For gluten-free starter maintenance & how to feed & look after your starter please go here.
FOR BREAD KIT INSTRUCTIONS
If you’re looking for instructions & recipes for your recently purchased Complete Starter Kits or Basic Starter Kits, please head to our Bread Kit Guide to begin.
STARTER MAINTENANCE
Proper maintenance of your starter is just as important as the choice of flour. Using filtered water, fresh stoneground & whole grain flours are best, as it provides more food for your starter to stay active & healthy. You can make a 50/50 blend of white bread flour & wholegrain flour (choose whole rye, spelt or wheat flours) & use it to feed your starter. The wholegrain flour is beneficial for the growth of healthy wild yeast & lactic acid bacterias found in healthy starters.
A good starter contains two types of organisms (wild yeast & lactic acid bacteria), both are at their most active between 22 - 26 degrees Celsius. Making good bread isn’t about how long you’ve had your starter for, but the result of consistently refreshing (feeding) your starter & ensuring it is active before adding into your bread mix.
For more information on different types of flours & where you can purchase them, read about it here.
ROOM TEMPERATURE STORAGE
If you bake bread several times a week, you can keep your starter on the countertop at room temperature. Feed it twice daily or roughly every 12 hours using 1:4:4 ratio - starter: flour: water (e.g 5g starter: 20g flour: 20g water)
It is best not to leave your starter for more than 2-7 days between feeds at room temperature. It will be highly acidic & sometimes have a dark liquid on top, a naturally occurring alcohol called “hooch”.
If this happens, don’t stress! Your starter can still be saved. Just scrape off the discoloured bits at the top & leave a tablespoon of clean starter underneath & start the fermentation process again from Day 4. This will be good to go (ready to add to your bread) after you refresh (feed) 2-3 times.
FRIDGE STORAGE
Fridge storage is best when you only bake on a weekend, once every few weeks. Cold storage slows down your starter so you are not required to feed it twice daily.
If you bake bread once a week, store your starter in the fridge & only refresh it before you bake.
If you bake less often, you’ll still need to feed your starter at least once every one-two weeks, even if stored in the fridge.
Recommended Feeds:
Up to 1 week in the fridge
Let your starter come to room temperature before beginning the starter build based on the recipe.
Up to 2 weeks in the fridge
Let your starter come to room temperature then feed it once a 1:4:4 ratio - starter: flour: water (e.g 5g starter: 20g flour: 20g water). Once it has doubled, then do you starter build based on the recipe.
Note: It is NOT recommended that you put your newly revived/activated (24 hours) starter in the fridge until you have done at least 2 rounds of feeds, making sure your starter is growing consistently & predictably before putting into cold storage. This ensures there is enough healthy levels of wild yeast & lactic bacteria for it to survive in the fridge.
Extended cold storage below 4 degrees Celsius will destroy a significant number of yeast & bacteria so your starter won’t be as active. Follow these rough guidelines to reviving your starter from the fridge.
FAQ’s & Troubleshooting
It has been 24 hours since I rehydrated my starter flakes & it is not showing signs of activity or bubbles! What am I doing wrong?
Firstly, make sure you have read & followed all instructions to revive the starter flakes. The most common issue with a slow moving starter is due to the room temperature as it directly affects the time it takes for your starter to bubble or show activity. The second most common issue is the flour used. If you have sourced your own flour, make sure it is of good quality bread flour, please DO NOT use supermarket plain flour.
If after 42 hours has passed & your starter is not showing any signs of small bubbles, please do another feed of 30g flour & 30g of water. This should hopefully give it a boost & once your starter shows signs of bubbles, it will be ready to use at this point & you can begin the next step of making sourdough!
If you still can't activate your starter, please send us a message directly on our website chat (located on the bottom right hand corner) and our support team will do their best to assist you. Similarly, head to our Wheat Sourdough Support Group where others may have the same issues or be able to help with your questions.
What type of water should I use to make sourdough?
Drinkable tap water as fine as long as it does not contain high levels of chlorine. If you suspect that your tap water is high in chlorine, fill a jug with tap water and leave on the counter overnight. This will help reduce the chlorine levels and will be fine to use to feed your starter. Otherwise use filtered water.
