Sourdough Bread

Thu, 5 March 2026

Sourdough Bread

Giving life to your very own sourdough starter

Day 1

15g strong white flour

15g water

Place the flour and water into a clean bowl and stir together until fully combined

Cover and leave at room temperature overnight.

Day 2

30g strong white flour

30g water

To the sourdough starter add 30g strong white flour and 30g water. Stir together until fully combined

Cover and leave at room temperature overnight.

Day 3

90g water

90g wholemeal flour

Add the flour to the starter, and mix in the water. Cover and leave overnight

Day 4

Discard 200g of sourdough starter and add to it

70g water

70g strong white flour

Add the flour to the starter, and mix in the water. Cover and leave overnight. The starter should start to smell pleastantly sour with small bubbles appearing on the surface.

Day 5

Discard 140g of sourdough starter and add to it

70g water

70g strong white flour

Add the flour to the starter, and mix in the water. Cover and leave overnight. The starter should appear active and full of bubbles.

Day 6

The starter should be quite active now and be full of little bubbles and smell slightly sour

Discard 140g of sourdough starter and add to it

70g water

70g strong white flour

Add the flour to the starter, and mix in the water. Cover and leave overnight

Day 7

The starter should now be very active and full of bubbles. The starter needs one more feed and will then be now to use.

Discard 140g of sourdough starter and add to it

100g water

100g strong white flour

Remember when making your sourdough bread always retain some sourdough starter which will be feed/refreshed ensuring you have some sourdough starter for the next dough

Maintaining your sourdough starter:

Hi I am your sourdough starter. If you look after me I will give you an endless supply of wholesome tasty sourdough breads. I am pretty easy going and don’t require anything too fancy. A regular diet of flour and water will keep me strong and healthy. You can use me every day if you wish but I understand that your pretty busy and you may only get to hang out with me once a week. I get very hungry when left a room temperature so just pop me into the fridge where I can chill out until you need me. I can’t wait for us to bake breads together.

Your sourdough starter/ culture is a bubbling living collection of friendly bacteria that will be used to make your dough rise. It is the natural yeast that will be used to make your sourdough bread.

Sourdough starter is best stored in a bowl or plastic container, something which can be covered. Make sure to allow room within the container for the sourdough starter to grow and rise.

To refresh or feed the sourdough starter

Whatever weight of sourdough starter you have add the same weight of flour and the same weight of water.

For example, 200g of sourdough starter add 200g of flour and 200g water. Stir everything together.

If you have too much starter discard the excess and keep back what you need.

If the sourdough starter is stored at room temperature it will require to be refreshed/feed every day

For the home baker when you might only bake once a week having to feed/refresh your sourdough starter everyday can become quite expensive.

Therefore, your starter can be stored in the fridge for up to 10 days and taken out when needed.

If using the starter from the fridge.

Take the starter out from the fridge the day before you plan to bake. This will allow the starter to come to room temperature. The night before you plan to bake refresh/ feed your starter as per the instructions above. Leave the sourdough starter at room temperature overnight. The next morning the starter should be active and full of bubbles and ready to bake with.

Take what you need to make your dough. Feed the remaining starter and return it to the fridge.