How to Maintain a Sourdough Starter

Have you been wondering how to maintain a sourdough starter? It is much easier than you think. I will go through a simple and easy way to work into your busy lifestyle how to maintain your sourdough starter!

This post contains affiliate links from which I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Here is a full disclosure.

Why is it that people are so afraid and hesitant to start their own sourdough journey? “I don’t have time.” “I can’t feed it everyday.” “It is all too overwhelming.” I have heard it all. I agree that it can sound overwhelming, but it does not have to be as complicated as many make it out to be! Maintaining a sourdough starter can be such a simple and easy thing to work into any schedule. It requires only a few minutes a few times a week. Simple, easy, effortless!

In other blogs I have introduced to you the most distinguished of all gentlemen, my sourdough starter Ryen the Third. Yes I am nerd and named him Ryan because I used rye flour to make him. I have shared him with many people who are now using his line in other kitchens. So naturally he is considered royalty and of noble lineage. Okay, okay I jest…but only partially. Ryen III and all starters are very much alive.

Remember a Sourdough Starter is a Living Organism!

So we need to remember that when we want starters to perform effectively. Sourdough starters are not baking soda or dried instant yeast that has been sitting in our cabinets for six months. We cannot pull it out, haphazardly stir it into a recipe and expect good results. Sourdough starters are living organisms that need to be active and healthy in order to do their job well. Just like any living creature it needs food and water to live.

Let’s walk through how I maintain my sourdough starter and hopefully dismiss some of the haze surrounding the topic.

You Do Not Need to Feed a Sourdough Starter Everyday

Yes, I said it. Sourdough Army do not come for me. We sourdough people can be pretty intense with the science of making sourdough. So try not to be intimidated. You can fall deep into the abyss of hydration percentages, feeding schedules and all the science behind it. Or you can simply maintain a sourdough starter and just make some yummy bread. That’s the important part in the end. Most of us are not embarking on this journey to open up a bakery. Most of us just want to make good tasting healthy bread for our families that is affordable and a better quality than the store. Because of how intense sourdough making can be many people simply won’t start or give up on sourdough all together because the maintenance sounds overwhelming.

Top Secret

The secret to maintaining a sourdough starter simply and easily with a busy schedule? It can rest in the fridge in between uses. It is truly that easy. Your starter will need to be mature enough to handle this though. How do you get a mature starter? Well you have a friend give you some of their active starter like I have done with Ryen III or just feed yours regularly for a couple of weeks. Yes there is a bit more work up front with the second option but then you have more freedom in the end. In between baking you just put your starter in the fridge. No swimming in discard and trying to find uses for sourdough crackers because you are trying to not waste any discard. No stress.

Ryen III has napped for weeks in the fridge in-between baking. When we moved into our current fixer upper I was so busy that I completely forgot about him for maybe two months. Yes! He is alive and well. I even made sourdough muffins this morning with him. You can find that recipe here.

Into the Fridge You Go!

Okay so here you are with either your own or a friends mature starter and you’ve just made your dough. What do you do with the leftover starter? Put a lid on and put it in the friend. Depending on how sealed your container is you may want to put plastic wrap over the top first or just screw on the lid. It is that simple.

When I first started making sourdough I would bake every two weeks. So Ryen (the First at that time) would take a nice two week nap and then I would take him out to bake when we started running low on bread. Remember what I said though about sourdough being live active cultures. So you cannot just take one out of the fridge and expect to bake with it that day. You have to wake up the wild yeast that has gone dormant and quite literally napped while in the fridge.

How Do I Wake Up My Sourdough Starter?

1. Take your starter out of the fridge.
2. You might see some liquid on your starter. No worries. You can just pour that off.
3. Let it sit on the counter to come to room temperature. This should take about 30 minutes.
4. When it has come to room temperature mix equal parts flour and water into your starter.
5. Allow to ferment for 12-24 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
   The higher the temperature the more active and hungry the yeast will be. So the quicker they will eat up all the food you just gave them.
6. Repeat for 2-3 days until sourdough starter is active and bubbly again with a great sour smell.
7. Now time to bake your bread!
8. Put the lid or plastic wrap onto the top of your starter container and put it back into the fridge for it’s nap until you are ready to bake again!

Do Not Be Overwhelmed with the Details

How much flour and water your starter needs completely depends upon how much starter you have left in your container. If you have only scrapings or a small amount I would add about 50g of water and 50g of AP flour. If you have a larger amount you will need more. The mixed product should be the consistency of a thick pancake batter. This will come more naturally the more you use your starter. You will have a better sense of how much starter you have remaining the more you weigh and use it.

Do not be intimidated by this step. You can easily get bogged down with the science here and needing to feed exactly 50% or 100% of the volume remaining in the container. Do not think that deeply. Simply feed your starter. If it is a mature starter you will not feed it too much. If you fed it too little then the next day it will have an acetone smell like nail polish. That just means it is hungry. So feed it more.

Do not overcomplicate the process. This will become easier the more you do it!

Once your starter is showing signs of activity like bubbling and increasing in size then you are ready to bake your bread! Congratulations you have officially maintained your sourdough starter!

Tools for Maintaining your Sourdough Starter:

• Gram scale. I cannot find the one I use on Amazon any longer but this one seems similar. I prefer not to get one with a raised scale because not all bowls fit comfortably on the base.
• Danish dough whisk
• Containers with screw lids and non screw lids

Don’t have a sourdough starter? You can find out how to make one in four days here!