If you’ve just gotten your hands on a sourdough starter, chances are you’ve got a few questions — and maybe a bit of apprehension. Don’t worry! Here, I’ll walk you through how to use your sourdough starter, breaking it down step by step so you can dive into baking with confidence.

Jump to:
- What is a Sourdough Starter?
- Where to Get a Sourdough Starter
- I Have a Sourdough Starter, Now What?
- Preparing Your Sourdough Starter for Baking
- What if I Use All My Starter?
- What if I Miss a Feeding?
- Where Should I Keep My Sourdough Starter: Counter or Fridge?
- What Is Sourdough Discard?
- The Bottom Line: How To Use Sourdough Starter
- Easy Sourdough Recipes
What is a Sourdough Starter?
A sourdough starter is a living culture made from flour and water. Through fermentation, it cultivates wild yeast and good bacteria present in the flour. These tiny organisms work together to produce carbon dioxide, which gives sourdough its rise, and organic acids, which create its distinct tangy flavor.
Wild yeast, unlike commercial yeast, is naturally occurring — it’s everywhere! You’ll find it in the air, on fruit, and even in the flour you buy. When you mix flour with water, the yeast and bacteria wake up and start feeding on the sugars in the flour. Over time, with regular feedings, your starter becomes a thriving leavening agent for your bread and other baked goods.
Where to Get a Sourdough Starter
Make Your Own: Creating your own sourdough starter is not as hard as you might think: all it takes is flour, water, and a bit of time. Ok, you’ll need a good amount of patience, as it can take up to a whole month before it is ready to bake with, but nurturing a starter from scratch is incredibly rewarding.
Buy One: If you’re looking for a quicker option, established starters are available for purchase online or at specialty shops. These are ready to use and often come with detailed instructions.
Ask a Friend: Many sourdough bakers are more than happy to share some of their starter. Baking friends are often eager to, and it’s not uncommon to see offers pop up on social media when someone needs a replacement or wants to get started.
Once you have your starter, the next step is learning how to keep it happy and thriving. If you’re curious about the best flour and water to use for feeding your starter, I’ve got a post all about sourdough ingredients to guide you!
What if I received a starter without instructions? If you're unsure of the type of starter, it's likely a wheat-based one (one that was made with wheat flour and needs to be fed with it). To revive it, feed it with flour and water using a 1:1:1 ratio. Mix and let it peak, repeating the feeding if it takes more than 12 hours to peak.
I Have a Sourdough Starter, Now What?
This is, hands down, the most common question I hear. Whether you made your own starter from scratch (go you!), purchased one online, or were gifted from a generous friend, you’ve taken the first big step.
Congratulations! Let's learn the basics of how to keep it thriving and use it for baking.
Preparing Your Sourdough Starter for Baking
To bake a good sourdough loaf, you need a healthy, mature active starter. While you don’t need a kitchen scale to feed your starter, it can be helpful for accuracy, especially if you're aiming for the right consistency. A starter should resemble a thick batter — too runny, and it may add excess moisture to a recipe. If you’re just starting out, a scale helps ensure you’re on track.
Most recipes ask for a 100% hydration starter. That means a starter fed with equal parts of water and flour. While you can choose the ratio that pleases you (and you can always change back to 100% if needed), if you’re a beginner, it might be best to keep a 1:1:1 feeding ratio.
Feed your starter 4 to 6 hours before baking to allow it to reach its peak activity, which typically occurs within 4–8 hours after feeding. Over time, you’ll learn how long your starter takes to reach its peak. If your starter is established, one feeding is usually all it needs for it to be ready for baking, even if it’s been stored in the fridge.
After feeding your starter, wait for it to peak before using. A mature starter will consistently peak after 4 to 6 hours, show bubbles of different sizes on top and side, and have a distinct sour aroma of sourdough.
I no longer recommend using the float test as the only indicator, as it can give you a false negative. Your starter may not float but could still be good to bake with.
What if I Use All My Starter?
It’s a good habit to have a backup starter, so you don’t need to worry about using up all your starter in one recipe. But even if you do, if a recipe calls for a cup of starter and that’s all you have left, make sure to save a teaspoon.
With that amount, or even with the scraps left in your starter’s jar, you can create more starter by just feeding it. It’s ok to use a higher feeding ratio like a 1:10:10. It will take more time to peak, but feed it flour and water and let the wild yeast do its thing.
