How to Feed Sourdough Starter
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How to Feed Sourdough Starter
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You'll love this easy recipe on how to feed sourdough starter because it's tailored to your schedule and baking needs. Before you begin, determine how often you want to bake with your sourdough starter. For frequent bakers (every day or every other day), store your starter on the counter and feed once a day at the same time. For casual bakers, store your starter in the refrigerator and feed ir once a week. The proportions below will be enough to make 300 grams of active starter for 2 loaves of bread and you should end up with 100 grams of leftover starter after making 2 loaves. You can easilly scale it up or down depending on how much active starter you need, just keep a 1:1:1 proportion with feeding. So if you need less, use 50 grams starter, 50 grams flour, and 50 grams water.
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Ingredients
- 100 grams active sourdough starter (1/2 cup)
- 100 grams filtered water (1/2 cup) room temperature to lukewarm (see note 1)
- 100 grams all-purpose flour (1 scant cup) (see note 2)
Instructions
How to Feed Sourdough Starter:
- Bring Starter to Room Temperature: If your starter is refrigerated, remove it from the refrigerator a few hours or the night before to come to room temperature. If your starter is at room temperature, you’ll want to feed it daily or at least every other day to keep it bubbly and happy.
- Feed the Starter: Using a kitchen scale to weigh in grams, discard all but 100 grams of your starter in your glass jar. Add 100 grams flour and 100 grams water and stir thoroughly with a silicone spatula to combine (see note 3)
- Let it Rise: Scrape down the sides of the jar, cover with a loose-fitting lid, place a rubber band on the jar to track how far the starter has risen, and let it grow at room temperature (70-75 ̊F). Once it has at least doubled in volume (4-6 hours - see note 4), it is considered 'active sourdough starter' and you can use it to make sourdough recipes. Once it falls and is no longer active, you can repeat the feeding process in step 2.
To Refrigerate the Starter:
- To Refrigerate the starter: Once you have used the amount of active sourdough starter needed for your recipe, feed the starter again using the same proportions as in step 2 above. Optional: Let it sit at room temperature for 1 hours to jump-start the process then refrigerate. Feed weekly to keep it alive -(see note 5).
Notes
- (1) Note on Water: Use filtered non-chlorinated water or spring water. Chlorine can hinder the growth of the yeast and bacteria. To dechlorinate your water, you can boil and cool or set your water into a vessel and leave it on the counter for 1 day to naturally dechlorinate and come to room temperature. Don’t use water that is too warm or you will deactivate the yeast. If you have a warm house, use room-temperature water. If you keep your house cooler, use lukewarm water (85 ̊F) to give it a boost. Avoid cold water which will slow the growth.
- (2) Note on Flour: We commonly use organic all-purpose flour, but you can substitute 25-50% of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat or rye flour to help increase starter activity.
- (3) A Weck Jar is my favorite because it weighs exactly 400 grams without the lid so the math is easy, and it has a loose-fitting lid which is important to prevent pressure buildup. To save time, keep a note of the weight of your empty jar. You can zero out the scale before adding each ingredient for easy measuring.
- (4) Rise Time: The time it takes for the starter to double depends on the starter's strength, the feeding ratio, the type of flour used, water temperature, and room temperature. You want to use it within 1-2 hours of being fully risen before it starts to drop back down from its peak levels.
- (5) Maintaining a Refrigerator Starter: If you're feeding your refrigerated starter only to keep it alive and aren't planning to bake with it, you don't have to bring it to room temperature before feeding. Feed and let it sit on the counter 1-2 hours (if time permits), then return to the fridge.
- (6) Clean your jar occasionally (every 1-4 weeks) or when there’s too much built-up gunk on the sides to prevent mold growth.
Nutrition Information
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Calories
455kcal
(23%)
Carbs
95g
Protein
13g
(26%)
Fat
1g
(2%)
Saturated Fat
0.2g
(1%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
0.4g
Monounsaturated Fat
0.1g
Sodium
8mg
(0%)
Potassium
107mg
(3%)
Fiber
3g
(12%)
Sugar
0.3g
(1%)
Calcium
18mg
(2%)
Iron
5mg
(28%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 2cups (makes 300 grams starter)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 455 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 455kcal | 23% |
| Carbs | 95g | |
| Protein | 13g | 26% |
| Fat | 1g | 2% |
| Saturated Fat | 0.2g | 1% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 0.4g | 2% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 0.1g | 1% |
| Sodium | 8mg | 0% |
| Potassium | 107mg | 2% |
| Fiber | 3g | 12% |
| Sugar | 0.3g | 1% |
| Calcium | 18mg | 2% |
| Iron | 5mg | 28% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
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