Rye Sourdough Starter is – by far – the easiest sourdough to start. All you need is rye flour and water.
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My mother kept a sourdough starter when I was young, and the pancakes and bread she made are now a treasured food memory. It’s time to continue the tradition.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It takes about 5 days to establish a new Rye Sourdough Starter. Once established, Starter can easily be converted to a white or whole wheat flour starter: it all depends on what kind of flour you choose to use going forward.
How to Make Rye Sourdough Starter
Rye Sourdough Starter is – by far – the easiest sourdough to start. All you need is rye flour and water.
- The Flour: I use Bob’s Red Mill Organic Dark Rye Flour.
- The Water: Best Practices – use distilled water.
What does 100% hydration mean?
This Rye Sourdough Starter is a what is referred to in the sourdough world as a “100% hydration starter.” A 100% hydration sourdough starter is a sourdough culture which is kept and fed with equal weights of water and flour. (For example, 2.25 ounces water to 2.25 ounces of flour.)
By contrast, a 166% hydration starter is fed with equal volumes of flour and water. For example, 1/2 cup of water (4 ounces) to 1/2 cup flour (2.25 ounces).
A Note about Water: When I made this starter the first time, I used plain old tap water, and everything bubbled up just fine.
Nevertheless, many sourdough professionals discourage the use of tap water in favor of distilled water, as the chlorine and other chemicals found in treated water can kill the microorganisms that need to flourish to create sourdough.
I now use distilled water for all my sourdough, but I wanted to share my experience with tap water because unless your city uses an excessive amount of chlorine in your water supply, it’s not a deal-breaker. (If you would rather use tap water, but want to remove at least some of the chlorine, there are a couple of ways you can dechlorinate water at home.)
Keep your Starter Cozy, Not Sweltering
According to those aforementioned sourdough pros, 70°-80° F [21° – 27° C] is the ideal temperature range at which to keep your sourdough starter.
If I am actively using my starter on a regular basis, I keep it on my kitchen counter near my stove. (I’ve also had good luck in the past keeping it on top of the fridge.) If I am taking a break from sourdough baking, I let my starter chill in the fridge.
If kept below 70°F [21°C], the natural yeast in the starter incubates very slowly; above 80°F [27°C], the starter will tend to ferment alcoholically, which is not desirable. NEVER leave the starter in direct sun.
Troubleshooting: If you ever forget your starter in the back of the fridge and it looks scary when you take it out, be sure to check out The Lazy Caretaker’s Guide to Sourdough.
Get a kitchen scale!
If you don’t already own a kitchen scale, now might be the time to get one – and this is coming from someone who usually measures everything by pinch and palm!
I honestly don’t know how I ever lived without a good kitchen scale. Weighing the water and flour for your sourdough starter keeps the hydration consistent, which in turn gives you more consistent results in your cooking and baking. (I don’t even use measuring cups anymore when I make bread – I weigh everything!)
How to Make Rye Sourdough Starter
Rye Sourdough Starter is – by far – the easiest sourdough to start. All you need is rye flour and water.
[100% Hydration Starter]
Materials
Tools
- Wooden Spoon
- Kitchen Scale
Instructions
Day 1 - - 2 ¼ ounces rye flour + 2 ¼ ounces water
Using a wooden spoon, mix the rye flour and water in a mason jar or non-reactive bowl. Cover loosely and place in a dark place at 70°F for 24 hours. (I put mine up against the counter right next to my stove.) 
Your unfermented Starter will be the consistency of thick cook dough. It will loosen up over time.
Day 2 - - 2 ¼ ounces rye flour + 2 ¼ ounces water
Add the rye flour and water to the starter. Mix with a clean wooden spoon for 30 seconds until the flour has been incorporated. Cover loosely and place in a dark place at 70°F for 24 hours. 
Day 3 - - 1 ⅛ ounces rye flour + 1 ⅛ ounces water
Add the rye flour and water to the starter. Mix with a clean wooden spoon for 30 seconds until the flour has been incorporated. Cover loosely and place in a dark place at 70°F for 24 hours. 
