How to make my own sourdough starter

Step by step

1. 01

   Day 1, morning: mix 50 g whole-grain flour and 50 g water in the jar. Scrape the walls. Cover loosely. Leave at 22–26 °C if you can.

2. 02

   Day 2, morning: it may look sleepy. Stir, then add 50 g flour and 50 g water. Mark the height with the band.

3. 03

   Day 3 onward, morning and night: discard down to 50 g of the mixture. Feed 50 g white flour and 50 g water. Stir until no dry pockets remain.

4. 04

   If it hoists the band in 6 hours and is full of bubbles, you are close. If it never rises, the room is cold — move it to the oven with the light on, door cracked.

5. 05

   When it doubles predictably twice in a row, it is ready for a loaf. Use it at peak, not after it has collapsed.

6. 06

   For the fridge: feed, let it rise 1 hour, then cold-store. Feed at least once a week. Bring it out and give two room-temperature feeds before baking.

Notes

• Pink, orange, or fuzzy growth is mold. Throw the jar contents out and start over. A dark hooch on top is hunger — pour it off and feed.
• Discard is still flour paste. Cook it as pancakes; do not pour pounds of it down a slow drain.
• Whole-grain at the start jump-starts activity. Switching to white later makes a milder, more predictable rise.

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