Maintaining a sourdough starter

There seems to be (much like everything else) different recipes, though most call for equal parts starter, flour and water for maintenance. However, one particular (and popular) blogger calls for the following recipe:

Scoop in 50 grams of the mixture from the jar that fermented overnight. To this, add 50 grams rye flour, 50 grams all-purpose flour, and 100 grams water

Is there a "correct" answer here, and what's the difference between the two recipes?

sourdough

Best Answer

The difference is the time until the starter matures. Without going into the maths behind, just remember that growth is exponential, not linear.

My favorite source (in German, sorry), uses 10-20 % of the flour weight. That means that the starter will need feeding about once a day, as opposed to the equal weights approach, where you feed twice a day (or even thrice, if you have an exceptionally active starter). I wouldn’t go below the 10%, just to make sure nothing unwanted can get a chance.

So “correct” is what fits your feeding and baking schedule, as long as the starter ratio is somewhere between 10 and 100% of the flour weight and you give it the correct time to mature.

Remember - the principles of sourdough have been used by humans since way before the invention of scales. So while weighing is something we often recommend (at least as in “use a scale, not a measuring cup”) for bakers who aim to get reliable and reproducible results, learning about the characteristics of your specific sourdough, its demands and behavior, and how to tweak it to match your needs, is in the end way more important than the ratio of starter to flour.

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How do you maintain a sourdough starter?

Maintaining A Sourdough Starter: Leaving it out on the counter, it will need to be fed equal parts water and flour every 12-24 hours. Warmer homes or frequent baking will require more frequent feeding (around every 12 hours), while colder homes every 24 hours.

Do you have to discard sourdough starter every time you feed it?

You must discard some of your sourdough starter each time you feed it. You'll discover that discarding is necessary to build a healthy and thriving sourdough starter - but it's not actually as wasteful as you might think.

How do you maintain sourdough starter without discard?

To keep it happy and make it thrive you have to feed the wild yeast living in your starter. Feeding is as simple as adding more flour and water. You open the jar, put it on a scale, add equal parts flour and water, stir it all up, pop the lid back on loosely and put the container back where-ever you keep it.

How often do I feed my sourdough starter?

Refrigerated sourdough starter requires weekly feedings. When maintained at room temperature, the sourdough starter should be fed every 12 to 24 hours, depending on the specific starter and culturing conditions.

How to Maintain a Sourdough Starter - Simple Method

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Jill Wellington, Sebastian Coman Photography, Karolina Grabowska, ROMAN ODINTSOV