Maintaining a Starter

Get to know your starter.

Once you have an established starter, maintaining it is less work than you may think. The best schedule for feeding the starter is the schedule that works for YOU. Understanding the life cycle of the wild yeast and bacteria you are maintaining helps.

A few questions to consider when to feed a starter are:

When do I want to have freshly baked sourdough?

You must plan ahead to ensure the starter is at peak activity when it comes time to incorporate into a dough. A healthy starter should reach peak activity in approximately 4 - 6 hours from feeding. Peak activity means the mixture has at least doubled since last feeding and shows many air bubbles dispersed throughout, on the sides and top. If you slowly scooped the top out with a spoon or wet fingers you will see a cavernous web of gluten in your jar. The top should also be slightly domed like a meniscus. If the starter appears to sag in the jar the starter has likely passed peak activity, it may still be usable if it is within a 10 hour period. If you’ve forgotten about it for a few hours and smells very sour, similar to vinegar, it is best to feed again making a refreshed levain, about 4-6 hours before you want to use it in a batch of dough.

When was the last time I fed the starter?

If you don’t bake very often, it is recommended to feed the starter at least once a week to keep it healthy. You may get a way with leaving it in the back of your refrigerator for up to 2 weeks if you feed it a ratio of 1:5:5 (1 part starter : 5 parts flour : 5 parts water). This ratio is a suggestion; feed your starter with the understanding that that more food it has the longer it will take to consume. The starter must also be kept in the refrigerator if it is not being used - lower temperatures slow the fermentation so you don’t end up with a smelly mess of gray goo.

If you bake more regularly then, like me, you’ll be refreshing that starter almost daily or some times twice a day and will see signs of peak activity in approximately 4-6 hours.

What does the ideal starter look like? Smell like?

If your starter has been sitting in the back of the refrigerator for a while sometimes a grayish liquid layer (called a ‘hooch’) forms on the top and a aroma will be very tangy, similar to a nail polish or vinegar. If this is the case, scoop out the gray layer and compost or bin it and you should find a healthier color mixture underneath. From this layer, spoon out at least 10 grams into a clean jar and feed it with a 1:1:1 ratio of flour and water (giving a total volume of 30 grams) and leave it in a warm spot in your kitchen. It is advisable to feed it a second time (1:1:1 i.e. 30 grams starter: 30 grams water: 30 grams flour = 90 grams total mixture) prior to using in a batch of dough to ensure the acidity is level is not too high (below 4 on the pH scale), which is a result of extended periods without fresh food. The optimal environment would be a neutral one for the bacteria to thrive (between 5 and 7 on the pH scale).

“ALWAYS save a spoonful from the starter that goes into a batch of dough.”

Part of the planning process involves feeding a little extra flour and water to the starter so that you have at least a spoonful remaining of your starter after adding starter to the bulk dough. ALWAYS save a spoonful from the starter that goes into a batch of dough. This remaining starter is the strain that you add to a clean jar with 1:1:1 ratio of flour and water to keep it alive. Using up all your starter in a batch of dough would mean you have to start one all over again!

What is discard?

When you feed your starter but don’t use all the mixture you may be left with this supremely valuable fermented mix that can be stored in a reserve jar in the refrigerator. Depending on how quickly you accumulate ‘discard’ in that reserve jar you can use it up in a variety of recipes that will boost the flavor profile of any baked good. It is recommended to use up whatever is in your reserve jar at least weekly to avoid too acidic of an environment. Looking for inspiration to use up that starter? Check out a few of my favorite sourdough discard recipes.