Since we have shipped you a live starter, you should feed it right away as per instructions below when you receive it. Even if you don’t plan on baking soon, feed it right away and then you can store it for future use.

What you need

  • A clean glass jar or bowl. 
  • Clean, lukewarm water – For best results, use filtered or spring water. 
  • Unbleached all-purpose flour
  • Patience & Love

The starter is ready when it at least doubles in size within 6-8 hours after feeding. Follow instructions below and it will be ready to bake on day 2. 

Day 1: Mix 25 grams lukewarm water and 20 grams of our fresh sourdough starter in a bowl (we ship extra in the package so you will have some remaining after this). Mix and dissolve the starter in water. Then add 20 grams of all-purpose flour and mix. We are looking for a thick pancake batter consistency. Cover it with cling wrap or loose lid and put it in a semi-warm place: oven with the light on is a safe bet and works all year long; just don’t turn on the oven accidentally. Kitchen countertop may work if your AC is not set too high; avoid direct sunlight. 

Day 2: Get your jar that you plan on storing your sourdough starter in for the long term. Pro tip: weigh the empty jar and note down the weight, this will make your life easier when you have to discard excess starter when you are feeding.

  • Mix 50 grams of your sourdough starter with 50 grams of water and 50 grams of all-purpose flour. 
  • Discard any excess starter remaining from day 1
  • Store in a semi-warm place. Mark the starting level on the jar so you can visualize how much your starter grows over the next 6-8 hours.

It should at least double in size over the next 6-8 hours and is ready for baking at this point. If you don’t plan on baking right away, see storage instructions below

If due to unforeseen circumstances or environmental conditions during shipping your starter is not growing (this is very very rare), repeat steps for day 2 for a couple more days until it does. If it is still not growing, please contact us so we can help you out. We will send you a replacement and we apologize for the inconvenience. 

If everything went as planned at this point, you should have a full active starter. You can tell by the bubbles, the smell and after discarding and feeding the starter, it should at least double in size over the next 6-8 hours. After it doubles, it will start to shrink again. This is normal, don’t panic!

How to discard and feed and maintain your starter:

Your starter will like to be fed a 1:1:1 ratio of starter, flour and water. Now you have to decide how much starter you would like to keep in reserve for the long term, this would depend on your baking needs and recipes that you follow. I tend to keep a minimum of 50 grams of starter so that I can feed when I want to bake and make sure that I have at least 50 grams of starter remaining after baking for future use. 

For example, we will assume you will also like to keep 50 grams of sourdough starter in reserve. 

  • Since we know you will need to feed in a 1:1:1 ratio, discard all but 50 grams of starter from your jar. This is where knowing the weight of the empty jar helps. Empty jar weight + 50 grams = what your jar + starter should weigh after discarding excess. 
  • Add 50 gram all-purpose flour, 50 grams water and mix well
  • Let it sit in a semi-warm place. It should double-triple in size over the next 6-8 hour 
  • The starter is ready to bake when it has at least doubled in size. Ideally you should try to time your baking so that you are using your starter when it has reached peak activity. 
  • After you take out the starter you need for baking, make sure you have the minimum amount you have chosen remaining so you can keep feeding and use your starter indefinitely. If you are needing more quantity, you can scale up the amount of starter you keep as long as you are still feeding in a 1:1:1 starter:flour:water ratio
  • Repeat indefinitely for all your sourdough baking needs

Maintaining your Sourdough Starter

  • If you bake a lot:  Keep it on the counter
  • If you bake infrequently: Keep in the fridge and feed before baking and at least once weekly. 

Sourdough discard: You don’t have to throw away the discard each time you feed, there’s plenty of recipes available online to get better use of it. My go to is to make sourdough discard pancakes: Mix the discard with salt, chilli-pepper flakes, chopped onions, green onions and cook on a skillet with oil.