before you can bake a loaf of sourdough, you need a starter! making one from scratch is a lot easier than it seems. it takes only two ingredients: flour and water—well, a little patience will help too. here’s how to get one going:

what you need

• flour (whole wheat or rye works best but white is totally fine. you don’t have to get expensive flour, seriously)
• water (filtered is great but if you don’t have that option, don’t worry)
• a jar or container that has space for the starter to grow

the process

• day 1: mix equal parts of flour and water in your jar. try three heaping spoonfuls. stir well, cover loosely (twist your lid on but not all the way) and leave on the counter
• day 2: you might not see much yet but that’s normal. try “feeding” your starter with just the flour—no water. if your jar is getting full, discard (throw away) about half the mixture and feed with another spoonful of flour and enough water to make the mixture pasty again
• day 3-4: you should start seeing bubbles and a slightly sour smell. keep feeding with just flour, if the mix is pretty moist, or equal parts flour and water, if it’s too pasty. throw away half again if it’s getting too stinky or too full
• day 5-7: the starter should be doubling in size a few hours after you feed it. this is when it’s usually ready to bake with!!

signs it’s ready

• mix doubles in size within 4-8 hours of feeding
• jar smells tangy—not too sharp or stinky
• jar is full of bubbles throughout—not just on top
• mix passes the “float test” which is dropping a small spoonful in water and watching for it to float (not sink to the bottom)

a few tips

• warmer spots speed things up, cooler spots slow it down, both are fine
• don’t panic if it looks inactive for the first few days, some starters take longer than others to get going

once your starter’s active and passing the float test, it’s ready for a loaf like this one.