How to boost your starter (2024)

FAQs

How do I get my starter to rise more? ›

To boost your sourdough starter with rye flour, substitute half your normal flour with rye flour at each feeding for a few days and you should see a noticeable difference in your starter's activity level.

Feeding #1 – Take a small amount of your existing starter (10g) and feed it 2x flour (20g) and 2x water (20g). This is a 1:2:2 feeding. Wait for Peak #1 – Watch and wait for your starter to peak. Your starter will peak more quickly if it is warm, versus cool.

If your sourdough starter won't rise anymore, reset it by putting 25 grams of starter in a jar and feed it 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. With this ratio, your starter should double in size in about 12-24 hours. If your starter has never risen before, follow a proven guide to create an active starter.

If your starter is too runny, it maybe that you need to increase the ratio. A ratio of 1:2:2 can work - so you'd double the flour and water. Alternatively, if your starter is very runny, a 1:2:1 ratio could be used. This would mean that for 50g of starter, you'd feed it 100g of flour and 50g of water.

Feed your sourdough by removing 20 g of starter and placing it into a clean glass jar. Add 20 grams warm water and 20 grams whole wheat flour. Stir it until the flour is fully incorporated. By Day 3, your sourdough starter should be mature enough to bake with.

I usually feed it a maintenance feeding of 50 grams flour and 40 grams water. The starter will spring back by the next day. You may need to feed it 2 or 3 times to get it active enough for a bread bake but it will come back to life like nothing ever happened.

No you do not have to stir sourdough starter before you use it. You measure the sourdough starter by weight, not volume, so stirring it or not makes absolutely no difference. What does "fed" sourdough starter mean? Fed sourdough starter refers to a starter that has been fed flour and water (preferably by weight).

Take 50g of starter from the jar and feed it another 100g of flour and 100g of water. Leave the starter for around 12 hours. After this second feeding it should double. If it does then it's ready to use.

How do you revive a slow starter? ›

You can try to revive it by pulverizing it and adding water, then feeding it on a regular schedule. But if it doesn't respond at all (no growth, no bubbles) after three or four days of twice-a-day feedings, you might as well start over.

If your starter has a bit of dark liquid on top, it's not dead! It simply means it's hungry and that it's time to feed it.

If your sourdough starter is weak or sluggish, strengthen your sourdough starter with a bit of rye flour or whole wheat flour in each feeding. Only add a few grams of rye flour to your sourdough starter feedings and see if you notice the difference!

Reviving a dormant sourdough starter is a simple process. Begin by discarding all but 1/2 cup of the old starter. Then, feed the remaining starter with fresh flour and water. The feeding ratio should ideally be 1:1:1 (starter:flour:water).

Reasons your Sourdough Starter Might be Sluggish

Feeding schedule: A sourdough starter needs to be fed regularly to maintain its activity. If it is not fed often enough, the yeast and bacteria will become weak and the starter will become sluggish. I recommend you feed once every 24 - 30 hours, every 24 hours is better.

If you have 50g of starter in your jar, but you would like to have 200g of starter because you want to bake a few different things then you would need to add 100g of each flour and water to that starter to make 200g (because 200g divided by 2 is 100g).

Most likely, your sourdough starter is hungry and needs to be fed, so just give it some more flour and water and it should be fine.

If your sourdough is not rising during bulk fermentation at all, you might need to strengthen your sourdough starter. If you notice the dough is under proofed during preshaping or shaping, simply give it a longer bench rest.