Grow Your Own Sourdough Starter

Grow Your Own Sourdough Starter
A simple 14-day practice to grow your own sourdough starter – with care, consistency, and presence.
By Maya Khoury

🌾What You’ll Need:
– Flour (organic, unbleached – rye, spelt, or plain all work)
→ Use the same type of flour you plan to bake with to feed your starter daily.
– Water (filtered, or tap water left uncovered in the sun for 12 hours to allow chlorine to evaporate)
– A clean glass jar
– A spoon
– Patience and presence

The Process:
Each day, at around the same time:

• Day 1:
  – Mix 1 TBSP flour + 1 TBSP water in your jar. Stir until smooth.
  – Cover loosely with a cloth or lid (not airtight).
  – Leave on your countertop.
• Days 2-14:
  – Every day, add 1 TBSP flour + 1 TBSP water. Stir well.
  – Observe: bubbles, smell, texture. Your starter is alive.
  
  🫙If your jar starts to overflow, you can discard some of the mixture – or use it to make sourdough crêpes or pancakes.
  
• By Day 7-10, you may notice bubbles, a sour smell, and rising action.
• By Day 14, it has usually built enough strength and maturity to give your dough a good, predictable rise. Your starter is ready to use 🤍

🧡Notes & Tips:
– 🥣Use the same type of flour to feed your starter. If you plan to bake with a different
type of flour, feed the starter with that new flour for 3 days before baking, so it adjusts.
– Store your starter in the fridge.
– When you’re ready to bake, take your starter out of the fridge:
→ If it’s been a few days to a month, feed once, let it rise, and bake once it’s active and bubbly.
→ If it’s been about 2 months, feed it twice before using.
→ If it’s been 3+ months, feed it three times before using.
– 🌿Store your starter in the back of the fridge when not in use.
❄ In the fridge, the starter rests. It can stay dormant for months.
– It can last a lifetime if you keep feeding it when needed.

⏳Don’t worry if you miss a day or two while building it. Just pick up where you left off.
Sourdough is forgiving.

From Starter to Soul:
There’s a quiet medicine in this work. Slowing down. Paying attention. Creating
something alive with your own hands. Let it be your reminder that you have the power
to create, transform, and alchemise through the power of your presence.