Before you can make sourdough anything you need a starter. This is a living culture of wild yeast and bacteria that you create from scratch using just flour and water. It takes 7 days of patience and very little effort. Once you have it you have it forever.
A note from us
The most common reason a starter fails is temperature — wild yeast is slow below 18C and can die above 35C. The sweet spot is 21-24C. If your kitchen is cold in winter find the warmest spot in the house — near the boiler, on top of the fridge, in the oven with just the light on. Patience is everything — some starters take 10 days to fully establish, especially in cold weather. Do not give up if it seems slow. The wholemeal flour in the early days is not essential but it genuinely helps — the bran carries wild yeast and bacteria that kickstarts fermentation faster.
What you need 🛒
How to make it 👨🍳
DAY 1 — In a clean tall jar mix 50g of flour (use a mix of strong white and wholemeal if possible — the wholemeal has more wild yeast on the grain surface) with 50ml of room temperature water. Stir vigorously until no dry flour remains. Cover loosely with a cloth or lid left ajar — it needs air but not to dry out. Leave at room temperature 18-24C.
DAY 2 — You may see a few small bubbles or nothing at all. This is normal. Discard half the starter (this is called discard — you can use it in pancakes, crackers or flatbreads). Add 50g fresh flour and 50ml water. Stir well. Cover and leave.
DAY 3 — Activity should be increasing. You should see more bubbles and the starter may smell slightly sour or tangy. Repeat the discard and feed: remove half, add 50g flour and 50ml water. Stir well.
DAY 4 — The starter should be noticeably more active now with visible bubbles throughout. It may have risen and then collapsed — you will see a tide mark on the jar where it peaked. Keep feeding: discard half, add 50g flour and 50ml water.
DAY 5 — Feed twice today if possible — morning and evening. The starter should be doubling in size between feeds and smelling pleasantly sour and yeasty. If it smells like nail polish remover or acetone it is hungry — feed it more frequently.
DAY 6 — Your starter should be reliably doubling in size between feeds and have a domed top at peak activity. Do the float test: drop a small spoonful into water — if it floats your starter is active and ready to use. Feed once more today.
DAY 7 — If your starter is doubling reliably and passing the float test it is ready to use. Feed it one final time and use it at peak activity — when it is domed on top, full of bubbles and has doubled in size from the last feed.
ONGOING MAINTENANCE — Once established keep your starter in the fridge. Feed it once a week: take it out, discard half, add 50g flour and 50ml water, stir, leave at room temperature for a few hours until active then return to the fridge. Before using in a recipe take it out 8-12 hours before and feed it to bring it to peak activity.
HOW TO KNOW IT IS READY — A healthy active starter will: double in size within 4-8 hours of feeding, have a domed top at peak, be full of bubbles throughout, smell pleasantly sour and yeasty, and pass the float test.
