How to make a (rye) sourdough starter

My first sourdough starter, named Rye Cooder, was made using the recipe for a "rye sour" (a
starter made with rye flour) in the "Zingerman's Bakehouse" book: they use a shortcut boost of
instant yeast to make the starter instantly active. I kept him going for a few months, but he died
after I neglected to feed him for a couple of weeks.

This freed me to stop debating whether Rye Cooder was a "real" sourdough starter and trying
to confirm that yeast and bacteria from the environment had "taken over." I set aside a week to
make a "real" sourdough starter from thin air using the method in Stanley Ginsberg's "The Rye
Baker" book.

However, this attempt died a flat, stinky death after 5 days. So I thought about what I was doing
and how, looked at the King Arthur Flour website's starter-making method and advice, and
made another attempt. After 7 days, success! Rye Cooder II is still alive and well after about 5
months of feeding, rising and baking.

The obsessive details that follow are from that second, successful attempt. Specifically, it's "The
Rye Baker" rye starter recipe, with King Arthur Flour's method of beginning twice-daily feedings
on the 3rd day. My contribution is a high level of cleanliness throughout the process.
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-starter-recipe

This method makes a rye starter, but the same instructions can be used for a wheat starter. I
am told that in Germany, they use rye starters even when making wheat bread. You can switch
the grain you feed a starter over time, or split off separate rye and wheat starters.

This starter is 100% hydration, meaning that it consists of equal weights (not volumes) of flour
and water. Some starters are wetter or drier than that. (Note also that the water does not
evaporate in a starter or bread dough when proofing. Whatever weight of water goes in is still
in the total weight after proofing.)

1
You will need:
• At least two, 1-qt and/or two, 2-qt plastic food containers with lids, such as Cambro
dough-rising buckets. Translucent or partially see-through buckets are ideal.
• A kitchen scale that weighs in grams, and has a "tare" button (i.e., you can weigh things in
a container after zeroing out the weight of the container)
o Bread-making is most precise and simplest when you weigh ingredients in grams instead of
measuring by volume.
• An instant-read thermometer to check water temperature
• 2 clean plastic spatulas and water to dip them in
• 2 lbs (900 grams) of whole grain rye flour (best: organic).
o I specifically made a rye starter because I make a lot of rye bread recipes, but this should
work with whole grain wheat flour too.
o Whole grain, organic flour is supposed to be best for making a starter because the natural
yeast that hangs out in flour is plentiful in the bran and stuff.
• Tap water at 105°F
• A couple of measuring cups you'll use to weigh the water
• A room that is consistently at 70-72°F
• 7 days
• For fridge storage after it's "born": At least 2 plastic portable locking soup cups, at least 3
cup capacity
o I like plastic buckets and containers instead of glass jars because they're easier to pour into,
mix inside, and clean.

2
Day 1 morning:
• Mix 70 grams of rye flour and 70 grams of water at 105°F in a clean plastic dough bucket.
o I used my 2 qt dough buckets throughout the week, but you could use 1 qt buckets. I liked
having the extra space for air circulation. You'll definitely need the larger ones for specific
recipes.
• Use a spatula dipped in water to mix the flour and water—this helps the mixture not to
stick to the spatula. Use the other spatula, dipped in water, to scrape the bits of
flour/water off the first.
• Scrape up any flour that might adhere to the side of the bucket and mound it all together
into one, thick, pasty mass.
o If using a Cambro 2 qt. container, there won't be enough quantity for it to fill the whole
bottom; mound it in the middle, because you'll want to see its circumference expanding once
it gets going. If using 1 qt containers, you'll see evidence that it's fermenting when the
volume expands in height.
• Put the lid on the bucket, slightly ajar, and weight it down with a small book or something.
• For an added boost of heat in late October, I put the bucket on a plastic stool directly over
a floor vent.
• Leave it alone for 24 hours.
• Wash your spatulas.

Day 2 morning:
• Take 70 grams of the starter culture and put it into a different, clean dough bucket, i.e.
weigh it in the clean bucket on your scale. Throw away the remainder.
• Mix 70 grams of rye flour and 70 grams of water at 105°F into the 70 grams of culture, in
the clean bucket.
• Use 2 clean, wet spatulas when you're weighing, transferring and mixing. Scrape the side
of the bucket to get all of the flour into the mass of culture.
• Put the lid on it, ajar, with weight, put the new bucket in the same warm spot, and leave it
alone for 24 hours.
• Wash the previous bucket so it's clean when you next need it.
• Wash the spatulas or use clean ones the next time.

It will not look like anything is happening in your sour culture for the first 3-4 days.
Nevertheless, you must persist! On Day 3, you will begin feeding it twice a day.

