How to Make a Sourdough Starter in One Week

Ingredients Needed:

1. Bread Flour 2. Rye Flour 3. Water

Tools Needed:

1. Scale 2. Clean Jar 3. Spatula or spoon

Day 1

In a clean jar, mix together 25g bread flour, 25 g rye flour, and 50 g water.

Day 1

Keep starter in a warm location like this bread proofer (website has links for this perfect proofer!) for 24hrs.

Ideally kept between 75-80ºF.

Day 2

Discard half of the starter. Feed it 25g bread flour, 25g rye flour, and 50g water again. Let rest for another day.

Day 3

You might begin to see some activity on Day 3. It's still not ready though. Repeat the same feeding as Day 2.

Day 4 & 5

You might not see much activity for a couple days. That's normal! The yeasts will work out. Repeat the same feeding process for days 4 & 5.

Day 6

On Day 6, my starter rose in its jar! It's getting close. Discard half and this time feed it 45g bread flour, 5 g rye flour, and 50g water.

Day 7

On Day 7, the sourdough starter is bubbly and full of life! It even smells like yeast.

After Day 7

Continue feeding your starter the same way. You can manipulate how fast it rises by how much flour and water you feed it. Get to know your starter's rhythm!

How do you know when it's ready?

One popular test is the "float test". Place a bit of your starter into a glass of water. If the starter floats, then it's active enough to make bread.

How do you know when it's ready?

When your starter is ready, it should also at least double in volume, be full of gas bubbles, and smell yeasty.

What to do with your starter?

Make homemade bread and other yeasted baked goods! More sourdough recipes and a day-by-day, more detailed guide to make a starter on SourdoughBrandon.com!