Beginner · English
Your first sourdough starter
Make a starter from flour and water in seven days, and keep it alive for years.
What you'll learn
- Make a sourdough starter from flour and water in about a week
- Know what a healthy starter looks, smells and behaves like
- Tell when your starter is strong enough to bake with
- Keep a starter alive in the fridge with one feed a week
- Bring a neglected starter back to life
Course content
2 sections · 6 lessons · 15 min in all
Making your starter4 lessons · 8 min
Seven days from a spoonful of flour to a starter that doubles.
- Reading: What a starter isPreview: What a starter is2 min
- Reading: Days one to three: flour, water, waiting2 min
- Reading: Days four to seven: feeding until it doubles2 min
- Reading: Is it ready?2 min
Living with your starter2 lessons · 7 min
Keeping it healthy between bakes, and what to do when it isn’t.
- Reading: Keeping it alive2 min
- Quiz: Starter check5 min
Requirements
- Wholemeal or rye flour, and strong white bread flour
- A clean jar of about 500 ml, kitchen scales and a spoon
- No baking experience needed
About this course
Every sourdough loaf begins with a starter: a jar of flour and water that wild yeast and bacteria have made their home. Making one takes about a week and almost no work, but most first attempts are given up on day three, just when they look as if they’re failing.
This course takes you through it day by day, so you know what you should be seeing and when. You’ll learn what a starter actually is, how to feed it, how to tell when it’s strong enough to raise a loaf, and how to keep it going for years with a few minutes a week.
- Seven days, about five minutes a day
- Flour, water and a jar: nothing special to buy
- A short check at the end, so you know you’re ready for your first loaf
Who this course is for
- Anyone who wants to bake sourdough and doesn’t have a starter yet
- Bakers whose last starter went quiet, mouldy or smelled strange
Your instructor
Ailsa Barr
Founder and head baker
Ailsa has baked bread for a living for fifteen years, ten of them on the night shift at a Leith bakery, before starting Proof Bread School to teach the home bakers who kept asking her why their loaves came out flat. She teaches the way she learned: by weight, by feel, and by watching the dough rather than the clock. Her own starter has been fed every day since 2014.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need special flour?
No. Any wholemeal or rye flour from the supermarket will do for the first days; it carries more wild yeast than white flour. After that, you can feed with strong white bread flour or keep using wholemeal.
What if my kitchen is cold?
It will take longer, that’s all. Below about 20 °C a starter can take ten to fourteen days instead of seven. Find the warmest spot you have, such as on top of the fridge or near (never on) a radiator.
Is the course really free?
Yes. Make an account, start the course, and it’s yours to keep.
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