How Often Should You Feed a Sourdough Starter?

Counter or fridge, daily or weekly: a practical feeding schedule for a healthy sourdough starter, and the signs it is hungry.

Counter vs fridge: pick a rhythm

How often you feed depends far more on where the starter lives than on any fixed rule. Warmth speeds fermentation up, so a starter at room temperature eats through its flour quickly, while a cold one barely moves.

How to tell your starter is hungry

• It has peaked and fallen. Streaks on the jar above the current level show it rose and then collapsed.
• Hooch. A grey or brown liquid on top means it ran out of food. Pour it off (or stir it in for a tangier loaf) and feed.
• Sharp smell. A nail-polish or vinegar smell is a hungry starter, not a dead one.

A simple counter schedule

Keep a small amount, for example 20 g, and feed it once a day at a bigger ratio. A 1:5:5 feed (20 g starter, 100 g flour, 100 g water) usually takes most of a day to peak at normal room temperature, so it lines up with a morning or evening routine. Discard the rest before each feed. Our feeding calculator gives you exact grams and a peak window for your kitchen temperature.

A simple fridge schedule

1. Feed your starter as usual and let it sit out for 1–2 hours so it gets going.
2. Lid it loosely and refrigerate.
3. Once a week, take it out, discard down to your keep amount, feed, rest an hour or two, and return it.
4. Before baking, give it one or two feedings at room temperature so it is at full strength again.

Feeding before a bake

Plan backward from when you want to mix your dough. If you mix at 9 am, feed so it peaks around then: a 1:2:2 feed the night before at a cool room temperature, or a 1:1:1 feed early that morning in a warm kitchen. The rise time calculator helps you estimate the bulk that follows.

Common questions

Can I skip a feeding?

Yes. An established starter is hard to kill. It will get sour and runny, but one or two regular feedings usually bring it back.

Do I have to discard?

If you never discard, the jar keeps growing and each feed gets diluted. Keeping a small fixed amount is the cheapest and simplest approach. Discard can go into pancakes or crackers.

What flour should I feed?

Unbleached all-purpose or bread flour works well. Adding 10–20% whole wheat or rye gives the yeast and bacteria more to eat and often makes a sluggish starter livelier.