Day 4 - - 1 ⅛ ounces rye flour + 1 ⅛ ounces water
If bubbles have started to form and the flour has begun to ferment, discard ⅔ of the mixture in the jar. Add the flour and water to the remaining ⅓ and mix for 30 seconds until the flour is well incorporated. (If the mixture has not started to ferment repeat step 3.) 
Day 5
The starter should be mature by this point and is ready to use. Use the starter as needed. After use, see feeding instructions. 
If you want to convert your starter to a white flour or whole wheat Starter, you may begin feeding it with all-purpose flour from this point on.
Notes
Weekly feeding (or every time starter gets used):
Healthy Starter can be refrigerated for up to a week between feedings. (Honestly, I often leave it FAR longer with no problems.) However, most sourdough experts recommend feeding Sourdough Starter at least twice a week for best results.
This is a 100% Hydration starter. A 100% hydration sourdough starter is a sourdough culture which is kept and fed with equal weights of water and flour. (If you don’t have a kitchen scale, that equates to about 2/3 to 3/4 cup of water for every cup of flour.)
The amount you feed your sourdough starter depends on how much of it you have to start with. You want to approximately double your starter each time you feed it. So, for example, if you have 8 ounces of Starter, you will feed it 4 ounces of water and 4 ounces of flour.
If, however, you have more starter on hand than you anticipate using for baking, you can toss (or share!) a cup or more of Starter and then double what remains.You always want to have at least 8 ounces of Starter after baking to keep the process going.
- Always use a wooden spoon to stir when you feed your Starter. (Never allow metal to come in contact with your sourdough starter.)
- Always leave enough room in your Sourdough Jar for the Starter to triple in size! (It usually only doubles, but you want to leave some wiggle room!)
- Allow the starter rest in a dark 70°F place for 12 hours and then place in the refrigerator if you will not be using it in the next 24 hours.
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What should I do with my Starter if I want to bake with it?
First, you need a mature Starter. Then you need to determine if your recipe calls for Fed, Active, Ripe, Unfed Starter or Discard. (For example, my Easy Sourdough Bread recipe calls for Unfed Starter).
Stages of a Healthy Sourdough Starter
- Fed Starter – Fed Starter is active, healthy starter that has been fed within about 2 hours. By hour 2, it will be producing little bubbles on the surface.
- Active Starter – Starter is Active about 5 hours after feeding. By hour 5, you should be able to watch large bubbles actively rising through the Starter and making their way to surface.
- Ripe Starter – Starter is considered Ripe about 8 hours after feeding. The volume has doubled, and the top is just beginning to show signs of sagging under its own weight.
- Unfed Starter – Unfed Starter is healthy, vigorous Starter that has not been fed for 12 hours or more. By hour 12, it collapsed after Ripening, and is ready to be fed again or put in the fridge until next time. (Note that this is NOT neglected Starter that hasn’t been fed in days.)
- Discard – Sourdough discard is the portion of your sourdough starter that you get rid of when you do a feeding. It should be healthy and vigorous, with some small bubbling activity.
NOTE: Many recipes, including most bread recipes, call for feeding your starter the night before and using it in the morning. When you do this, you are technically using Ripe or Unfed Starter, depending upon the vigor of your starter and how much time elapses between last feeding and usage.
DID YOU KNOW? You don’t need a special recipe to sourdough starter. Nearly all of your favorite yeast bread recipes can be adapted to use sourdough starter, as can many quick breads.
Covering your Starter
I thought I’d close this post with an important piece of advice: NEVER use a solid lid to cover your Sourdough Starter!
The natural fermentation process creates gas, and that gas need to have a place to go, so you need to cover your container with something that will allow some of that gas to escape.
I have successfully used all of the following methods:
- Rubber Band and a clean cloth. Not pretty, but it works.
- Mason jar ring and a piece of clean cloth. I usually use muslin in this case.
