Simple Sourdough Starter for Beginners: Flour & Water Only

A sourdough starter only needs two ingredients and time. Flour and water combined with a little warmth and patience yields a naturally occurring, wild yeast. The only commitment on your part is feeding it and discarding the extra starter daily. We’re talking only a few minutes a day, tops! This post is all about showing and teaching how to begin and feed a simple sourdough starter to maturity. There are lots of visuals and comparisons between a young and mature starter. You’ll learn to read your starter and know when your starter is ready to make sourdough bread. Let’s get started!

How Long Does it REALLY Take to Create a Mature Sourdough Starter from Scratch?

Depending on how well your starter grows and how attentive you are to the initial growth process, you can make homemade bread with a mature sourdough starter anywhere from 7-14 days. I’ve actually heard of sourdough starters taking 21 days to reach its first sign of maturity. YIKES! But warmth helps tremendously! For perspective, I’ve had sourdough starters tripling in size within 4 days of beginning it; however, 10-14 days is normal for me to reach the tripling growth size that’s perfect for making sourdough bread.

Patience is a Virtue in Creating a Successful Sourdough Starter

You have to remember that you are CREATING yeast from scratch. That takes time as it needs to develop and reach complexity before making a really good bread. There are so many unforeseeable factors that affect the starter. Just know that if you decide to begin a starter, don’t get impatient and expect to make bread on day 7. You might! But, you might not. That’s not to say you can’t make sourdough bread using your sourdough discard. Check out my previous post on using sourdough discard to make an actual sourdough bread.

Let’s Begin a Simple Sourdough Starter From Scratch!

The ingredients for a simple sourdough starter are as easy as it gets. All you need are water and whole wheat flour on the first day. The subsequent days use either bread or all-purpose flour and water. That’s it!

DAY 1: Make the Starter

Begin with an Appropriate Container

You’ll need a quart-size container, at a minimum. You could use a Mason jar, a large canister, or a large bowl. I find a see-through glass container works best so you can easily monitor your sourdough growth after each feeding.

TIP: I like to use a wet/erase marker to mark my bowl at each feeding, so I know how much it’s growing each time.

Add Whole Wheat Flour & Water

In the container, add 120 grams (1 cup) of whole wheat flour. If using a measuring cup, be sure to fluff, scoop, and level off the flour in the cup.

TIP: Whole wheat flour is important to use to begin the starter because it contains the whole grain that includes lots of nutrients to activate and feed the starter as it begins.

To the flour add 120 grams (4 oz or 1/2 cup) of room temperature, filtered water. My filtered water is cool from the fridge, so I prefer to heat my water for 20 seconds in the microwave to reach ~100˚F. This extra heat gives the mixture a jump start.

TIP: If you don’t have filtered water, you can use tap water. However, plan ahead and allow it to set out overnight, uncovered on the counter to release any chlorine that may be present. Chemicals like chlorine can negatively affect that baby yeast.

Mix Flour & Water Together, Cover, & Store

Use a fork, spoon, or whisk and stir well. Cover the container loosely with a lid, cheese cloth, or towel. Allow the starter to sit at room temperature for at least 12 hours but you’ll probably need 24 hours or longer.

TIP: If your house is cool, you can place your starter in the cold oven with an incandescent light bulb on continuously to create a constant 80˚F (27˚C) or so warm environment.

Days 2: Discard & Feed the Starter

After 24 hours, you may or may not see bubbles forming. If you don’t see bubbles or a little growth, allow the starter to remain untouched until you see bubbles or growth. This could take another 24 hours. Whenever you see bubbles or the mixture rises, stir and remove all but a ½ cup of the starter. You can eyeball the ½ cup amount. 😉

Add 120 grams (1 cup) of bread (all-purpose) flour and 120 grams (½ cup) of room temperature, filtered water and stir well as you previously did. Cover the container loosely again and allow it sit at room temperature (or in oven with the light bulb on) for another 24 hours.

TIP: You can easily use all-purpose flour to feed your sourdough starter since all-purpose flour is cheaper. I prefer to use bread flour because bread flour has a higher ash content than all-purpose flour. The ash content is higher in less processed flour providing more nutrients to feed your starter and encourage growth.

What is Sourdough Discard?

Sourdough discard is the amount of sourdough starter you remove from the mixture each day. Technically, it’s just sourdough starter. Once your sourdough starter matures, you can use your sourdough discard to make traditional sourdough bread. However, during the early days of beginning the starter, the sourdough mixture you remove is NOT mature enough to create a self-raising bread. So, you can either throw it out, give it to a friend to continue feeding, or use it as an ingredient in other recipes. You can actually treat your sourdough discard (if thin and wet) like buttermilk or sour cream. Thus, you can use it sometimes as subs for the wet ingredients in recipes. Once the sourdough thickens, then you have to consider using it as partial flour and liquid replacements in your baked recipes. See my blog post on how to use sourdough discard in your favorite recipes.

