Simple Sourdough Starter

Everything you need to know about making a sourdough starter

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5 from 1 vote

Make a sourdough starter in just a week - you'll be baking artisan sourdough loaves in no time!

Total Time5

Course: Ingredient

Cuisine: British

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: rye flour, strong white bread flour, water, wholemeal bread flour

Servings: starter

Calories: 872.5kcal

Equipment

Jar
Chopstick

Ingredients

250 grams rye flour or other bread flour
250 grams water (see note 1)

Instructions

Day 1

Stir together 50 grams of the flour and 50 grams of water. Cover loosely and leave on the counter top overnight.

Day 2

Add another 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water to your mix from day 1. Cover loosely and leave on the counter top overnight again.

Day 3 - 4

Repeat the instructions from Day 2 for another 2 days. You should start to see some bubbles and it should start to smell a little sour.

Day 5

Stir in the final 50 grams of flour and water. By now the starter should be active with lots of bubbles. You should be able to bake with it after this fifth feed if the starter has doubled in size.

Day 5 onwards

If your starter isn't quite ready to bake with do not worry, keep feeding it with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water until it is.

Notes

Note 1 - 50 grams of water

You did read that right, this recipe calls for 50 grams of water. We weigh the water rather than going by volume so that we are more precise! So get those scales out!

Nutrition