- Pickle Pipes (or other lid designed for fermentation)
I discovered Pickle Pipes about a year ago, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! For the money, they are (IMHO) the best solution for the job. (Just to clarify, this is NOT a Sponsored post.)
-
- Pickle Pipes feature one-way airlocks that vent gas automatically so they require no burping or babysitting.
- Prevent spoilage by releasing the gas that builds up during the fermentation process.
- Some people like to call them Pickle Nipples, which is fun to say. (Try it 3 times fast… and GO!)
- They prevent oxygen and airborne contaminants from getting inside.
- They are food-safe. (e.g., BPA-free, no phthalates)
- They are Dishwasher-safe.
Easy Sourdough Recipes & Advice for Beginners
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UPDATED: Originally published September 14, 2015
With the cooler temperature this week I can’t believe you’re holding out on some comforting Spaetzle recipe!! Can’t wait to read it!
I’m not much of a baker, but the science behind everything we eat is so interesting! Looking forward to see the recipe come to life!
Confession: I’ve never thought about or attempted a sourdough starter, but I am bookmarking this! I love how you lay out each step in easy to follow directions. I’m looking forward to that spaetzle recipe!
Oh! Have you made rye sourdough pancakes using this? I’m intrigued to know how that tastes!
Man, sourdough scares me. But, then, bread scared me and that’s turned out to be dead easy.
Yes! I’ve been not-so-patiently awaiting baking weather, and sourdough will be a perfect project. You might see vegetarian spaetzle from my kitchen soon…
I agree with Cyra, this totally scares me but I love sourdough…ugh might have to face my fear…
http://www.dawnehanks.com
Wow, this post is chock-full of details on making a sourdough starter. I had no idea metal could ruin a starter!
Does anyone have baking instructions for this bread?
Amanda, you can use it like any other sourdough starter. I have an easy sourdough bread recipe on the blog here → Kaylen’s Bread; however, I posted this recipe as a lead-in to my Rye Sourdough Spaetzle with Caramelized Cipollini & Sautéed Mushrooms, which is delicious.
First of all, your amazing and I appreciate the step by step! I’ve made starter twice now just to get the hang of it. I made my first load of 100% rye sourdough last week and it was awesome. But I had to use ALL of my starter because after discarding 2/3 of it, I only had 1 cup left which is what the recipe called for. Why is it important to discard 2/3 of my starter? Can I just use 2/3 instead of throwing it away? I’ve had lots of success with my starter and am very excited to experiment some more with it. Thanks for sharing your method!!
So glad it is working for you! Honestly, as far as I know, discarding it is just a way of making sure you don’t end up having it take over your fridge or countertop, so of course you can use it as apposed to throwing it out. If you keep it and don’t use it, however, you do have to keep the ratio of new to old correct, so you will have to add more flour and water.
I have a similar question; basically, my confusion with maintaining the starter starts with the discard, does the 2/3 have to be taken out at all? Is the purpose exclusively to keep the amount of the starter manageable? I plan to make quite a few loaves at once so I’d like to build the amount of starter I have from the beginning of the process if that makes sense.
Thank you for the tips!
Short answer:Yes, you need to discard before feeding your starter. However, you can build up your starter slowly to what amounts to double or even triple the amount, and then make loaves regularly to your heart’s content
Long answer : This post, Why Discard Starter: A Mathematical View, explains why it is important to discard a portion of your starter before feeding it far better than I can. Hope this helps.
I have a mason jar with a metal lid. Is it ok to use as long as it doesn’t touch the starter? And if I just screw it on loosely will it allow enough circulation, or should I use cheesecloth and twine instead?
I use a very old mason jar with a loose lid, and it works fine. Just be sure not to “seal” the jar with the lid.
Thank you! Looking forward to trying this!
Thanks for this recipe, I’m so exciting to try it! Do you have a favorite Rye Sourdough Bread recipe that you use it with? Thanks!
