Sourdough Starter Care Guide
A little flour, a little water, and a whole lot of possibility.
Your sourdough starter is a living culture of wild yeast and beneficial bacteria. With a little care and regular feeding, it can keep producing delicious, homemade sourdough for years to come!
Getting Started
Once you bring your starter home, you have two options depending on how often you plan to bake.
Baking Soon? Keep It on the Counter.
If you're planning to bake within the next day or two, keep your starter at room temperature (ideally 70–75°F). Feed it approximately every 24 hours to keep it happy, healthy, and active.
Baking Later? Pop It in the Fridge.
Not quite ready to bake? Store your starter in the refrigerator in a loosely covered jar. The cooler temperature slows fermentation, so you'll only need to feed it every 2-3 weeks. When its time to bake again, pull your starter from the fridge and feed as normal. In contrast to active, non-dormant starter, it may need an extra 1-3 days to reactivate and wake up after being in the fridge.
Tip: it doesn't take much dormant starter to get a working stock going again. A mere tablespoon taken from your cold stock will do the trick.
How to Feed Your Starter
Feeding your starter is simple! All you need is flour, water, and a clean jar. No measuring cups or scales required.
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Keep: Retain half of your existing starter. Discard or save the rest for another recipe.
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Feed: Add roughly equal parts flour and room-temperature water. The goal should be to achieve a pancake batter consistency. For example, just by eyeballing it- if you have around 1/3 cup of starter, add 1/3 cup of flour and 1/3 cup of water to achieve a 1:1:1 mixture. Once you get comfortable with the process, we recommend experimenting with other ratios as it can influence how your bread comes out. For now, a simple 1:1:1 ratio is sufficient for getting started.
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Mix: Stir until thoroughly combined.
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Rest: Cover loosely with a paper towel or other breathable cloth and leave at room temperature until bubbly and risen.
This is called a 1:1:1 feeding ratio — equal parts starter, flour, and water by weight.
Tip: Unbleached all-purpose or bread flour works beautifully. If you want to take the guesswork out of it, a kitchen scale makes feeding easy and consistent.
When Is Your Starter Ready to Bake?
A healthy, active starter will:
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Double in volume, typically within 4–8 hours after feeding at a warm room temperature.
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Develop plenty of bubbles throughout.
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Have a pleasantly tangy, yeasty aroma.
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Look airy and slightly domed when it reaches its peak.
For best results, use your starter when it's at or near its peak rise.
Bringing Refrigerated Starter Back to Life
Ready to bake after a little break?
Remove your starter from the refrigerator, let it warm up, and give it a fresh feeding. Depending on how long it's been stored, it may need 1–3 feedings at room temperature before it's reliably doubling in size again.
A Few Things to Know
My starter has liquid on top. Is that normal?
Yes! A grayish or brownish liquid, often called hooch, can develop when your starter is hungry. Pour it off or stir it in, then give your starter a feeding.
My starter smells sour. Is that okay?
Absolutely. A pleasantly tangy, fruity, or mildly vinegary smell is normal. However, if you notice fuzzy mold, pink or orange discoloration, or a putrid smell, discard it.
Do I really have to discard some before feeding?
Unless you're intentionally building a larger batch- yes, you will inevitably need to discard some of the starter. Removing a portion keeps your starter manageable and maintains the right balance of fresh food to existing culture.
Can I use the discard?
You bet! Established sourdough discard is fantastic for pancakes, crackers, waffles, biscuits, and more. Just remember that discard isn't necessarily active enough to rise a loaf of bread on its own.
Do I need to use All-Purpose or Bakers Flour?
Technically no. There are many varieties of flour on the market including Rye, Wheat and Semolina, just to name a few. These alternatives are great for people who may have gluten sensitivities or intolerances to high amounts of protein. It's fun to experiment with different flour types and the instructions above can generally be applied to almost any flour type.
Happy Baking!
Sourdough is part science, part patience, and part kitchen magic. Every starter develops its own personality, and the more you work with yours, the better you'll get to know it.
Fresh from our farm to your kitchen.
— Rebel Farms
