml of water to the 100g of starter and give it a really good mix around
- Lightly place the lid back on the jar (still not tightly closed).
- Leave it in a warm spot for another 24 hours or overnight at least
Notes for today:
-
If you feel it's starting to smell a tad sour that is totally normal, starter is a live culture so definitely can have a smell
Check back tomorrow for Day 4!
Tag me @_ashleysplace_ so I can see how your starter is growing 🥰
Day 4: Building Strength in Your Starter
Welcome back to our sourdough journey and welcome to day 4 of making starter from scratch
Today we’re moving on to Day 4, and it’s time to do another discard and feed. I have been using Rye flour but am switching to Wholemeal as mine is quite thick due to the Rye being super absorbent which is fine but I want to get a bit of a runnier texture like a starter usually is.
Here’s what to do today:
You will need:
- 🥖 100g of flour (you don't need to change flours stick to what you are using)
- 🥖 100ml of filtered or cooled boiled water
Instructions:
- You are going to weigh out 150g of your starter and discard this 150g and keep whatever is left in your jar. So throw away 150g and keep the remainder
- Then measure out and add 100g of Flour and 100ml of Water and add to your left over starter and mix really well
- Lightly place the lid back on the jar (still not tightly closed).
- Leave it in a warm spot for another 24 hours or overnight at least
Notes for today:
-
You can also add a rubber band around your jar where your starter is sitting once you have fed it so that you can see how much it is growing
- Reminder you do not need to use wholemeal flour, you can use a good quality white, or 50/50 white and wholemeal
Check back tomorrow for Day 5
Tag me @_ashleysplace_ so I can see how your starter is growing 🥰
Day 5: Let's keep feeding to grown strength
Today we’re moving on to Day 5, and it’s time to keep feeding our Starter, we want to build a strong starter before we move on to making bread
Here’s what to do today:
You will need:
- 🥖 150g of flour Wholemeal or Good Quality Flour (stick to the same type if possible)
- 🥖 150g of filtered or cooled boiled water
Instructions:
- You are going to weigh out 200g of your starter and discard this 200g and keep whatever is left in your jar. So throw away 200g and keep the remainder
- Then measure out and add 150g of Flour and 150ml of Water and add to your left over starter and mix really well
- Lightly place the lid back on the jar (still not tightly closed).
- Leave it in a warm spot for another 24 hours or overnight at least
Notes for today:
-
You may notice depending on the temperature of your house that some days your starter grows quicker than others, for me day 4-5 was a slower growth because it has been raining and colder here in Sydney.
Check back tomorrow for Day 6! We are nearly there lets keep going
Tag me @_ashleysplace_ so I can see how your starter is growing 🥰
Day 6: Strengthening Your Starter
We are getting so close to our Sourdough Starter being ready! Just a little bit longer
Today we’re moving on to Day 6, and it’s time to keep building that strength and growing our starter. For me today personally it was a day of I need to trust in this process that it is going to work, I didn't have crazy growth and the weather has cooled here a bit this week so it is taking a bit longer for mine. Which is totally normal and starter/sourdough is very subjective to the flour you use, the temperature, your water etc. So if you are like me keep going.
Here’s what to do today:
You will need:
- 🥖 200g of flour (stick to the same type if possible I am using wholemeal)
- 🥖 200ml of filtered or cooled boiled water
Instructions:
- You are going to weigh out 250g of your starter and discard this 250g and keep whatever is left in your jar. So throw away 250g and keep the remainder
- Then measure out and add 200g of Flour and 200ml of Water and add to your left over starter and mix really well
- Lightly place the lid back on the jar (still not tightly closed).
- Leave it in a warm spot for another 24 hours or overnight
Notes for today:
-
Your starter should be getting quite bubbly now and growing well. Depending on how your starter is going if you have lots of bubbles and it is really active then you can start to bake from day 7 onwards. For me I am going to use a few extra days to get it to a good strong position
Check back tomorrow for Day 7
Tag me @_ashleysplace_ so I can see how your starter is growing 🥰
Day 7: Is your starter ready to start baking with
We are getting to the end of our Sourdough building journey and today is the day that is your starter maybe ready to to start baking with. I say maybe because this is the part that really depends on how your personal starter is looking.
If it is really active and bubbly you can start using it to bake. But if like mine you think it needs a few extra days because you want to build some more bubbles and more strength then you can continue to discard and feed.
But this is also the part in the sourdough starter journey that we go to a 1:1:1 method meaning say you discard half your sourdough and you have 50g left then you will keep that 50g of Starter add 50g of Flour and 50g of water. You do this method every time you feed your starter. It doesn't matter how much of the starter is left 20g, 50, 110g etc you always use that weight to then work out the weight of flour and water to add. You also don't need to do huge feeds all the time, you don't need to do 200g of flour etc, you can keep it smaller depending on how much you need to use to make your recipes etc. If this doesn't make sense please reach out.
