Congrats! You are one of the lucky in possession of my sourdough starter. If you are not planning on using it immediately, please pour the dried sourdough starter into a glass container and store it in a dark, cool place. It will stay good indefinitely as long as you keep it cool & dry.
If you have misplaced or would like to send my sourdough starter as a gift, it’s available here.
Dry Sourdough Starter Instructions
I’m including measurements by weight (oz) & volume (cups) for your convenience.
If you want to get serious about baking bread or baking in general, get a kitchen scale.
For real.
Sourdough Starter Essential Supplies
I have these on hand at all times for quick & easy sourdough feeding.
Rehydrate
Pour the pack of starter (1 oz dry starter) into a 32 oz quart sized mason jar or similarly sized glass container. Add 2 oz (1/4 cup) lukewarm water. Allow chips to hydrate for about 3 hours or until smooth.
Feed
Stir in 1 oz (1/4 cup) of unbleached all-purpose flour. Cover lightly with plastic or beeswax wrap and place somewhere warm out of direct sunlight. The oven with only the light on is a good option.
Let rest for 24 hours or until bubbly.
Feed again
Add 1 oz (1/8 cup) lukewarm water & 1 oz (1/4 cup) unbleached flour. Stir until smooth, loosely cover, & let sit until bubbly ~8 hours.
and again
Add 1 oz (1/8 cup) lukewarm water + 1 oz (1/4 cup) unbleached flour. Let sit another 8 hours or overnight. Timing is not crucial at this point.
Your should begin to notice your starter rises then falls. This is normal and a sign you have a happy sourdough starter.
Discard
You should have 8 oz of starter in total now. Remove all but 4 oz (1/2 cup) from the container then add 4 oz (1/2 cup) lukewarm water + 4 oz (1 cup) flour.
You see why I said you need a kitchen scale?
Things get real messy fast without one.
The starter should triple in size pretty quickly this time. ~About 4-6 hours.
If it’s still a bit sluggish, repeat discarding all but 4 oz and adding 4 oz water + 4 oz flour until it’s lively.
Once your sourdough starter is good & happy you can start to make lots of goodies like bread, carrot cake, and my favorite, pancakes!
If you don’t already have a KitchenAid stand mixer, you might be thinking about getting one now. I give you the rundown on the best KitchenAid mixer models available and which ones to avoid in this post.
Maintain your Sourdough Starter
Keeping your sourdough alive and ready for baking is very easy if you keep it in the refrigerator, especially in hot climates like Louisiana. See my Keep it Alive post for instructions.
Don’t discard the discard
Yes, it seems like an oxymoron but I never actually throw away my sourdough discard. I keep a jar just for discard in the refrigerator along side my recently fed starter.
At all times I have:
1 jar of starter
Discard jar
Clean jar for next week’s feeding
King Arthur Flour is my go to website for all things sourdough. They have some really great recipes for beginners and more advanced bread bakers.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask! I enjoy helping other bakers discover the joy of sourdough. And carbs. Mostly carbs.
Joan says
If the starter has orange flecks in it. Discard it.
I refrigerate it and use it at least every three weeks.
If not you can freeze it. Allow for expansion in the jar.
I have had a started for a number of years/