Hello all you sourdough bread fans! In order to make sourdough bread, you need an active starter. Below, you will find written and recorded instructions on how to feed and store your sourdough bread starter so you can make some amazing bread!

Materials:
Glass jar with a lid (parchment paper can be used instead of a lid)
Measuring cups
Thermometer (that measures the surface)
Spatula

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Bob Red Mill unbleached bread flour
1/4 cup filtered water around 85° F

How to feed a sourdough bread starter:
Add 1/2 cup of unbleached bread flour to the jar with active sourdough bread starter in it. Measure a 1/4 a cup of water that is around 85°F (>80°F but <90°F). If the water temperature is too cold or too hot, the starter will not survive. Pour the water into the jar with starter already in it and stir with a spatula. A 2:1 ratio of bread flour to water is sufficient if you make bread 1-2x per week. If you are just starting out, you may want to feed your starter for a few days before attempting making bread. You may need to adjust the bread flour to water ratio, depending how often you make bread. The starter will grow after each feeding.

If you are a visual learner, you can place a rubber band around the jar at the level of the starter amount after a feeding and watch it grow overtime. The starter level will fluctuate which is normal (rise hours after a feeding and dip hours before the next feeding.

Try to feed your starter at the same time every day.

How to store a sourdough bread starter
Place the jar with the active sourdough bread starter in a temperature-controlled environment after feeding. Cover the jar loosely with a lid or a piece of parchment paper. Keep it there in between feedings. The microwave is a good place to store the starter as it is neither too hot or too cold. If the starter is stored in too cold or too hot of an environment, it will not survive.