Want to start baking with sourdough but have a million questions? Don’t worry!

To feed your starter, the most simple way to think about it is to feed it equal amounts of water and flour, but be sure to use a scale, not volumetric measurements.

If you picked up starter at LMNOP or from another fellow baker, all you need is a mere 25 grams to get a sourdough culture going. Find a pint mason jar and you will be ready. You will also be happy to know in the future, the weight of that jar- so weigh it, before you place the starter culture in, and write down that measurement. Later, you will be able to do some simple math to figure out how much starter is in the jar by weighing it all at once…. are you with me? I hope so. Ok so.

To 25 grams of starter

add 100 grams water (a nice 70-75 degrees, preferably) , and mix it up!

then add 100 grams flour and mix it together. This should feel like a wet paste.

 Place a lid lightly over, and leave your starter out at room temperature to activate the wild yeasts and bacteria. If you are simply refreshing your starter, leave it out for about 5-8 hours until it is almost double in size. Then, it should be ready to use to mix dough. If you do not plan to bake, refrigerate it before it has peaked for best results. If you plan to use it for bread, it should be approximately double in size, have many bubbles apparent, be slightly domed, or just starting to collapse- this is starter at peak- at a balance of bacteria and yeast production. You can also take a small amount and drop it in a glass of water- this is called the float test. If it floats, it’s ready to use ! If it sinks, it is either not ready yet, or past its prime activity.

 To maintain a healthy starter, a feeding once a week is recommended.

 What’s a feeding?

To Feed: Take your jar of starter out of the fridge, allow to come to room temperature.

 Weigh the jar and the starter within.

 Remove (dump) enough starter so that you have only 25 grams left. And do exactly what you did the first time- add 100 grams of water, mix, then 100 grams of flour, mix. Let activate at room temperature. If you become a regular baker, try to feed your starter on a regular schedule it, like all beings, likes a bit of a routine, to know what is expected of it. :)

 This is a 100% hydration starter, the flour and water measurements are equal.

 Congratulations! You have a new baby. Name and take care of it. Don’t worry, they are pretty hardy and don’t completely die that easily.

Remember, Sourdough is a slow and steady process that requires a lot of patience and a little vigilance, and a lot of trial and error to see what works best. Always plan backwards from when you want to eat the bread to figure out your schedule for mixing the starter, mixing the dough, shaping, proofing, and baking the loaf.