How to feed a sourdough starter for beginners

Feeding your starter is a simple process! Whether you're using a homemade or purchased starter, maintaining it takes just a few minutes. This guide covers everything you need to know about feeding and maintaining a healthy sourdough starter, with beginner tips to troubleshoot common issues.

Still don’t bake with sourdough? Learn how to make a sourdough starter day by day and find out which type of flour is best to start a sourdough culture.

Do I need to feed my starter every day?

How often you feed your sourdough starter depends on how frequently you bake and your kitchen environment. If you bake frequently, daily feedings at room temperature will keep your starter active. For less frequent baking, storing it in the fridge and feeding it weekly works well.

Adjust feeding based on how your starter behaves, increasing frequency if it starts to slow down or become overly sour.

If you bake frequently and keep your starter at room temperature (70-75°F/21-24°C), you should do daily feedings. Discard some of the starter and refresh it with fresh flour and water every 24 hours.

If you bake less often and have a mature, well-established starter, you can store it in the fridge and feed it once a week. Let it sit at room temperature for a few hours after feeding before refrigerating it again.

If you have a fresh starter (younger than 4 months), I don’t recommend storing it in the fridge. During these first months, the culture is still developing and would benefit greatly from daily feedings.

I don’t recommend a twice-daily feeding regime unless you live in a warmer climate (where your starter might ferment faster because of the temperature) or you’re absolutely sure it has risen and fallen before the next feeding. If you discard before your starter reaches its peak, you might weaken it.

I keep my starter in the fridge and feed it at least once a week, but I have kept it refrigerated without feeding for a whole month, and it turned out okay.

How to feed a starter

If you’ve got a kitchen scale, now’s the time to use it! It makes feeding and discarding super simple, and if you’re serious about baking with sourdough, I strongly recommend buying one.

You’ll always need to discard at least half of your starter before feeding it. Save it, as there are many recipes you can make using sourdough discard — from sourdough tortillas to applesauce pancakes and even soft sourdough dinner rolls.

Before feeding, let me clarify the feeding ratio. I use 1:1:1 when storing my starter at room temperature, and 1:4:4 when storing in the fridge. The 1:1:1 ratio means equal parts of starter, flour, and water, while the 1:4:4 ratio means one part of starter to four parts of water and four parts of flour.

So, if I’m using the 1:1:1 feeding ratio, for 50g of starter, I’ll feed it 50g of water and 50g of flour. If I use the 1:4:4 ratio, I will feed 50g of starter with 200g of flour and 200g of water.

You can’t use cup equivalents, as ¼ cup of water is not the same as ¼ cup of flour or ¼ cup of starter in weight.

To feed your starter:

Discard. You’ll need to discard some of your starter before feeding. So, let’s say you have 180g of starter, and you do daily feedings at the 1:1:1 ratio. Stir the starter, then discard everything but 60g of it.

Feed. Feed it with 60g of water. Stir until combined, then add 60g of flour — I find it easier to mix the flour after incorporating the water and starter. Stir until the starter is well mixed, scraping the sides of the jar as needed. Cover the jar with its lid.

Let it rise. Place your starter at room temperature (70-75°F/21-24°C) until it rises. It should double in size between 4 to 8 hours and show bubbles at the side of the jar and at the top of the starter.

If you store your starter in the refrigerator, after feeding it, let it sit for at least 2 to 3 hours before putting it back in the fridge. I usually let it peak, then cover it with the lid before refrigerating it again.

You don’t need to wait for it to get to room temperature to feed it if yours is kept in the fridge, but it might take a bit longer for it to activate, especially during cold months.

How to feed a starter without using a scale

If you feed a starter blindly or use cups instead of measuring by weight, you might end up with one that’s more or less hydrated than 100%. That can mess up a recipe, as most of them require a 100% hydration starter (one with equal parts of flour and water).

If you don’t have a scale and cups and spoons are the only tools available, first learn how to measure flour when using cups. Don’t scoop or pack; fluff the flour and spoon it lightly into the cup.

This weight measurement chart should make things easier:

Ingredient	1 tbsp	¼ cup	½ cup
Starter (not bubbly)	18g	70g	140g
Water	15g	60g	120g
Flour	8g	32.5g	65g

So, if feeding about ¼ cup of starter (70g) without a scale, I would add ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon of water (75g) and ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon of flour (73g). Not exactly 1:1:1, but close enough to maintain proper hydration.

Sourdough feeding schedules

If you keep your starter at room temperature, try to feed it every 24 hours at the same time each day. For example, if you feed it early in the morning, be consistent — don’t feed it at 7 AM one day and 8 PM the next.

If you store it in the refrigerator, it's okay to feed it at any time of day. I recommend doing this in the morning or early afternoon, so it has time to rise before going back into the fridge.

If I’m starting a recipe in the afternoon, I feed my starter early in the morning to have it ready by then. If it's been in the fridge, I use lukewarm water to give it a boost.

Question you might have

What feeding ratio should I use?

I find that most things regarding sourdough vary for everyone. Like feedings, experiment with different ratios to find one that best suits your starter.

Do I need to clean my starter’s jar between feedings?

No.

What’s the best type of flour to feed a starter?

I’ve already talked about the best flour types to create a sourdough starter. To feed it, you can stick to a mixture of 50% white flour and 50% whole wheat, or feed it with white flour exclusively.

Can you feed sourdough starter with bleached flour?

Although it might be fine to feed an established starter with bleached flour — it might be a bit sluggish for a while, but it won't kill the starter — I prefer to use unbleached white flour. However, don't try to create a starter with bleached flour; it likely won't work.

Do I need to feed my starter every day?

If it’s at room temperature, yes, you should feed it daily.

Should I use a scale to feed my starter?

A scale is super helpful for feeding accurately, especially if you’re aiming for specific hydration levels. Using cups isn’t as precise, but it can be more convenient. Both methods work well for maintaining an active sourdough starter.

What happens after I feed my starter?

If your starter is really active and healthy, it’ll start bubbling right after you feed it. You should notice bubbles forming within minutes, and your starter will rise and fall as it ferments and grows. Timing varies depending on temperature and activity, but in warmer spots, it might take less than 4 hours, while during winter, if your house is cold, it could take 8 hours to half a day.

I usually see bubbles as soon as I give mine a good stir. They might take a while to show if yours is stored in the refrigerator, as the starter might be dormant.

Do you have to discard sourdough starter every time you feed it?

You don't have to, but you should, or it will grow exponentially. That’s because you have to feed it at least 1:1:1 to keep it healthy. So, if you feed 100g of starter, you’ll end up with 300g. Next time you feed it, if you don’t discard some, you’ll have 900g.

How long can a sourdough starter go without feeding?

It depends. An established sourdough starter can go for days or months without feeding if stored correctly, and still bounce back. As long as it doesn’t develop mold or bad bacteria, even a neglected sourdough starter should be good to bake with after some feedings.

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📖 Recipe