Maintaining a healthy and active sourdough starter is so important- your starter is the foundation of your bread! Here are 4 tips that help me maintain mine⬇️
🫙Feed it daily until it tripled in size. You’ll read a lot of recipes that say to wait until your sourdough starter has doubled in size, but the more and more I’ve baked, I’ve found that my best loaves come from a starter that’s tripled!
🫙Stop comparing your starter to others. Didn’t your mom ever tell you that “you’re perfect, just the way you are.” Well that stands true for your starter too! Rather than comparing yours to others, focus that energy on building and strengthening yours - especially if your starter is still new!
🫙Discarding part of your starter IF AND WHEN necessary. Now y’all know, I don’t discard any of my starter, but mine is also very active and healthy (I’m also baking 2+ times a week). If your starter is weak, has a strong scent to it, or has been neglected for some time, discarding some of it will help get rid of the weak bacteria, and feeding it with fresh flour and water will strengthen and nourish it.
🫙Understand feeding ratios. Knowing how much food to give your starter can be super important for its health. Don’t worry, I’m planning a post on this soon.
🫙Patience and trust. If baking sourdough has taught me one thing, it’s been patience. Everyone wants quick results, but you’ll soon find that sourdough is far from quick (especially at first!). Patience is required for making sourdough bread because you’re working with wild yeast. Learn to be patient and enjoy the process.
Are you struggling to maintain your sourdough starter? Share in comments👇
Upcoming February Events and Classes:
Next Bread Drop: Monday, February 5th. Pre-Orders open NOW.
In-Person Sourdough Bread Classes - February 11th & February 25th.
Online Sourdough Bread Class - February 16th (must register by February 9th)
Hope to see you at one (or all!)!
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