Traditional Starter Feeding Instructions

How To Care for Sourdough Starter:

PLEASE feed your starter as soon as possible upon receiving it. At first look, it will not necessarily be bubbling or look 'alive'. Not to worry, starters never really ever 'die'. Feeding and continual care of your sourdough starter begins on day one. They are a living entity; they need regular daily feedings.

Day 1: In a larger bowl/jar/container mix together with the entire starter you receive with

2 oz. water (4 tbsp.) and 2 oz. flour (7 tbsp.) You can feed it any type of flour as long as it is not bleached, though the first few feedings with bread flour or all-purpose white flour is usually the best option. Use only bottled, spring, or filtered purified water. It can be beneficial for future feedings weigh the empty jar/container you will be keeping the starter in before starting.

Keep it at room temperature until it gets its strength back, as it goes into a ‘hibernation’ state during transit. The starter’s temperature upon receiving will not affect it. Cover with a towel at first and once active use a lid.

Day 2 and each day after: Mix into the starter equal weights of flour and of water as you have of starter on that day. For every 1 part of starter, you feed it 1 part flour and 1 part water. Use a 1:1:1 ratio by weight, not volume for feedings. As your starter’s weight increases, the feeding amounts increase. While a scale is not necessary, it is helpful.

If you have 1 oz of starter then you mix in 1 oz flour and 1 oz of water into your starter.

If you have 1 lb of starter then you mix in 1 lb flour and 1 lb of water into your starter.

Each day this is how you will 'feed the starter’ and should be done every 24 hours. If the consistency ever gets thicker than pancake batter you can add more water. If not using a scale but using volume measurements, you would feed the same volume of water as you have starter, and then feed twice as much volume of flour as water. This would be because water weighs twice as much as flour.

Once active or after feeding 3 days: You can discard any amount of the starter before feeding, to keep the amount manageable. Continue to feed the remaining amount with the 1:1:1 ratio. STARTER:FLOUR:WATER

The starter can return to full health after 1 feeding but sometimes can take up to 6 days of feeding to become active again. Once your starter bubbles consistently after being fed, you can now officially use it! When baking, start a recipe once your starter is roughly at its peak size, about 3-6 hours after feeding. Leaving an active starter out on the counter, it will need to be fed equal parts of flour and water every 24 hours. The weight of your starter you have when feeding that day, is the weight you feed it of both flour and of water. Again, this is what the 1:1:1 ratio means.

If you are not using the active starter regularly, you can store it in the refrigerator and feed it once a week.

If there’s ever a ‘bad’ smell, forms discolored ‘hooch,’ or a liquid layer on top that simply means it is hungry and no need to worry. If you are having trouble getting the starter to wake up after a few days, you can try to feed it a triple amount, this should do the trick. 1:3:3 feeding ratio. It is helpful to feed it a larger amount once a week.

Once you get an understanding of feeding and discarding, the easiest technique is discard everything except 4 oz. of starter (1/2 cup) before feeding. Then mix 4 oz. of water (1/2 cup) and 4 oz. flour (1 cup) into that 4 oz. of starter. Do this every day. Note flour and water do not weigh the same by volume.

During transit the living culture needs room to rise and eats the physical flour, so actual amount received will vary slightly, but will have no effect on your chance of success. I do guarantee success and 100% satisfaction so please contact me with any issues before leaving feedback or reviews.

Feel free to contact me with any questions. Joe@LivingDough.com

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