What type of water should I use to make sourdough?
Filtered water or drinkable tap water. Avoid water that may contain higher concentration of chlorine which can slow or kill your sourdough starter.
How often to feed your sourdough starter?
Once your starter is active, a typical starter feed ratio of (1:1:1) equal parts starter/flour/water (i.e. 30g of starter, 30g of flour & 30g water) every 12 hours at room temperature will keep it healthy.
Sometimes a higher flour & water feed ratio is required when your starter has been neglected or has not been fed for multiple days at room temperature - a 1:4:4 (5g starter: 20g flour: 20g filtered water) is recommended. This may mean you will have to discard some starter before feeding it.
This will remove excess levels of acidity in the starter (which can slow activity) & help get your starter back on track. A healthy starter should smell sweet with hints of sourness.
What is a starter build & how do I do one?
This all depends on when your starter was last fed! If your starter hasn’t been fed for over 24 hours, than it is recommended. Making good bread requires a starter that has been fed every 12 hours & is doubling in size. So often a starter build is required to refresh an unfed starter (unfed for more than 24 hours) to ensure it is at its optimal peak when adding into a bread mix.
One way to do a starter build is to take an active starter that is unfed & do a typical feed of 1:1:1 ratio (starter:flour:water) - equal parts starter, flour & water. A recipe may require 100g of active starter, so 4-6 hours before mixing your dough, discard all but 40g of starter & feed it with 40g flour & 40g of water. This should give you a total of 120g of active starter, 100g of which will be added to the bread mix & 20g left to keep alive.
What do I do with all the sourdough discard?
Don’t bin it, you can use it in discard recipes found online by searching “sourdough discard recipes”.
Can I store my starter at room temperature?
To store the starter at room temperature, you’ll need to feed the starter twice a day; every 12 hours. You could push it out to once every 24 hours if it’s a cold room (although it will stay strongest if you feed every 12 hours).
What if my room temperature is cold?
Often the temperature in the room in which our starter lives can fluctuate, especially at night & in winter, this can slow activity dramatically. One way to prevent slow growth in your starter is to leave it in the oven with only the light on & a bowl of hot water can help too. Or you could purchase a small heat mat similar to a seedling mat should also help. Make sure you do not exceed 28 degrees Celsius as it can kill your starter.
My starter has mould & smells off, can I save it?
Sourdough starters are extremely hard to kill. Even when you think your starter has mould or has a strong smell or layer of liquid sitting above, it can still be saved. You can do this by scraping & discarding any dry/liquid or mould like bits, then taking a tablespoon of the starter & feeding it with 40g of flour & 40g of water. Let it sit at a room temperature (preferably 24-25 degrees Celsius) for 12-24 hours, this should bring it back to life after several feeds.
How do I prepare my starter for baking after fridge storage?
Extended cold storage below 4 degrees Celsius will destroy a significant number of yeast & bacteria so your starter won’t be as active. Follow these rough guidelines to reviving your starter from the fridge.
Up to 1 week in the fridge
Let your starter come to room temperature before beginning the starter build based on the recipe.
Up to 2 weeks in the fridge
Let your starter come to room temperature then feed it once a 1:4:4 ratio - starter: flour: water (e.g 5g starter: 20g flour: 20g water). Once it has doubled, then do you starter build based on the recipe.
Can I leave my starter in the fridge for a month or longer?
Not recommended. But if you do, you’ll still need to refresh (feed it) at least once every two weeks, even if stored in the fridge. When you want to bake, let your starter come to room temperature then feed it once a 1:4:4 ratio - starter: flour: water (e.g 5g starter: 20g flour: 20g water). Once it has doubled, then do you starter build based on the recipe.
What if I need to take an extended break & can’t bake for 2-12 months?
We recommend dehydrating your starter. Simply feed your active starter with 1:1:2 ratio (more water). Once it is bubbly, spread your starter thinly onto some baking paper & let it dry out for a few days until completely dry & flaky. Crush the flakes up and store in clean air tight jar. When you’re ready to start up again - revive your flakes as per instructions above.