Overwhelmed beginners: start small and follow clear, simple steps. Mistakes are part of the learning process, so don’t give up! If you’re unsure about starting baking with sourdough, try my beginners' sourdough bread that requires no dutch oven, banneton or any fancy equipment.
What if I Miss a Feeding?
Don’t worry! If you miss a feeding, just feed it as usual and move on. Your starter is quite forgiving and will bounce back.
If you miss many feedings, your starter might weaken and be more susceptible to mold or bad bacteria, especially if stored at room temperature. It will appear more liquid and might have a layer of clear or gray-dark liquid on top. That’s called hooch, and you can either remove it before feeding or mix it into your starter. An unfed starter might also have an unpleasant, acetone-like smell.
Depending on how many feedings you’ve missed, it might be good to discard all but 20 grams and do a 1:5:5 feeding (10 grams of starter to 50g of water and 50g of flour). If you got a mature starter, it should be ready to bake with after one feeding. A younger one might need 2 to 3 feeding to go back to its full activity.
Important tip: do not discard and feed your starter again before it shows some sign of activity. It needs to peak before its next feeding, or you might weaken it.
Where Should I Keep My Sourdough Starter: Counter or Fridge?
The best place to store your sourdough starter depends on how often you plan to bake.
If you bake daily or at least once every couple of days, you might want to keep your starter at room temperature to maintain its activity. You can store the starter jar on the kitchen counter or any spot where you can see it, so you don’t accidentally forget to feed it.
During winter, you might want to place it near the stove or another heat source, like the top of the refrigerator or on the counter above the dishwasher. I don’t recommend placing it under the sun, as it might get too warm for it. A sourdough starter thrives in temperatures between 70°F (21°C) and 80°F (27°C).
If you bake less frequently, such as once or twice a week or every few weeks, storing your starter in the refrigerator might be the best option. Refrigeration slows fermentation, reducing the frequency of feedings.
Your starter can survive in the fridge for months, even with minimal attention. However, I recommend feeding it at least once per week to keep it healthy and active. I also recommend storing in an airtight jar when placing it in the refrigerator.
What if my starter went for weeks in the fridge without feeding? No worries — take it out, feed it, and leave it on the counter to rise until it doubles in size. Then, store back in the fridge.
What Is Sourdough Discard?
When you feed your sourdough starter, you typically remove a portion of it before adding flour and water. This removed portion is called discard. While the term suggests throwing it away, sourdough discard is a valuable ingredient that can be saved and used in various recipes!
So, instead of throwing it away, you can store discard in a jar in the fridge and use it for sourdough discard recipes. When using discard in bread recipes with commercial yeast, they tend to last for longer and have more flavor then one baked with only active dry or instant yeast. When using sourdough discard to make, for exemple, cakes, you'll get a moister and softer baked good.
The main difference between discard recipes and traditional sourdough recipes is the activity of the starter. Recipes that call for an active starter depend on it for leavening (making the dough rise), while the ones that ask for discard don't.
The Bottom Line: How To Use Sourdough Starter
Using sourdough starter in recipes is all about timing and understanding its role in the dough. For bread, a recently fed, active starter is key, as its bubbly and lively state will provide the necessary rise and structure. The best time to use your starter is when it has reached its peak — typically 4 to 8 hours after feeding — when it’s at its most active. At this stage, the natural yeasts and bacteria are thriving, ready to ferment your dough and create that distinct sourdough flavor. Marking your starter’s rise with a rubber band or tape can help you identify when it has doubled in size and is ready to work its magic.
A sourdough starter can last indefinitely if it’s properly cared for with regular feedings and attention. However, you should discard your starter immediately if you notice pink spots, bright green, yellow, or red discoloration, or visible mold. These indicate contamination that cannot be saved, so it’s best to start fresh.
You can also start simple! Recipes that do not depend on the starter only, like sourdough discard dinner rolls, or one that’s easier to handle like a same day sourdough sandwich bread, might be better to build up your confidence!
Janice
I have allergies to all grains. I have made a yeast starter with chickpea flour, and I want to know if you have ever made pizza with starter yeast and chickpea flour. I have a great recipe using flour, but I need to know if I can use chickpea flour and the measurements needed.
Milk and Pop
Hey Janice, sorry, never tried with chickpea only!