Do you ever get hangry after a long journey and no food? Your starter does too!
Planning your next feed? Try our Sourdough Starter Peak Calculator to estimate fermentation time using your feeding ratio, temperature and flour. It's a guide, so always check your starter's activity too.
Your live starter is already active and ready for its first feed. Add fresh flour and water, keep it warm and watch for it to reach peak rise. Once it has risen strongly and is full of bubbles, you’re ready to bake.
How your starter arrives
Your live starter arrives in food-grade transport packaging designed for shipping an active culture. Because the starter continues fermenting and producing gas, the packaging needs to safely accommodate that activity while it is in transit.
Your live starter may be a little “runny” on arrival. The wild yeast and bacteria continue feeding and fermenting during transit, especially in warmer weather. As fermentation progresses and the available food is used up, the starter can become thinner. A runny consistency on its own doesn’t mean anything is wrong.
Follow the feeding instructions, keep it somewhere comfortably warm and watch for bubbles and a rise after feeding. Always feed before baking and wait until it reaches peak rise. If you’re unsure, send us a photo and we’ll be happy to help.
Not baking straight away?
Pop it in the fridge for up to two weeks, but feeding it sooner is always better. When you’re ready, let it come to room temperature, transfer it to a clean jar, feed it and wait for it to reach peak rise before baking.
Watch: Feed your live starter
Follow along with the video, or use the written steps below.
What you’ll need
- A clean jar with enough room for the starter to at least double
- Digital kitchen scales
- Tepid water, around 27°C is ideal. Tap water is generally fine
- A spoon or spatula
- A loosely fitted lid
- Good quality flour that matches your starter
Feed your live starter
1. Transfer the whole pack
Snip the corner of the packaging and squeeze the entire starter into a clean jar. Weigh the starter so you can calculate the correct feed.
2. Add the water first
Add the water and mix it through the starter before adding the flour.
For a pack containing approximately 100 g of starter, use:
- Wheat: 100 g water and 100 g bakers flour
- Rye: 120 g water and 100 g wholegrain rye flour
- Spelt: 100 g water and 110 g wholegrain spelt flour
3. Mix, cover and mark the level
Mix thoroughly until there are no dry patches. The starter should be thick, roughly like crunchy peanut butter.
Place the lid loosely on the jar, then mark the starter’s level with an elastic band or marker so you can clearly see how much it rises.
Keep the jar somewhere warm, ideally around 24–27°C, away from direct sunlight, cold draughts and hot appliances. Keep it away from fruit bowls, compost bins and other potential sources of fruit flies or mould spores.
Why feed the whole pack?
Feeding the whole pack gives you plenty of active starter to work with. Once it reaches peak rise, you will have approximately:
- 200 g available for baking, enough for two beginner loaves
- 50 g to freeze as a backup starter
- 50 g to retain as your ongoing mother starter
If you are only baking one loaf, divide the additional starter into portions and freeze them as extra backups. You could also use a portion to establish another starter.
When is your starter ready to bake with?
Every kitchen is different, so use the rise rather than relying only on time. Your starter is ready when it has:
- Doubled or tripled in volume
- Plenty of bubbles throughout
- A pleasant yeasty or slightly sour smell
- Reached its peak and has not started collapsing
At 24–27°C this may happen within a few hours. In a cooler kitchen it will take longer.
If your starter has risen and fallen, feed it again and use it when it reaches its next peak.
Choosing the right flour
- Wheat: Use a good quality bakers flour, ideally with at least 12% protein.
- Rye: Use wholegrain rye flour.
- Spelt: Use wholegrain spelt flour.
These feeding ratios are based on the flours we sell. Other flours may absorb water differently, so adjust if needed to maintain a thick consistency similar to crunchy peanut butter.
Run out of flour? If you cannot get your usual bakers flour, Lighthouse Bread and Pizza Flour or Laucke Wallaby Bakers Flour can get you out of trouble and are commonly available from supermarkets.
Not seeing the expected rise?
Our live starters are strong and reliable. If yours is not rising as expected, the two most common causes are temperature and hydration.
Check the temperature: Keep the starter around 24–27°C. A cooler starter will ferment more slowly, even when healthy and active.
Check the consistency: If the starter is thin or runny, it may be too hydrated to hold gas. It can be active and bubbly without showing much rise. Recheck the feeding ratio and aim for a thick consistency similar to crunchy peanut butter.
If the temperature and consistency are right but you are still unsure, send us a photo and let us know which starter and flour you are using at ohcrumb@doughmygod.com.au, or call us on 1300 991 822.
Your starter has reached peak rise. What’s next?
If your starter has risen strongly and is full of bubbles, you’re ready to start making your sourdough.
Choose the beginner recipe that matches your flour:
