How To Make Sourdough Starter

Have you always wondered how starter dough is made and have wanted to learn how? Here’s a guide on how to make your own starter for sourdough bread. It takes three ingredients, a lot of love, and can be active within 2 weeks or less! Progress photos and printable schedule included!

The thought of creating a sourdough starter can seem intimidating. I understand, but I encourage you to give it a shot. It’s very simple to make. The key is to have patience. This method can vary, depending on how the cultures form during the fermenting process. Some starters can be active in 1-2 weeks, some can take up to a three. So don’t be discouraged. This guide on how to make a sourdough starter is great for beginners, along with how to care for it.

Sourdough Starter Benefits:

• Gut healthy
• Contains prebiotic & anti-inflammatory properties
• Supports digestion
• Reduces gluten content
• Contains antioxidants
• Produces lactic acid & beneficial bacteria

Days 3: May experience a “False rise” and find bubbles forming on days 3-4, but it is still not ready to use. The photos shown happened after day 2 of feeding, about 12-16 hours later. If bubbles have not appeared after Day 2, it will soon. Give it time!

What to Expect in the First 4 days:

Don’t Let Sourdough Starter Intimidate You

Before making my own starter back in 2023, I had no clue how sourdough worked. I didn’t know the first thing about starter, let alone forming the dough. I was timid  and believed I wouldn’t keep it alive for more than a few weeks. That was until I took a trip to Alaska and discovered a book that changed my mind. That book was the Alaskan Sourdough Edition by Ruth Allman. Without hesitation, I bought it, because it was then that I realized how much I wanted to learn how to make sourdough. The one detail that I found most interesting was how adding potato to feed the live cultures can give it an extra boost. I found it fascinating. Although I didn’t use that method to creating mine, I am still thankful for discovering Ruth’s book. It gave me the motivation I needed to try it myself.

This is your sign as well!

Days 5-6: Green mark indicates where starter settled after last feeding. It’s gradually beginning to rise as the wild yeast and bacteria create carbon dioxide, causing the gas and bubbles to form. Very soon, the rise will double.

Ingredients You Will Need:

• Water- Filtered water is needed for this recipe.
• Flour- Bread Flour or All-purpose will work fine when creating your starter.
• Sugar- This helps boost the live culture and activating the starter.

Types of Flour to Feed Starter:

Once your starter is active, there are variety of flours that can be used to feed the culture. Due to higher proteins and extra nutrients, whole grain and rye are used when feeding and making sourdough bread. It also enhances the flavors of the dough. For a gluten free option, buckwheat is a great option. Flours containing spelt, bran, and germ are other choices used. But for this guide on how to make a sourdough starter, All-purpose or bread flour will work great. You could also split a mixture of different flours together to form your own flavor profile after you are more comfortable with the feeding schedule. Make sure the flour you use to create your starter and feed afterward is unbleached. Bleached flours can lose a lot of the yeast proteins and healthy bacteria during processing and may not feed your starter as well.

Filtered Water is Best

For this guide on how to make your own sourdough starter, I highly recommend only using room temperature, filtered water before and after it becomes active. Distilled doesn’t have enough nutrients, and tap water contains chlorine, which can taint both the outcome and taste of your sourdough. Filtered water doesn’t have chlorine, and it provides the minerals needed. If preferred, using bottled water during the fermentation process can be helpful when creating your starter.

Day 7: Time Frames after feeding.

What Does Starter Smell Like?

During the first few days, the sourdough starter won’t have much of a smell. It will smell like flour and water, or maybe something closer to corn husks. Then as the days pass, the odor will begin to smell more sour. It may smell like alcohol or vinegar. The odor isn’t pleasant, but it means you have a healthy starter.

Day 8: The photo shown above is 12 hours after Day 7 feeding.

Tips Before Beginning Your Starter:

• Use a journal to record feeding times, measurements, and weight for more accuracy.
• Weigh the jar you will be using before adding the ingredients. This can help with accuracy when discarding portions of the mixture before the next feedings. 
• Wrapping a rubber band, or simply marking the area of where your starter has settled after feeding can help determine when your starter begins rising. If the live cultures cause the starter to rise passed the rubber band, the starter is becoming active. If it hasn’t, continue feeding and give it more time.
• Don’t worry if your starter doesn’t become active right away. Depending on the temperature of the space and other factors, making active starter can vary. Sometimes it can take 2 weeks before it matures, other times it can take up to 3 weeks. Every starter is different, so patience is key.
• Once the starter active, different types of flours can be used to create personal flavor profiles. Just be sure to check on your starter for the first day or two to see if it is feeding properly. If it doesn’t appear as active or bubbly, don’t worry. Go back to the using all-purpose or bread flour for 2-3 days to help boost it and try again in a couple of days.
• Keep in mind, depending on the time of year you decide to make your starter dough, the fermentation process could react faster or slower based on the temperature. Summer and Fall have shown promising results for me when creating sourdough starter. But if you can create a consistent warm temperature in one spot within your home (about 70-85℉), you could have an easier time making your starter.

Day 10: Starter more than doubled after feeding 4 hours earlier. It’s also beginning to have the familiar “Sourdough” smell.

Books That Help Build Confidence When Learning How To Make Sourdough Bread

While I was waiting for my starter to become active, I distracted myself with these books that changed my life. Not only are they easy to read and informative, but they also have amazing recipes that are simple to follow. These books provide step-by-step guides on how to fold your dough, understand baker schedules, and created the most beautiful loaves. I highly recommend them for yourself, as gifts, or for anyone that is wanted to learn more on how sourdough works.

• Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza by Ken Forkish
• Tartine Bread by Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson
• Alaska Sourdough: The Real Stuff by a Real Alaskan by Ruth Allman and Addie Studebaker

Free Printable Sourdough Schedule

Click on the link below to print this sourdough starter schedule for additional convenience!

What To Do After Your Starter is Active

After your starter is active and bubbly, check out my guide on How to Maintain and Store Sourdough Starter. It goes into further detail on how to care and properly store your starter. It also provides tips on feeding schedule, explains hooch, and discard.