Keeping a starter alive

Feed your starter for the bake you want

Tell us how much starter you have, how many loaves and focaccias you want, and how warm your room is. We’ll turn that into a practical feed and timing plan.

Starter planner

Tell us what you have and what you want to bake

100g per bake

A small starter is enough between bakes. Keeping 20-50g in the fridge is normal; this planner shows how much flour and water to add so you have enough for today’s bread and a little left for next time.

Bake plan

What do you want to bake?

100g starter each

Sourdough loaves

100g active starter

Focaccias

100g active starter

Starter you have

Starts at 30g. Click the number and type your actual amount.

Type the amount in your jar. We’ll tell you how much to keep for the feed and whether to discard or save any extra first.

Step 1

When do you want to start mixing the dough?

Pick a day in the next week

Start mixing around

Room temperature22°C Room temperature

Feed strength

Choose how much food the starter gets

Recommended: 1:4:4

Less food

quicker rise, quicker collapse

More food

slower rise, longer hold

Timing estimate

At 22°C, expect about 14 hrs to double.

That bake time is tight for the selected feed: feeding now is about 7h 48m later than ideal. Either feed now and watch the jar, or move the bake closer to Sun, 9 Aug, 3:48 pm.

Your feed

Starter on hand

You have 30g

Keep in jar

30g

This becomes the starter seed you feed now.

Remove first

Use all of the starter you have as the seed.

Mix the feed

30g

Starter seed

120g

Add flour

120g

Add water

270g

Total active

Then split it

200g

Use for bake

70g

Left after bake

In an airtight jar or container with room to rise, feed 30g starter with 120g flour and 120g water. Mark the starting level on the jar so you can see when it has doubled. That is a 1:4:4 feed: the added flour and water are more than the starter seed. You will have about 270g active starter: use 200g for baking and put 50g into a clean small jar for the fridge.

Starter flow

1Feed30g starter + 120g flour + 120g water in a lidded container; mark the starting level

2Bake200g goes into the bread and focaccia dough

3Keep50g goes into a clean small jar for the fridge

After feeding, this active starter is no longer a one-off batch. What you keep back, ideally 25-50g, becomes the starter you store in the fridge and feed from next time.

You may also have about 20g extra after the bake. Use it for discard recipes or remove it before storing the baseline.

Use extra starter

How to care for your starter

The small routine that keeps it alive between bakes.

1
Keep the jar in the fridge
A small 25–50g starter is enough between bakes. Cold slows it down so it does not need daily feeding.
2
Feed it before baking
Take out what you need, add flour and water, and leave it on the bench until it is active.
3
Wait for it to double
Bubbly, domed on top, about twice the level you fed it to. Use what the recipe needs and keep 25–50g for next time.

Starter cycle

Your starter rises, peaks and sinks back down on repeat. Learning to read where it is in that cycle is most of the skill.

Stage 1

Just fed

Thick, smooth and flat. Nothing happening yet.

Mark the level on the jar so you can see the rise.

Stage 2

Rising

Bubbles appear through the sides, and the top starts to lift.

Nothing to do. This is the yeast getting to work.

Stage 3

At its peak

Roughly doubled, domed on top, and full of bubbles.

Use it now — or refrigerate to hold it here.

Stage 4

Collapsed

Sunk back down with a flat or dipped top.

Still fine for crackers or pancakes. Feed it before baking bread.

How feeding ratios work

More food takes longer to get through. Less food rises sooner, but it also exhausts sooner. The planner above chooses from those ratios so you have enough active starter for the bake and at least a small starter left to keep.

Peaked before you're ready?

This is the single most useful trick for fitting sourdough around a normal life. The cold holds the starter near its peak instead of letting it rise, exhaust itself and collapse on the bench while you’re out. You are not obliged to bake the moment it doubles.

How to tell it's ready

It has doubled, or nearly tripled, from the marked line.
It looks bubbly through the sides and airy on top.
It smells gently yeasty, fruity, or a little tangy.
The float test is optional. If it doubles reliably and looks active, that is the better sign.

Fridge care

Keep a small clean jar in the fridge when you are not baking. Feed it every 2-4 weeks if you can, then take some out and feed it at room temperature before your next bake.

Reviving a neglected starter

If it smells sharply sour, looks runny, has hooch on top, or barely rises, keep only a small spoonful and feed it with plenty of fresh flour and water, such as 1:4:4 or 1:5:5. Repeat every 12-24 hours until it is bubbly and rising strongly again.