Sourdough
Sourdough Starter
How to create, feed, and maintain the living culture behind every loaf.
Overview
Your starter is everything. Weak starter, weak bread. A starter is a living culture of wild yeast and bacteria that ferments your dough and makes it rise. When it's healthy, it's predictable. When it's not, nothing else works right. This page shows you how to build one from scratch and keep it strong. What "ready" actually looks like. How to feed it without overthinking it. You'll also learn how to fix common problems. Slow starter. No rise. Bad smell. Get this piece solid and the rest of sourdough starts to fall into place.
Watch
Strengthening A Starter
Watch on YouTubeIs Your Sourdough Starter Ready? Float Test
Watch on YouTubeHow to Make a Green Apple Sourdough Starter
Watch on YouTubeHow to Control Flavor in Your Starter
Watch on YouTubeFlavor From Fermentation: Why Time and Patience Build Better Bread Than Any Ingredient #fermentation
Watch on YouTubeSourdough for the rest of us
Watch on YouTubeListen
Recipes
Country Sourdough with Levain(opens in a new tab)
PantryYour First Yeast Water Loaf | Baking Great Bread at Home(opens in a new tab)
PantryFudgy Sourdough Discard Brownies(opens in a new tab)
PantrySourdough Hoagie Rolls(opens in a new tab)
PantryKids Can Bake: Sourdough Discard Pancakes(opens in a new tab)
PantrySourdough Discard Banana Bread | Baking Great Bread at Home(opens in a new tab)
PantrySourdough Discard Biscuits(opens in a new tab)
PantrySourdough Discard Crackers(opens in a new tab)
PantrySourdough Discard Naan | Baking Great Bread at Home(opens in a new tab)
PantrySourdough Discard Pancakes(opens in a new tab)
PantrySourdough Discard Thumbprint Cookies(opens in a new tab)
PantrySourdough Discard Waffles | Baking Great Bread at Home(opens in a new tab)
PantryRead
Sourdough Starter Guide(opens in a new tab)
Baking Great Bread BlogHot Cross Buns at Home: History, Science, and Two Recipes You'll Actually Love(opens in a new tab)
Baking Great Bread BlogWhat Are Pre-Ferments? The 5 Methods Every Baker Should Know(opens in a new tab)
Baking Great Bread BlogYour Questions Keep Getting Buried. Here's What We Did About It.(opens in a new tab)
Baking Great Bread BlogThe Best Sourdough ↔ Yeast Recipe Converter for Home Bakers(opens in a new tab)
Baking Great Bread BlogThe Baking Great Bread At Home Community Cookbook(opens in a new tab)
Baking Great Bread BlogYour First State Fair Bread Competition: What I Wish Someone Had Told Me(opens in a new tab)
Baking Great Bread BlogThe Art of Marbled Yeasted Breads(opens in a new tab)
Baking Great Bread BlogSummer Sourdough: Refreshing Twists on a Classic(opens in a new tab)
Baking Great Bread BlogWhy Summer Changes Your Dough(opens in a new tab)
Baking Great Bread BlogHybrid Sourdough Sandwich Bread(opens in a new tab)
Baking Great Bread BlogThe Loaf and the Lie(opens in a new tab)
Baking Great Bread BlogBooks
Learn
Sourdough Starter 101: Capturing Life in a Jar(opens in a new tab)
SkoolIt starts with something simple(opens in a new tab)
SkoolStart Here | Sourdough Starter 101:(opens in a new tab)
SkoolDay 1: Birth of Your Starter(opens in a new tab)
SkoolDay 2: The Waiting Game(opens in a new tab)
SkoolDay 3: Signs of Life(opens in a new tab)
SkoolDays 4-7: Building Strength(opens in a new tab)
SkoolStarter Care & Maintenance(opens in a new tab)
SkoolIs It Ready? The Tests(opens in a new tab)
SkoolTime to Bake(opens in a new tab)
SkoolChoosing Your First Sourdough Recipe(opens in a new tab)
SkoolIs My Sourdough Starter Dead?(opens in a new tab)
SkoolGlossary
Related Topics
Keep goingHenry's Apps for This Topic
Free tools built to take what you're learning here and put it to work in your kitchen.
Tools for This Topic
Henry uses and recommends these tools
Brød & Taylor Folding Proofer
Temperature-controlled proofing environment for consistent fermentation results.
Brød & TaylorSourHouse Goldie Starter Home
Purpose-built vessel for maintaining a healthy, active sourdough starter.
SourHouseBrød & Taylor Sourdough Essentials Kit
Everything you need to start and maintain a sourdough starter.
Brød & Taylor