Storing sourdough starter: how to feed and store your sourdough starter

Feeding and storing a sourdough starter. Making sourdough bread begins with a strong, active sourdough starter. This is the foundation of the bread that provides that delicious flavor and airy texture. Using organic wheat flour as an ingredient improves the quality and flavor of the sourdough starter. But how do you properly maintain such a starter? In this blog, I explain how to feed and store your sourdough starter, whether you bake almost daily or just occasionally, and how to check if your starter is active enough for use. Feeding your starter is essential to keep the bacteria active, so that the wild yeasts and bacteria in the sourdough can produce gases and your starter remains powerful.

If you haven't made a starter yet, read our blog first: Making a sourdough starter: make it yourself

A sourdough starter is a mixture of water and flour that contains natural yeasts and bacteria. These microorganisms ferment the dough, causing it to rise and giving it a complex, slightly sour flavor. To keep your sourdough starter alive and active, you must feed it regularly. This means adding water and flour to provide the microorganisms with the sugars they need to grow.

You can use different types of flour, such as rye flour, whole wheat flour, or organic wheat flour, to maintain your sourdough starter. Depending on the type of flour you use, you can maintain your starter in different ways, which affects its activity and flavor. It is important that your starter remains well-fed so that the yeast and bacteria stay active and strong.

Many people feed their starter in a 1:1:1 ratio. This means you add one part starter, one part water, and one part flour (e.g., 50 grams of sourdough starter, 50 grams of water, and 50 grams of flour). The downside is that your starter often hits its peak after just a few hours and then starts to deflate. This can be inconvenient if you don't have time to work on your dough right after those few hours.

My preference? The 1:2:2 ratio. Here, you add two parts water and two parts flour to one part starter (e.g., 50 grams of starter, 100 grams of water, and 100 grams of flour). By using these ratios, you give the yeasts and bacteria more food, which means your starter takes longer to peak. This is ideal if, for example, you feed it in the evening and want to start making dough in the morning.

Practical example:

• Feed your starter in the evening before you go to bed using a 1:2:2 ratio, for example with 50 grams of sourdough, 100 grams of rye flour, and 100 ml of water.
• The next morning, your sourdough starter will be at its peak or just starting to deflate, ready to be used for the dough.

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How you store your sourdough starter depends on how often you bake.

If you don't bake every day, it's convenient to keep your sourdough starter in the fridge. By placing the starter in the fridge, you slow down the fermentation, helping your starter stay good for longer. Regular feeding while keeping the starter in the fridge ensures it stays healthy.

When you want to use the sourdough starter again, take it out of the fridge and let it stand at room temperature for a while before feeding or using it. This helps the yeast cells become active again.

It is important to feed the entire starter well so it remains strong. After baking, you can feed the remaining portion of the starter and store it for next time. This ensures you always have an active and healthy sourdough starter.

Keep your starter at room temperature and feed it whenever you intend to use it. Before you actually start baking, it is important to feed the entire starter again so it becomes active once more. This ensures your starter is always active and ready for use when you are ready to bake. Use the 1:2:2 ratio for a longer peak time or 1:1:1 if you want to get started quickly.

Store your starter in the fridge. Cooling slows down the activity of the microorganisms, meaning you only need to feed the starter once a week. Take the starter out of the fridge a day before you want to bake, feed it (for example, in a 1:2:2 ratio), and let it come to room temperature. Once it is active and bubbly, you can use it for your dough.

If we aren't baking every day, we give our sourdough starter a quiet spot in the fridge—a smart move! By placing our starter in the fridge, we allow the little workers, such as wild yeasts and lactic acid bacteria, to take it slow. This way, we need to feed our starter less often while keeping it in top condition. When feeding our refrigerated starter, we use the golden ratio of 1:1:1: one part starter, one part water, and one part flour. This gives the small organisms just enough nutrients to remain healthy and strong, without our starter growing too eagerly.

We check our starter regularly, even when it's resting in the cool. We look for any strange odors and keep an eye out for unwanted mold. We feed our starter at least once a week so that the little workers stay active and our starter doesn't become lazy. When we take the starter out of the fridge to bake again, we let it come to room temperature and give it a fresh, nutritious meal. This ensures our starter is strong enough to make our next loaf rise beautifully.

A handy way to check if your sourdough starter is active enough to use is to perform the float test. This is a simple test that tells you if your starter has produced enough gas and is ready for action. When mixing your sourdough starter, it is best to use a wooden spatula to mix everything thoroughly and add oxygen.

How to do the float test:

• Take a small amount of your sourdough starter (about a teaspoon) and place it in a glass of water.
• If the piece of starter floats, your sourdough starter is ready for use. After a successful float test, you are ready to bake your first loaf.
• Does it sink to the bottom? Then your starter isn't active enough yet and needs more time to rise, or you need to feed it again.

• Prevent neglect: Even if you don't bake often, you must feed your starter occasionally to keep it alive, even if it's in the fridge. This could be once a week or even every two weeks if you keep it very cold.
• Use room-temperature water: Ensure the water you use to feed your starter is not too cold, otherwise you will slow down the fermentation. Room-temperature water works best.
• Do you want to store your sourdough starter for longer without feeding it? You can air-dry the starter by spreading it thinly on parchment paper and letting it dry until brittle. Once dry, you can crush the pieces and store them in an airtight container; the starter will remain good for months. To restore it, soak the dried pieces in water and feed them again.
• By drying or freezing your starter, you put the microorganisms into a kind of hibernation. This is ideal for long-term storage; after thawing or rehydrating, you can reactivate the starter.

Taking care of your sourdough starter requires patience and regularity, but once you find the right balance, it will yield fantastic sourdough bread. By drying or freezing your starter, you put the microorganisms into a kind of hibernation. This is ideal for long-term storage; after thawing or rehydrating, you can reactivate the starter. By experimenting with the ratios used for feeding, such as the 1:2:2 ratio, you can manage your starter so that it is active at the perfect moment for use. Also, don't forget to perform the float test to check if your sourdough starter is at its peak.

If you aren't baking for a longer period, you can store sourdough in the fridge; this keeps your starter in good condition and means you have to feed it less often. If you are going on vacation, you can give the starter an extra feeding and put it in the fridge so it survives until you return. When you go on or return from vacation, you can easily reactivate the starter by refreshing it a few times.