If you're just getting started, visit The Store if you need some flakes.
Use a good all-purpose, unbleached flour. We use King Arthur Flour (KAF).
Feeding is pretty easy:
If you bake every few days, keep the starter at room temperature and feed every 12 hours with the culture-flour-water ratios noted below. Discard the rest.
If you bake once a week or less, keep the starter culture in your refrigerator. A couple of days before using, feed it in the morning & evening using one of the ratios below, and keep your container out on a countertop.
The four pictures below and the movie give you a good idea of what a starter will look like growing through the day after a feeding.
Feeding Ratios/Methods:
General ratios are 1:2:2 - one part starter culture : two parts flour : two parts filtered water
Examples:
10 grams starter culture, 20 grams flour, 20 grams water
20 grams starter culture, 40 grams flour, 40 grams water
I usually rotate between two glass jars during feedings. Measure out the flour & water into a bowl then combine. Add in the starter culture then combine. Scrape the mix into a clean glass jar.
Any remaining culture is considered "discard." You can save it off for future use should a recipe call for 'discard," you can create a jar for a friend, or just toss it into the trash.
Summer Feeding: During most of the year, I tend to feed at a ratio of 1:2:2 culture:flour:water as noted above and all is well. At that rate in warmer and more humid months, I would be feeding three times a day.
I have backed off on the water from “2” to 1.6-1.8. Gram-wise, my feeding turns into 10g culture, 20g flour, 15-16g water for a ratio of 1:2:1.75. It’s drier for sure (1.6 is painfully dry) yet still grows nicely. Even if your living space is climate-controlled, the starter culture "knows" that it's warm and humid outside and reacts accordingly.
Experiment if you see your starter is too active or not active enough.
Increasing the size of your starter for baking: as you read through the recipes, you'll see that some of the levains call for 30-40 grams of starter culture. And the sourdough pizza dough recipe calls for 60 grams.
To prepare, maintain the same 1:2:2 ratio and begin feeding the starter with larger amounts of sourdough culture, flour and water a few days before your bake.
Examples:
30 grams starter culture, 60 grams flour, 60 grams water
50 grams starter culture, 100 grams flour, 100 grams water
Reminder: save off enough starter culture for next time whether it's staying on your countertop or going into your fridge.
Notes:
Water: we use filtered water. If using tap water with chlorine in it, let the water set out uncovered for an hour or more.
If the culture is heading into your refrigerator, let it work at room temperature for a period of time based on when you plan to bake next: if using in three days, allow it to work for about three hours before refrigerating; if using in a week, refrigerate it after about an hour.
Save any discard to use in pancakes, waffles, crackers, or as a flavorful additive to other breads. We keep a quart jar in the refrigerator.
Instant potato flakes -- we have started adding a very small amount of potato flakes to our starter during feedings. Give it a try. If you're feeding with 20 grams of flour, try one (1) gram of potato flakes. If 40 grams of flour, two (2) grams of potato flakes, and so on.
King Arthur all-purpose flour can be found in red & white 5, 10 and even 25 pound bags in most grocery stores and some big-box retailers. The commercial equivalent is Sir Galahad which typically comes in 50 pound bags. Some small shops repackage Sir Galahad into smaller quantities.
Cleanup: don’t swish large quantities of leftover starter or discard down your kitchen drain. It can, over time, build up and clog the drain. Best bet is a trash can if you’re not saving it.
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