Thank you for reading! I’m still searching to the “ultimate” sourdough rye bread. I’ll be sure to post it when I figure it out though.
My starter seems to be separating- there is a dark liquid at the top. Is this normal or should I discard?
Don’t discard it yet. Usually, the liquid in a dormant or neglected starter will start to turn gray. (Warning: If it has mold on top or smells putrid, throw it away.) Search “Reviving a dormant or neglected starter” and you will find some good advice. Good luck!
When you “discard” the 2/3 – can they be used for anything?
Hi:) so I finally made the starter, but it looks too dry, and looks like there’s not enough water for it too ferment. What did yours look look like on day 1?
If by dry, you mean thick, then yes – on the first day, the starter mix does appear much thicker than it does once the natural yeast has a chance to start working. If I remember right, on the first day, the consistency is a lot like old-fashioned school paste. That being said, if after a day it still seems too thick, just add a little bit of extra water to get things moving.
Ok thank you! It was bubbly today but still a bit thick so did add some more and will see how it is tomorrow.
It does smell really sttrong aswell which I’m guessing is normal especially since I’m milling my own flour?
OK… you’re milling your own flour: that may affect the water absorption, which would impact the density of the mix. Just a theory.
And yes, your starter should have a distinct, sourdoughy scent; however, it should not be off-putting. From what I’ve read, hand-milled flours can introduce undesirable wild yeasts that can ruin your sourdough (as opposed to the “desirable” wild yeast you are looking for). This isn’t to say you shouldn’t use it: just that doing so may take a bit more investigation into the process. Perhaps you could Search for more advice on “home-milled flour sourdough starter” and see what helps. I wish I had more advice to offer; unfortunately, while I’ve milled my own flour on occasion, I have no experience with it in regard to sourdough maintenance. Best of luck, Serena
I am confused for weekly feeding amounts.
It says follow day 4 which is 1 1/8 each water and flour but it also says 3oz each.
Made Soft pretzels for thanksgiving they were delicious with everything bagel seasoning.
Thanks for the question, Colleen. I’ve updated the recipe card: hopefully it is more clear now. Basically, on Day 4, you are still building your starter, so feed it with 1 1/8 ounces water and flour. The 3oz refers to the regular weekly feeding, after your starter has been established.
What about the starter having to double in size, noting the rise and fall of the starter? What about the float test to determine if your starter is ready to bake with? How do you know for sure that the starter is mature? This is seriously my tenth attempt at creating a sourdough starter and I’m praying that your recipe is the one!
I hope so too, Lisa.
I cannot imagine what is happening that would make ten sourdough starters fail. I’m sure you’ve already checked these things, but just in case, here are a few troubleshooting thoughts: First, rye flour has an expiration date, after which it can go bad on the shelf quickly. Be sure that the rye flour you are using to create your starter is fresh. Also, be sure the water you are using is free of chlorine. If you live in a town that chlorinates their water, it is imperative that you allow the water to set out for a day or two so the chlorine can dissipate before you use it to feed your starter.
Those are really the only two things I can think of that could be impeding your sourdough’s progress.
As for when it is ready: I know some people do float tests and watch their starter rise and fall like a baby taking its first steps, and that works for them. There is nothing wrong with any of it. However, I’ve always done sourdough rather intuitively, as the instructions here reflect. A starter is mature five or six days after it begins; when it is vigorous and bubbly and “smells like sourdough.” Depending on the time of year, the weather, the vessel, and the temperature on your kitchen counter, it can take up to eight days for a starter to really get going, which is also fine. After the initial build-up, and with regular feeding, a healthy starter will be ready to bake with in 8-12 hours after feeding. It’s really as simple as that.
When you get that starter going, be sure to check out our Easy Sourdough Bread recipe. It’s a very forgiving, total beginner step-by-step recipe: nothing fancy, but you’ll end up with a delicious loaf of bread, and understand the sourdough process a bit more without a lot of frustration.
Thanks, Renee! I’m on Day 2 and so far so good. I’ll let you know how it goes.