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Loose lid covering a mason jar with sourdough starter in it.
KeepItSimpleAnnaSue

Feeding a Sourdough Starter

Feeding your sourdough starter can be intimidating. Use these simple steps to help you feel confident and learn this new skill. It is something that can be enjoyable and fun with the right mindset. Oh, and that starter will help you to create delicious recipes.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 25 grams sourdough starter
  • 125 grams room temperature water
  • 125 grams rye/bread flour food mixture (100 grams of rye to 900 grams of bread flour) (see post for food mixture)

Equipment

  • skinny spatula
  • 1 quart mason jar and lid
  • scale (that weighs in grams)

Method
 

  1. Weigh your jar without the lid on it and write the amount in a sharpie on the side. I didn’t understand why when I first started this, but it helps when figuring out how many ounces of starter are in the jar.
    Mason jar with sourdough starter in it on a scale.
  2. Turn the scale on and make sure it is tared down to zero.
  3. Put 25 grams of starter in the jar.
  4. Tare the jar down to zero. Just hit the “tare” button while the jar is on there and it will send it back to zero.
    Sourdough starter in a mason jar on a scale tared down to zero.
  5. Pour in 125 grams of room temperature water.
    Water being poured from a maroon gurgle pot into a mason jar of sourdough starter.
  6. Mix the water with the starter using your spatula.
  7. Tare the jar down to zero again.
  8. Add in 125 grams of food. The food is a mixture of 100 grams of rye and 900 grams of bread flour that I mix up ahead of time and put in a big container. This usually lasts me several feedings.
    Sourdough Starter in a mason jar with a turquoise spatula in it and a rye bread flour mixture being added to the jar.
  9. Mix this around well with your spatula.
    Over head shot of a turquoise skilly spatula in a mason jar with sourdough starter in it.
  10. Loosely put the lid on and sit the jar on your counter.
    Loose lid covering a mason jar with sourdough starter in it.
  11. Leave the jar alone until it has more than doubled.
  12. Use the starter at that time in any recipe that you like or put the lid on and refrigerate it. It is still considered active if you use it in one to three days.

Notes

If you are not ready to use your starter when it has peaked, you can put the lid on it and refrigerate it. It is considered active if you use it within one to three days. After that, you would need to feed it again for a recipe that asks for an “active” starter.
Feed it once a week to keep it healthy and strong. If you forget and it gets bad, you may need to feed it, wait a day, and then feed it again. If you don’t have time to bake with it, you can do a maintenance feeding.