Today because I want to do a few extra days of feeding I am going to do 150g of starter to 150g of water and flour. You can follow mine with 150g or do what works for you with your starter
Here’s what to do today:
You will need e.g:
- 🥖 150g of flour (stick to the same type if possible I am using wholemeal)
- 🥖 150ml of filtered or cooled boiled water
Instructions:
- You are going to weigh out 150g of starter and discard the rest, so today we want to keep 150g of starter and put back into your jar.
- Then measure out and add 150g of Flour and 150ml of Water and add to your left over starter and mix really well
- Lightly place the lid back on the jar (still not tightly closed).
- Leave it in a warm spot for another 24 hours or overnight
Notes for today:
-
My starter is getting more bubbly but I want it to be super active before I start baking with it I will likely start this on day 10.
Check back tomorrow for Day 8
Tag me @_ashleysplace_ so I can see how your starter is growing 🥰
Day 8-10: Bonus Days: Extra Feeding if Needed
Your Sourdough starter should be getting good now and ready to us to make bread, but if by day 7/8 it seems to not be super bubbly yet then I would suggest feeding it for a few extra days instead just to make sure it is really strong.
The thing about Sourdough and it's starter is that is really is individual how it behaves and what you need to do with it. You could have 2 houses right next door to each other but one is more drafting than the other making it more cold inside. One could use a heater in winter, one could use a fire. There is so many factors that come into making sourdough and a starter so don't always look at someone else's and think yours is not good. The more you work with it the more you will be able to understand how your starter works and what you need to do for your own starter.
Here’s what you need to follow here on out:
You will need to follow the 1:1:1 ration to feed your starter, even after day 10, from here on out you will follow this feeding method. You want to remove some sourdough depending if you are making something or simply just feeding and throwing the discard away. For this example we have 100g of starter left:
- 🥖 100g of your current starter
- 🥖 100g of flour (stick to the same type if possible I am using wholemeal)
- 🥖 100ml of filtered or cooled boiled water
Instructions:
- We have kept 100g of starter and kept this in our Jar
- Then measure out and add 100g of Flour and 100ml of Water and add to your left over starter and mix really well
- Lightly place the lid back on the jar (still not tightly closed).
- Leave it in a warm spot overnight
Notes for today:
-
If you are wanting to start making Bread, feed your starter and when it gets to approx. double in volume then you can start to use it
Tag me @_ashleysplace_ so I can see how your starter is growing 🥰
This is it for our Sourdough Starter Journey. Once your starter has gotten lots of great bubbles it is ready to use and you can make your very own homemade sourdough bread. I will be making mine tomorrow and will write up a blog post on how to make the sourdough bread.
Quick Tips for Sourdough Starter Success:
-
A warm environment speeds up fermentation, around 22°C–26°C is ideal.
-
Use a clean jar or container, cleanliness matters otherwise it can grow the wrong kind of bacteria and spoil, so clean containers and spoons etc.
-
Stick with the same flour if you can for the first few days to keep things consistent.
-
Don’t worry if you don’t see much activity yet it’s completely normal.
- Sometimes Starters don't always work, there is a lot of variables like temperature, the flour used, the water, the moisture in the air etc. Don't be discourage if you think it isn't working we can always start again and if you need any help send us a message I am always happy to try and help
- Once you have fed your starter wash your spoons and tools right away as they can get very stuck and hard very quickly. I learnt this tip from Hari Beavis and it is a great one to get in the habit of, just rinse it off straight away
FAQ's
-
Is it normal for my sourdough to smell?
- Yes completely normal for it to smell as it is a live culture so it will have a sour type smell, everyone's sense of smell is different so to one it may be super strong while someone else can only smell it slightly but this is normal
- Yes completely normal for it to smell as it is a live culture so it will have a sour type smell, everyone's sense of smell is different so to one it may be super strong while someone else can only smell it slightly but this is normal
- Is there no discard on day 2?
- No on day 2 we are simply adding to our sourdough starter where as from day 3 onwards we will be doing a discard from here on out for the life of our sourdough
-
How long does it take before we can make bread?
- To get started we need about 7-10 days to get the starter strong so we can make bread with it, once it is strong we can then use it each day if we like
-
Can I keep it in the fridge?
- Yes eventually you can do, people who are maybe only making 1-2 loaves a week or less like to keep it in the fridge because then you don't need to feed it each day and only need to feed it when you are ready to use it. Where as if you make quite a few you will likely keep it out and feed it daily. But this is also great if you go away you can keep it in the fridge. But I wouldn't recommend this until after you have set up your sourdough starter and are ready to make bread with it.
-
Do I leave it overnight or 24 hours?
- I personally leave mine the full 24 hours at the start to really give it a good chance to grow but we are also in Autumn here in Australia and the days go from warmer to cold so I need to give it that extra time to grow. If it is warmer where you are overnight can be ok to feed it. Once my sourdough is up and running I usually will feed it the same time each day, not because I have to but only so I know that it is done and don't forget it, but this is a personal preference and just what works with my brain.
Follow along each day as we build our starter and soon, bake our very own homemade sourdough bread!
Be sure to tag me @_ashleysplace_ if you're joining in, I would love to see your progress!