How to Make a Foolproof Sourdough Starter

Making a Sourdough Starter is easier than you think.  The secret is to start with rye flour.  You can use freshly ground rye grain for best results.  Or, if rye grain isn’t available to you, use rye flour, but make sure it’s fresh and not passed its expiration date.

Watch the How to Make a Foolproof Sourdough Starter video

Making your own sourdough started isn’t complicated but if you’re having some difficulties, be sure check out my sourdough starter troubleshooting tips for help!

What is a Sourdough Starter?

A sourdough starter is a combination of flour and water that undergoes a fermentation process when left at room temperature.

This fermentation turns the flour and water mixture into a “natural” leavening agent (as opposed to store-bought packaged yeast) that uses naturally occurring yeasts and good bacteria to help bread and other baked goods rise.

Ingredients

Find the full printable recipe with measurements below.

For this specific recipe, I recommend the following ingredients:

• Rye flour: The secret to a successful sourdough starter is to start with rye flour, preferably freshly milled for the best results. If you don’t have access to rye grain you can use rye flour but make sure it’s fresh and not passed its expiration date.
• Filtered water: For best results use chlorine-free filtered water.

How to Make Sourdough Starter

The process of making sourdough starter isn’t hard but it does take place over several days.

Step 1 – On Day 1, Combine one tablespoon of rye flour with two tablespoons of room temperature or lukewarm water (preferably filtered chlorine-free water) in a small jar or bowl that holds about one cup. Mix well incorporating lots of air. Cover the jar or bowl loosely and place in a warm spot in your kitchen at about 75°F (24°C) where it can rest undisturbed.

PRO TIP: On Day 2, you don’t need to do anything. But you may notice the starter mixture beginning to smell a little sweet—some say like honey. But if it doesn’t, don’t worry it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong.

Step 2 – On Day 3, stir in one tablespoon of rye flour (but no water) into your mixture. Give it a good stir being sure to incorporate a lot of air. Place the cover back on and put it back in its resting spot. 

Step 3 – On Day 4, add two tablespoons of room temp or lukewarm water and two tablespoons of rye flour into your mixture and stir well incorporating a lot of air. After mixing put the cover back in place and return it to the same spot to rest. 

Step 4 – Check your starter again on Day 4 8 hours or up to 12 hours after adding in the water and rye flour. It should be bubbly and foamy. 

Step 5 – If everything has gone well you’ve got a bubbly and foamy starter that’s thriving and ready to make into sourdough bread.

What Do I Do If My Starter Hasn’t Bubbled on Day #4?

If it has not bubbled up yet and there is no foam, leave the mixture to sit for another 12 hours. Then repeat Day 4, which is now Day 5 for you.

Check it halfway through after 12 hours on Day 5. At this point, it should be ready. If not, rye grain/rye flour was probably very old. The key to success here is to have fresh rye flour.

How to Store and Use Your Starter

Once you get your starter going, you’re ready to make a sponge and get started baking sourdough bread.  You can also make a sourdough pizza crust and no-knead sourdough bread.

When it comes to storing the starter, you have three different options.

• Leave it at room temperature
• Refrigerate it
• Dehydrate it

Store Your Starter at Room Temperature

You should feed the remaining starter should with equal parts water and flour. If you leave your starter on the counter at room temperature, you should feed it every day at 12-hour intervals.

If you are not going to use your starter every day to bake bread, but you want to leave it at room temperature, you will need to remove half of the starter from the jar.

What you remove is called the “discard.” But do not discard it! Place it into a separate container in the refrigerator or freezer. When you have enough you can use it in baking recipes.

How to Store Starter in the Refrigerator

If you prefer to refrigerate your starter because you bake less frequently, you will want to still feed it, but you will only need to feed it once per week.

Remove it from the refrigerator, remove half of the starter, and add it to your discard. Then feed the starter with equal parts water and flour. Leave the fed starter on the counter at room temperature for about an hour, then re-refrigerate it.

Dehydrating Sourdough Starter

If you dehydrate your starter, you will need to rehydrate it before baking with it which you can learn about in this video on How to Dehydrate Sourdough Starter. Towards the end of the video there is info about how to hydrate it.

How to Use Sourdough Discard

Whether you store it at room temperature or in the refrigerator, every time you feed your starter, you will remove some of it called the discard.

When you have collected a few cups of discard you can use it to make various sourdough discard recipes, including homemade pancakes, waffles, sourdough crackers, casserole toppings such as in this sourdough skillet dinner, and more. It also makes a tasty homemade flatbread with starter discard.

Recipe Tips

• Don’t like the flavor of rye? While it’s necessary to make the starter, it’s ok to use any flour you want to use to make bread. This way you will not have any rye taste in your final product.
• You know your starter is ready when it’s bubbly and a foam forms on top of the flour and water mixture.
• Be sure to start your starter with freshly milled rye flour. This is essential to creating a good sourdough starter.
• If you do not have the option to mill you own, be sure to use milled rye flour purchased from a reputable source so that you know it is fresh. Hodgson Mills and Bob’s Red Mill are usually reliable sources unless you have a local option.

Frequently Asked Questions

Grind Your Own Flour with the Mockmill

When it comes to electric grain mills, after I did A LOT of research, I decided to buy a Mockmill. And am I so happy I did! The Mockmill is a very affordable but beautifully crafted German-made mill that stone grinds grain with settings ranging from 1 to 10—fine to coarse ground grain.

Learn more about Mockmill electric grain mills for making fresh flour and their Flake Lover’s Flaker that flakes whole grain in minutes. (This is not a sponsored post, I bought the Mockmill products that I show you, and I’m a happy user of their devices in my kitchen.)

• Mockmill 100 Grain Mill unboxing
• Get the Mockmill 100 Stone Grain Mill (Same product I show you in my unboxing video.)
• Flake Lover’s Flaker from Mockmill in action (Using this device, you can flake whole grain in minutes.)

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