Days 3 through 6, morning:

• Put 70 grams of the starter culture into a different, clean dough bucket, and throw away
the rest.
• Add 70 grams of rye flour and 70 grams of water at 105°F to the 70 grams of culture, in
the clean bucket.
• Use 2 clean, wet spatulas when you're weighing, transferring and mixing, and mounding.
• Put the lid on it, ajar, with weight, put the new bucket in the same warm spot, and leave it
alone for about 12 hours.

3
 • Wash your previous bucket and spatulas.

Days 3 through 6, evening (after work, about 12 hours later):

• Do everything exactly the same as you did in the morning. New clean container, clean
spatulas, discard old culture and add new water/flour, let it sit overnight/about 12 hours,
wash containers/spatulas.

On the 4th day, after the 1st feeding, I saw the culture expand noticeably at the bottom of my 4 qt
bucket after 12 hours.

Day 4 at 1st feeding and after 1st proof

For the next few feedings, it did not show much if any growth. But after the second feeding of the 5th
day, my sour culture expanded consistently every 12 hours.

Day 5 at 2nd feeding and after 2nd proof

4
Day 6 at 2nd feeding and after 2nd proof

My rye starter smelled/smells sweet and clean. It might smell slightly differently the first couple
of days, but when it starts growing consistently, it should smell good, not stinky.

Day 7, morning (final robustness check):

• Put ALL of the starter culture into a different, clean dough bucket—don't throw any away
this time!
• Add 105 grams of rye flour and 105 grams of water at 105°F to the 210 grams of culture,
in the clean bucket.
• Use 2 clean, wet spatulas, etc.
• Use a piece of tape or a label on the outside of the bucket to mark the current height of
the sour culture. Put the lid on it, ajar, with weight, put the new bucket in the same warm
spot, and leave it alone for about 12 hours.
• After 12 hours, you want to see the volume double over the height you marked before.
You should see air pockets/bubbles when looking at the sides and bottom of your
container. This means the yeast is gobbling away and making the carbon dioxide that
makes bread rise.

In my Day 7 feeding, the starter showed dramatic growth in volume and plenty of air pockets on the side
after just 4 hours!

Day 7 feeding, after 4 hours, and after 12 hours

What I think made the difference between the first and second attempt at growing this
starter:
• Always moving it to a clean container at every feeding and using clean spatulas to handle
it. When I kept feeding it and putting it back into the same unwashed container, it got
funky and died.
• Putting it in spacious containers with plenty of air circulation. The first attempt, I tried to
grow it in the smaller soup cup I use for storage, and I don't think it liked those conditions
whatsoever.

Storing your sourdough starter culture:

• Stir it down to reduce it in volume, using wet spatulas.

5
 • Put 300 grams of your culture into a clean soup cup. (1 cup of 100% hydration starter is
about 262 grams.) Snap the lid shut on top and put it in the fridge. A 3-cup soup cup will
give it plenty of headroom should it expand in the fridge.

Feeding your starter weekly and/or before using it in a recipe

If you're not baking bread that week:

• Take the soup cup out of the fridge.
• Stir the starter down in the cup with a wet spatula and then measure 100 grams of starter
out into a 1-qt, clear plastic container (it doesn’t have to be as big as the one used during
“birth week” unless you're specifically trying to grow a larger quantity for a specific
recipe). Throw away the rest.
• Add 100 grams of flour and 100 grams of 105°F water to the starter and stir it all together.
• Mark the level it's at with a piece of tape on the outside of the container.
• Cover it with lid ajar and let it sit for 6 hours or so. You should see it double in volume
with lots of air pockets, if it's healthy.
• If you're not making bread that week, stir down the starter and put all 300 grams of it into
a different, clean soup cup, and put it back in the fridge.
• Note: Your starter can probably survive for a week and a half or even two weeks in the
fridge between feedings, but weekly feeding keeps it healthiest/happiest, in my
experience.

Rye Cooder after a feeding in late March 2020

If you're baking bread:

• The recipe will require that you use some amount of "refreshed" or "woke" sour, meaning
you have fed it as above and it is active. When you feed it, you want to grow enough so
that you have the quantity needed for the recipe, AND enough to put back in the fridge
for the next week.
• So, for example, if you need 300 grams of sour for the recipe and 300 grams to store, you
could feed all 300 grams of the stored sour 150 grams of flour and 150 grams of water, let
it grow for 6-8 hours, and then you've got enough for storage and use. Or, you use only
100 grams of the stored sour (toss the rest), and feed it 250 grams each of flour and
water. Either way would work, it just might take a little longer with less starter.