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How to create a Sourdough Starter

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  1. Just fed it (day two) and this is my first attempt that is working. I’ve tried unsuccessfully three previous times. ( different “recipes”) Used bulk whole wheat flour from sprouts and RO water. It really grew a lot last night- also smelled weird today- but I know that’s good!

  2. Hey there! End of day one my starter had tripled! I fed it and within 4 hours it had tripled and growing out of my jar so I fed it again early so it didn’t make a big mess. Then it stopped? Now I’m barely getting activity. Wondering if you have any thoughts why?

    1. Hi Jennifer, What day are you on? There can initially be activity and then none for a couple of days. Stay on the schedule and keep the faith! Sometimes it can take up to two or three weeks for your starter to be consistent and predictable (healthy).

      1. I am only on day three! So it’s still early on, I just thought I got lucky right out the gate haha. I’ve been trying different methods to get a starter going for months now so I was super excited to see it grow so fast in hours. But I’ll keep going. Thanks for your response!

    1. Sorry I didn’t see this sooner. When beginning a starter, it’s best to start out with part of the flour a a whole grain. It will give your starter an initial boost it needs to develop quicker. Once your starter is well-established, you can switch over to all-purpose flour if you like.

  3. Hello,

    I’m now on day 3, but have run into an issue. My day 2 starter exploded, more or less, in less than 12 hours. I left it alone. Today is morning of day 3, and I realized the explosion had completely taken the light covering off of the jar. The mixture seems to be separated and is extremely watery. I’m not sure if I should keep going as scheduled with what I have or if I need to start over. Thoughts?

    1. Hi Aly,

      Oh boy! It shouldn’t be extremely watery. Since you’re still in the first few days, I’d start over. Be sure you have a large enough container for it to triple in size. Let me know how it turns out!

      1. So the mixture itself wasn’t watery. It was more that there had become a separation and there was water sitting kind of on top. I think if I had fed it again earlier that may not have happened (it was also quite warm). Just as an experiment I continued on with the schedule to see what would happen. So I’m now on day 5 and I’m continuously getting bubbles, but no rise. Should I officially toss this one and start fresh? Thanks for getting back to me!

  4. Brand new to this so I have lots of questions. Thanks for your easy to understand directions. I wanted to know if you don’t have rye flour can you use whole wheat flour in it’s place when beginning a brand new starter?

    1. Yes, you definitely could use wheat flour instead. Whole grains tend to boost the activity of your starter. Rye produces lots more activity initially to help you get started faster, but whole wheat will work too. Have fun!

  5. Just came across your site, and was reading your Sourdough Guide. I’ve noticed an error in your Hydration definition section, In your calculation example you wrote “a recipe that uses 100 grams of water and 75 grams of flour has a 75% hydration level.” 100 g water divided by 75 g flour (100/75) = 1.333 = 130% hydration. It looks like you may reversed the water/flour amounts … 75 g water / 100 g flour = .75 = 75%.

  6. How do I begin a second starter using my established start? I’m thinking I would take it from the refrigerator, feed twice and then from the discard create another start?

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