Sourdough Starter From Scratch: A Day-by-Day Beginner Guide
A sourdough starter needs only flour, water, and five days of steady feeding. This beginner guide covers each day, fridge storage, and common problems.
By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-07T22:38:16+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-07T22:38:16+00:00
Sourdough Starter From Scratch: A Day-by-Day Beginner Guide
A sourdough starter is a jar of flour and water that ferments into a living culture. Wild yeast and bacteria in the flour do the work. In about five days, that jar can leaven a loaf of bread. This sourdough starter guide follows King Arthur Baking's tested method. It uses a kitchen scale, all-purpose flour, and five days of patience.
What you need for this sourdough starter guide
You need very little. A kitchen scale is the one tool worth owning. Flour and water behave differently by volume, so weighing keeps every feeding exact. Use unbleached all-purpose flour for feedings and whole wheat or pumpernickel flour for day one. Whole grain flour carries more wild yeast, which helps the culture start.
Use a clean glass jar or container of at least one quart. Glass lets you watch the rise. Mark the level after each feeding with a rubber band. That mark shows you how much the starter grew. Cover the jar loosely with a lid or cloth. The culture needs to breathe out gas. A tight lid can build pressure.
Use cool water. If your tap water is heavily chlorinated, let it sit uncovered for a day first. Chlorine can slow fermentation. Room temperature matters too. Aim for about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. A cold kitchen slows everything down. A warm spot, such as the top of the fridge, speeds it up.
Sourdough starter guide: the day-by-day method
Follow these steps exactly. Each feeding uses equal weights: 113 grams of starter, 113 grams of flour, and 113 grams of water. That is roughly half a cup of each by volume. Weighing is more reliable.
- Day 1: mix. Combine 113 grams of whole wheat or pumpernickel flour with 113 grams of cool water in your jar. Stir until no dry flour remains. Cover loosely. Leave it at warm room temperature for 24 hours.
- Day 2: first feeding. You may see no activity at all. That is normal. Discard half the starter, about 113 grams. Add 113 grams of all-purpose flour and 113 grams of cool water to what remains. Stir well. Cover and rest for 24 hours.
- Day 3: twice a day now. You should see bubbles, a fresh fruity smell, and some expansion. Start feeding twice daily, about 12 hours apart. Each time, keep 113 grams of starter and discard the rest. Add 113 grams of flour and 113 grams of water. Stir and cover.
- Day 4: repeat. Feed twice more, morning and evening, with the same amounts. The starter should rise more each time. Bubbles should appear through the mixture, not just on top.
- Day 5: check for readiness. Feed twice more. By the end of day five, the starter should at least double in volume within six to eight hours of feeding. It should smell tangy but pleasant. If it has not doubled, keep feeding every 12 hours on day six and seven until it does.
- First bake. Once the starter is ready, give it one last feeding. Discard all but 113 grams. Feed as usual. Rest it at room temperature for six to eight hours. It should be active, with bubbles breaking the surface. Now it is ready to bake with.
How to keep your starter alive
A starter on the counter needs feeding once or twice a day. That is too much work for most bakers. The fridge is the answer. Move your starter to the fridge after it is established. Feed it once a week. Discard all but 113 grams, then feed with 113 grams of flour and 113 grams of water. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 to 90 minutes first, then refrigerate.
Before baking with a refrigerated starter, wake it up. Take it out of the fridge. Feed it at room temperature. Plan on one to three feeds before baking, depending on how long it has been chilling. A starter that has slept for two weeks needs more wake-up feeds than one that slept for three days.
Discard is not waste. It is unfed starter, and it works in pancakes, crackers, and pizza dough. Use it the same day you discard it. If you bake often, you will use it constantly. If you rarely bake, the fridge schedule keeps discard to a minimum.
Troubleshooting: what can go wrong
No bubbles after two days. This is normal. Early bubbling often comes from the first wave of bacteria, not the yeast that will run the starter. Keep feeding. A new starter can take up to two weeks in a cool kitchen. Move it somewhere warmer, around 75 degrees, and stay consistent.
A dark liquid on top. This is hooch, alcohol the yeast makes when it runs out of food. It looks alarming. It is not harmful. Pour it off for a milder starter, or stir it in for more tang. Then feed. If hooch appears often, feed more frequently or use a larger ratio of flour and water.
It smells like nail polish remover. That acetone smell means a very hungry starter. Feed it more often for a day or two. A larger feeding ratio helps. The smell should return to pleasantly tangy within a few days.
Pink or orange streaks, or fuzzy mold. Throw the whole starter away and begin again. Pink coloring can signal harmful bacteria. Mold means contamination. No amount of feeding fixes it.
It rises, then collapses fast. The starter is peaking before your next feeding. Feed it more often, or use a larger ratio of flour to starter. A 1:2:2 ratio, one part starter to two parts flour and two parts water, gives it more food and a longer rise.
Bottom line
A sourdough starter needs flour, water, warmth, and five days of steady feeding. Start with whole grain flour. Feed equal weights twice a day from day three. Bake when the starter doubles within six to eight hours of feeding. Then move it to the fridge and feed it weekly. Your first loaf is closer than it looks.