Why is it Necessary to Discard (Remove) Sourdough Starter Daily?

Ultimately, you won’t have a choice whether or not to remove sourdough starter daily. Technically, if you use a really large bowl, you can skip removing the sourdough starter once in a while. Just keep in mind that once the sourdough starter matures, it can grow 4-5 times within 12 hours. You have to remove some to add some, or your house will be oozing sourdough out through the cracks in your windows and doors. 😊The general rule is to simply remove all but a ½ cup of your sourdough starter and store it (in the fridge) until you have enough to use it in a bake.

Days 3-6+: Discard & Feed the Starter 2x Day

Repeat Day 2, discarding and adding flour and water after bubbling. You should start feeding your starter two times a day about 8-12 hours apart. You know when it’s time to feed when the bubbling and rising have peaked, and your starter begins to sink. If you find that your starter is rising more quickly (4-6 hours), feed it more often. As before, remove all but ½ cup of starter and add 120 grams of bread (all-purpose) flour and 120 grams of water. Your starter should smell sweet and tangy (pleasant, sour smell).

TIP: Feed the starter when it’s hungry only. You know when it’s hungry when it stops rising and starts sinking. You can also tell by the texture. If the starter is thick, the mixture is still digesting and isn’t hungry yet. If the mixture is liquid-y, pourable (and even webby, once it matures), then it’s hungry and has metabolized all the flour.

Visuals of Sourdough Starter Growth from Days 3-10

Young Versus Mature Sourdough Starter

For testing purposes, I chose to grow 2 sourdough starters from scratch a couple of weeks apart. See their comparisons with the young one on day 10 (pictured left) and the mature starter on day 21 or so (pictured right).

What a Mature Sourdough Starter Looks Like…

Check out the visuals from Day 1 when I began the starter to Day 14 when the starter matured enough for a really good sourdough bread bake. Remember I was discarding all but a ½ cup each time I fed the starter (1-2 times per day). When your sourdough starter is doubling and tripling in size after a feeding and has the “spider web” effect when pulled away from the bowl using fork, your sourdough starter is PERFECT to use as a natural yeast in baking.

When to Make Bread Using a Mature Sourdough Starter…

Ideally, you’ll feed your mature sourdough starter one last time (6-12 hours) before using the starter to make bread. It will take that long for the starter to reach its peak rise. It should look like the picture above with the “spider web” when it has peaked and ready for making a sourdough bread.

What Should You Do With the Sourdough Discard?

First of all, DON’T throw it out! There’s SO much you can do with it. You can always give it to a friend with directions on how to keep it going. My favorite, easy way to use sourdough discard is to make my sourdough discard biscuits. I also use it to make my weekly sandwich bread using my bread machine. You can also use it to make herb crackers, pizza dough, granola bars, muffins, and pancakes. Check out my post on “How to Use Your Sourdough Discard” for more information.

Tired of Sourdough Starter? Save it for Later.

If you need a break from your starter, don’t throw it away. Feed the starter like normal and store it covered in the fridge. Feed it the same day every week, discarding down to ½ cup and adding 120 grams each bread (all-purpose) flour and water. Continue this process until you’re ready to bake again. Then, allow the starter to sit out at room temperature on the counter (or in a cold oven with an incandescent light bulb on) for 1-3 days to reactivate. Remember to feed it 1-2 times a day until it’s actively bubbly and rising again.

General Thoughts About Sourdough Starter

Your starter is ready to use to make loaves of bread when it has doubled or tripled in size after feeding. You need a minimum of 6 days to ensure your starter has lots of flavor and complexity, even if it’s doubling at a quicker rate. If your mixture is growing too fast, place the mixture in a cooler environment to slow down the starter’s metabolism (preferably not the fridge, though). The mixture should continually smell slightly sweet with a little tang.

That’s pretty much it. Time and patience are critical in making a sourdough starter. As long as you read your dough daily and tend to its needs, you can make bread continuously for as long as you want. When you get tired of it, feed it, store it in the fridge, and you’ll always have homemade yeast to make bread.

For more visuals check out my YouTube video on the creating and feeding a simple sourdough starter. “Simple Sourdough Starter for Beginners: Flour & Water Only!“

Interested in some sourdough discard recipes? Check these out!

Sourdough Granola Bars

Cheese & Chive Sourdough Biscuits

Sourdough Herb Crackers

Sourdough Pizza Crust (dough)

Blueberries & Cream Sourdough Muffins

Sweet Sourdough Pancakes

New Zealand Potato Sourdough Starter & Bread

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