So you’ve heard this phrase a lot recently, but you’re not sure what it is. You’re not even sure what it is used for. What is sourdough starter, and what is it used for? Sourdough Starter is exceptionally handy as a kitchen staple and it comes with a host of health benefits as well! Find out how easy it is to make a sourdough starter so you can get started on your own sourdough journey today!

In this post. I’ll be discussing:
- What a sourdough starter is
- What a sourdough starter is used for
- What the health benefits of a sourdough starter are
- One of my favorite sourdough recipes
What is a sourdough starter?
A sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water that has been cultured over a period of time to produce a live fermented product to leaven and ferment bread. Wait a minute – what?! Let’s break that down.
Sourdough starter has two ingredients – just flour and water. There are a ton of methods out there for creating a sourdough starter, but some of them actually make it more difficult than it really is. Follow this basic method to get your starter going!

Creating your Starter
- In a glass bowl, mix approximately 1 cup of flour (I have always used all purpose, organic, unbleached flour) and 1/2 cup of filtered water using a wooden spoon. You are looking for a pancake batter consistency here so use your judgement rather than exact measurement.
- Let this mixture set out at room temperature for 24 hours.
- The next day, discard half of the mixture, and reserve the rest. Don’t worry, the creation phase is the ONLY time you need to throw away ingredients!
- After discarding half the mixture, feed it with about 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup water. Again, you are going for the correct consistency here rather than exact measurements.
- Repeat steps 2-4 for three more days.
- Your starter is beginning to become stabilized, but it’s not quite there. At this point, over the next three days, discard half and feed your starter two times each day rather than only once. When I created mine, at this point in the process, I discarded and fed in the morning and in the evening to give some time in between feedings.
- Your starter should be stabilized. You can leave your starter out at room temperature for a couple days without feeding. If planning on going a longer length of time before using, starter can be refrigerated for a couple weeks without needing to be fed!
The Method Recap
So basically all you need to create a starter is flour, water, and time. You will need about 10-12 cups of flour and about 6-8 cups of water. In addition, you will need about a week to stabilize your starter.
What is a Sourdough Starter Used For?
Fermentation Only

I use my sourdough starter two accomplish to goals. The first use I find for my starter is to ferment grains, and the second is to leaven my bread products. Most people have heard of sourdough as a leavening agent, but that is not the only use. I would actually consider fermentation to be the PRIMARY use of my sourdough starter. Once you have a stabilized sourdough starter, from following the instructions in the previous section, you can ferment grains even without your starter being active. For your starter to be active, you have to feed it flour and water about 5-12 hours before using it. However, even if your starter is not active and bubbly, it will still ferment the grains. Many recipes actually call for unfed sourdough starter – often referred to as discard.
Fermentation and Leavening

But lets say you want to make that soft airy artisan bread full of pockets of air inside. For that you need a starter that will ferment AND leaven your bread. In this case, you don’t want discard. You want active bubbly sourdough starter. If you just finished the process of creating your starter, it is stabilized and ready to go!
But let’s say it was in the refrigerator for a week and its not bubbly, and it looks a little lifeless. It’s just hungry! Remove some of the starter (until you have about 2-3 cups remaining) and save this discard for your favorite discard recipe. Feed your starter at least one cup of flour and enough water to get that pancake batter consistency again. (If my starter hasn’t been fed for a while, I like to give it even more than one cup. It is VERY hard to overfeed a sourdough starter, but it’s easy to underfeed it!) Now all you need to do is wait 5-12 hours until your starter is bubbly and it’s ready to use to leaven your dough! If you want to check that your starter is active, fill a glass with room temperature water, and drop a tablespoon or so of sourdough starter into the water. If it floats, it will leaven your bread!
What the Health Benefits of a Sourdough Starter Are
So why bother? Why not just grab a package of yeast from the store to leaven your bread? Well first a little history lesson. Dried yeast was first available circa 1820 in Europe. So how did all the pioneers make bread? By using a starter of course! It was not uncommon for family members to gift daughters and granddaughters a portion of a stabilized starter as a wedding gift so that they did not have to make their own. Using a sourdough starter is the traditional way of making bread. It eliminates the need for buying yeast, and comes with many health benefits.
While there are a number of factors that play into the rise of gluten sensitivity, one of them is the fact that almost all bread today is made with traditional yeast which doesn’t allow the grains to ferment. When you add sourdough starter to a bread dough as one of the ingredients, the grains break down over the long fermentation process making them much easier to digest. This easier digestibility also means that the vitamins and minerals present in the grains are more available to your body. In addition, because sourdough products are fermented, it is a pro-biotic rich food leading to improved gut health.
One Of My Favorite Recipes
Sourdough is healthy – so you can enjoy it guilt free! And if you’re like me, you’ll be finding yourself making sourdough recipes all the time. I have too many favorite sourdough recipes to list, but a go to recipe I make every single week is my 5 ingredient no knead sourdough bread. Be sure to check out that recipe here to get started making your own sourdough bread today!

The Method by Day
- Day 1 – Mix 1 cup flour + 1/2 cup water – set at room temp 24 hours
- Day 2 – Discard half the mixture and refeed 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup water – set at room temp 24 hours
- Day 3 – Repeat Day 2
- Day 4 – Repeat Day 2
- Day 5 – Discard half the mixture and refeed 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup water in the MORNING and in the EVENING – continue to leave the starter at room temp
- Day 6 – Repeat Day 5
- Day 7 – Repeat Day 5

Let me know in the comments below if you decide to make your own sourdough starter! Be sure to tag me in the photo on Instagram @almostheavenhomesteading Also leave a comment below with your experience creating your starter!
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