How Much to Feed My Sourdough Starter
In this recipe, the feeding quantities will be enough to make 2 loaves of bread. This makes the amount of starter manageable in my favorite Weck Jar (more on this jar below). It also matches my baking needs, as I can bake bread without running out of starter.
You can scale your starter up or down depending on how much starter you want to maintain, just feed it a 1:1:1 ratio by weight using a kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients. You may see this referred to as 100% hydration in some recipes.
Sourdough Starter Feeding Ratio 1:1:1
- 1 part starter (here, we use 100g or roughly 1/2 cup)
- 1 part water (100g or roughly 1/2 cup in a liquid measuring cup)
- 1 part flour (100g flour or roughly 1 scant cup)
A Note on Measuring: In sourdough baking, your best friend is a kitchen scale to measure by weight, and in my opinion, it’s non-negotiable. It is the most exact way of measuring. Most sourdough recipes are written in weight measurements because it’s the most accurate.
Using volume measurements (cups) isn’t as precise. If you do use cups to measure, be sure to measure your flour correctly.
Maintaining sourdough starter can go on as long as you want–indefinitely if you keep it up, so it’s worth the investment in these tools. I’ve listed my favorites here:
- Clear Jar – 1 Qt Mason jar or 3/4 Qt Weck Jar with loose fitting lid – Weck jars are my favorite because they weigh exactly 400g (it’s much easier to measure by weight when the math is simple), the lid is loose fitting to avoid pressure building up inside, and the wide mouth makes for easy stirring.
- Digital kitchen scale – most sourdough recipes use weight measurements. It also saves on dishes and cleanup since you won’t have to use measuring cups! It doesn’t have to be fancy, as long as it has grams, any scale will work
- Stiff silicone spatula – The starter is so sticky, so silicone is easiest to clean. Wipe your spatula and discard any extra starter in the trash to avoid it building up in your plumbing.
