07/07/2026
Come feed your starter with me!
There are so many different things to consider when maintaining a balanced starter, so I want to offer up a few things I’ve learned along the way! Keep in mind this is how I like to do it - I invite you to experiment and find a version of this that works for you and your life.
Here I’ve discarded all but 9 grams of my starter. I’m just feeding for maintenance today so I’m not worried about the time that my starter will be active and ready to use. I’m going to feed it a 1:2:2 ratio, so ~1 part starter, 2 parts flour, 2 parts water. My starter thrives when it’s kept a bit thicker so I always feed it a few grams less water than flour to get the desired consistency!
Things to note: I’m using organic unbleached bread flour, my water is room temperature, and my home is 70 degrees F. These are all variables that will effect the timing of your starter being ready to use.
Throughout the day I was checking on Doughlores, and it took about 7 hours for her to peak! Just because she doubled within a few hours didn’t mean she was ready to use. I’m looking for her to be flat at the top, not domed, and I’m also looking for her to be bubbly throughout. This tells me that she’s done eating, active, ready to be discarded/fed again or used for baking. Since this was just a maintenance feeding I discarded all but a very tiny amount and repeated the process!
I feed my starter twice a day and keep it at room temp. You can experiment with higher ratios (1:10:10) to feed it once daily at room temp, or you can place it in the refrigerator after feeding it if you’d only like to maintain it every couple of weeks. I recommend avoiding the fridge if you can!
The key to keeping it strong and healthy: feed it peak to peak. Avoid letting it fall back down after it’s peaked. This is going to keep your starter balanced and avoid overgrowth of bacteria that can lead to your starter becoming acidic.
Hopefully this helps my customers who purchased starter packs, or anyone curious about the process 👩🍳 DM me your questions!
Good pages to follow for starter tips:
Rebekah Parr - I’m That Sourdough Gal®
Sourdough Educator & Microbakery • Parker Cook