So You have Sourdough Starter, Now What? - Part 1

First off, congratulations on starting the sourdough journey! There are so many amazing things you can make with it besides bread, and I can’t wait to share them with you.

Like many, I jumped on the sourdough bandwagon in 2020. Someone in my local Buy Nothing group was giving away some discard (we’ll get to that in a bit) and I jumped at the chance to have my own. It was a bit intimidating at first, but keeping it alive was easier than I expected, and soon I had a small collection of mason jars filled with starter.

This however is something I do need to warn about, at first it was really hard to throw the discard away, so I would just put it in a new mason jar and feed it at the same time as the original. Well, the amount of sourdough starter grows exponentially, and before long I had I think 10 containers of starter. This was a bit crazy, and was using a ridiculous amount of flour, so I finally got comfortable with either throwing the discard away, or using it in a discard recipe! (Again, we’ll get to those in a bit).

But before we get into any recipes, we should go over the basics.

Part 1: Feeding Your Sourdough Starter

I originally put together these instructions for friends and family I was giving my discard to, so if you already have some starter continue on. Otherwise, I’ll be posting instructions on how to start sourdough starter soon!

First off, I recommend to name your starter. You don’t really need to do this, but I find it helps to name it since it’s easier to remember to keep it alive if it has a name. My starters name is Baby Doughda.

Now for the feeding. I highly recommend you get a kitchen scale. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy, I think I got mine for like $12 on amazon. This will help a lot not only with feeding the starter, but when it comes to making breads those recipes are often weight based so you’ll need a scale for those.

·        Feeding if you have a scale:

1. Measure the weight of the container the starter will go in before putting the starter in it.  Write down weight.

2. Add starter to container and weigh again.  Subtract the weight of the container alone from the weight of the container with the starter.  That is the weight of just the starter.

3. With the container on the scale and the weight of the starter noted, zero the scale.

4. Add flour until it’s the same weight as the starter.  (so if you have 1oz of starter you want 1 oz of flour).

5. Add water until it’s the same weight at the starter (so if you have 1 oz starter add 1oz water)

6. Mix, then loosely cover and put aside to let rise.  Do not put it in direct sunlight. 

7. The next day, measure the weight of the starter and discard until you are left with 1 oz.

8. Add 1 oz flour and 1 oz water, stir to combine. Cover loosely and set aside.

9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 each day if the starter lives on the counter, or if the starter lives in the refrigerator it can be fed every 1-2 weeks.

·        Feeding if you don’t have a scale:

1. Put starter in container, then add roughly the same amount of water as there is starter, then add roughly the amount of flour as there is the starter+water combination.  So for example if you have 1” of starter in the container, add ~1” water, then add ~2” flour. 

2. The next day discard starter until you have just a small amount on the bottom of the jar (maybe 0.5”), and repeat the process of adding roughly 1 part water, 2 parts flour. Once again this should be repeated every day if the starter lives on the counter, or 1-2 weeks if the starter lives in the refrigerator.

Other Starter Notes

• If you need to travel, feed starter then put it in the refrigerator.  It should be good in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.  When you return remove from the refrigerator and feed as normal.

• It’s good to keep more than one starter in case one goes bad.  I like to keep one on the counter to keep it healthy and thriving and a second in the fridge as backup in case the counter one goes bad.  Feed the starter on the counter every day.  Feed the starter in the fridge every 1-2 weeks. 

• If you get grey spots, or pink or orange fuzz, on the starter it has gone bad and you need to get rid of it.