Hi! Thanks for following along! If you have read the previous post on making your own sourdough starter and decided to give it a shot, you will have a little bowl of flour and water paste after 24 hours. Do not despair, do not give up, magic is happening under the surface.

From day 1 onwards, I switch to feeding the baby starter every 12 hours. I therefore try to plan the feeds around my schedule; and when I say schedule, I really don’t want to be up at 3am feeding my starter. I love sourdough but I love sleep just as much. My usual schedule is 7AM / 7PM.

On Day 1 – AM, you’ll need:

75g of baby starter; discard the rest (see notes also)
75g lukewarm water
25g rye flour
50g white bread flour

Mix the baby starter with the water to dissolve.
Add the flours and combine well, ensuring no dry patches of flour remain.
Move to container / jar, cover and keep for 12 hours in a warm place, away from sunlight and draught.

On Day 1 – PM – repeat the above steps.

Here’s also a few dos and don’ts as you dip your toes into sourdough baking.

• After the day 1 AM & PM refresh, you may come home to a super bubbly baby starter. Please don’t start baking straight away – the starter is nowhere near ready for use and will not be sufficient for bread to rise. You’ll need a minimum of 5 days using these instructions to have a starter that is suitable for baking, so find that patience within and go with the flow of slow cooking. It’ll be worth it.
• However, after either AM or PM feeds, you may find there was no rise at all. It is absolutely normal at this stage to have very little movement or change. Check the bottom of your container – hence why using a clear kilner jar comes in handy – and see if there are any tiny air bubbles forming. Even a single one means the magic is happening.
• You can help your starter along if you keep it in a warm place. This does not mean placing it in a low temperature oven – aim for somewhere where there is constant warmth, like the top of a cupboard, or boiler cabinet. This week, it has been enough to keep my baby on the dining table, but it has been absolutely helped by the awesome heatwave and humidity in London.
• Make sure you discard the leftover baby starter (after using 75g for the refresh each time) – throwing it down the sink drain or down the toilet is absolutely a bad idea, as it will solidify down the pipes. Throw it away with your food waste or even better, compost the heck out of it.
• Finally, you may have noticed my kilner jar has lost its rubber sealing ring somewhere along the way – this was intentional, to ensure there is no tight seal on the jar when closed and to allow the gases that build up inside to trickle out and avoid explosions.

More to come tomorrow. You can also follow me along on Insta or Twitter, for more pics and videos. Until then – happy starter feeding!