I’ve maintained the same sourdough starter for years, refreshing it with 20g ripe starter, 100g flour (usually a mix of 50% white flour and 50% whole rye or 50% freshly milled whole wheat), and 100g water (the amount of ripe starter carried over may fluctuate based on the season) twice a day, every day.
While this maintenance routine means I have a strong and lively starter with enough to fuel my larger bakes here at home, keeping a smaller sourdough starter to reduce waste can make sense for those baking in smaller quantities or during times of conservation. This smaller sourdough starter doesn’t imply it’s any less vigorous or powerful; it’s scaled down and uses only one flour variety: all-purpose white flour.
Before we begin, I’m assuming you already have a strong sourdough starter that’s ripening properly each day. If you don’t have one, head over to my guide to creating a sourdough starter from scratch to get this going first.
This post is full of sourdough starter maintenance advice and I try to keep it practical and approachable. If you need more help with creating, maintaining, or you find yourself scratching your head, my sourdough starter frequently asked questions post is replete with information. Or, check out my list of the top 21 sourdough starter problems (with solutions).
Let’s first look at what container I like to use to keep this mini-starter alive and healthy.
The best jar to hold a sourdough starter
Finding the right container to hold this small starter had me turn to my favorite jar: Weck. If you’re a regular reader here, you’ll find them scattered on just about every page, and for good reason. They make jars of all sizes and even some much smaller than the 1/2 liter or 3/4 liter I use for my usual starter.
The Weck 900 Tall Mold Jar – 1/5 Liter jars are perfect for holding this small starter. You can see above how much smaller these jars are smaller than my usual 3/4 liter jars holding my bigger sourdough starter. Inside the jar on the left, you’ll see the small amount of ripe starter I use to keep my culture going—just 5g (more on this below).
I like these jars because they have relatively straight sides, few nooks and crannies for the dough to get stuck into, and the glass lid can rest lightly on top without sealing clamps. Resting the lid in this way lets any gasses escape but keeps unwanted air and other debris from falling inside the jar. Additionally, they’re incredibly strong and easy to clean in the dishwasher.
Read more about why I think Weck jars are the best jars for a sourdough starter →
Smaller Sourdough Starter Refreshment Recipe
I’ve been testing various quantities for this for a while, and the following smaller sourdough starter has been my preferred ratio of ingredients. To scale down your current starter find a small vessel and add the following to it:
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 5g | Ripe sourdough starter | 20% |
| 25g | Water | 100% |
| 25g | All-purpose white flour | 100% |
I keep this smaller starter on my counter at room temperature, around 70-72°F (21-22°C), and it ripens—meaning, it needs another refreshment of fresh flour and water—in about 12 hours.
Smaller Sourdough Starter Ripening
The following images show the progress of my smaller sourdough starter over the course of 12 hours (my normal refreshment interval) at about 72°F (22°C). Click on the gallery to see larger images.
Beginning: At the far left you see the beginning 5g of ripe starter, 25g flour, and 25g water mixed together—there’s not a lot in the jar! But as you see it progress through the day there’s plenty of activity with sensorial cues for when it’s ready to be used and when it needs a refreshment.
Just Before Peak Ripeness: In the third image from the left my starter is at, or very close to, its peak readiness. This was taken around 10 hours after feeding. This peak is when the starter has ample yeast and bacteria growth and is my preferred time to use some of the starter to create a levain or mix it straight into a dough (like focaccia).
Ready for Refreshment: In the last image, the starter has begun to smell very sour, has a very loose consistency, and has started to breakdown further. If you were to stir it, you’d feel the loose consistency and see signs of significant aeration. If you still wanted to bake with your starter at this point it’s still very possible, but know your result might be a bit more on the sour side, and you might see increased fermentation activity.
Be flexible: adjust the amount of ripe starter carried over to lengthen or shorten the refreshment interval (time between refreshments).
The time it takes for your starter to go from just-refreshed to very ripe will vary with the flour used, temperature, and other conditions—adjust as necessary. If it’s ripening too fast, reduce the 5g left in the jar to even less. Conversely, if it’s taking much longer than 12 hours, leave more than 5g until it ripens right when you want it.
Stretching the Refreshment Interval Even Longer
Reducing a starter down quite low helps conserve flour and reduce waste, but using 100% all-purpose flour also helps reduce activity and keep that lengthy interval. If you’re looking to stretch things even farther, reduce the amount of ripe starter left in the jar at each refreshment, all the way down to 1-2g if necessary. If you find your starter is still ripening too fast, keep it in a cooler spot in your kitchen to reduce activity further.
Scaling up: Preparing for Baking
Due to the small quantity of this starter, if the recipe you’re going to bake requires more starter to create a levain or mix directly into a dough, you’ll have to scale up your starter to cover the requirement. Many of the recipes here at my site require very little starter because I typically create a levain (which essentially scales up the pre-ferment, see more on what a levain is here). But in the case where you need a large pre-ferment, let’s look at an example to see how this is done.
Let’s say you wanted to make my sourdough fougasse, which calls for 173g of ripe sourdough starter. When your smaller sourdough starter is ripe it will produce about 55g of starter. You need to scale up your starter at the next refreshment to cover, let’s say, 190g (this way you have a little leftover starter to keep in the jar to keep your culture going with a little buffer).
Add the following to your starter jar (making sure it will hold 190g without overflowing!):
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 17g | Ripe sourdough starter (carryover) | 20% |
| 85g | Water | 100% |
| 85g | All-purpose white flour | 100% |
The above will yield around 187g of ripe starter after 12 hours kept at room temperature.
The key is to keep the same ratio of ingredients in baker’s percentages: 20% starter, 100% water, and as always, 100% flour. In this way, you should expect the same level of activity, time to ripe, and signs for when it’s ready (assuming you’re using the same flour and it’s kept at the same temperature as before), all the while attempting to keep the same balance of bacteria and wild yeast.
Why Not Use the Refrigerator?
A refrigerator is a great tool for slowing your starter’s activity, and it’s sometimes an approach I’ll take for a week or less, but I don’t like to keep my starter in the fridge longer than a week if I’m not traveling. When I take my starter out of the fridge, it takes a day or two to get back up to full strength, and generally, the health of my starter starts to suffer if left unattended for more than a week.
The benefit of maintaining a smaller sourdough starter is the discard at each refreshment is minimal, and my starter is ready—and at full strength—to make bread every day.
When I turn to the fridge, I use my weekend baking schedule to keep feedings to a minimum during the week, but then take it out a few days before baking to ramp it back up and prepare for baking.
The benefit of maintaining a smaller sourdough starter is the discard at each refreshment is minimal, and my starter is ready—and at full strength—to make bread every day.
Why Maintain a Larger Starter?
So with all this, why would one ever maintain a larger sourdough starter instead of just keeping a smaller one to reduce waste?
Over the years, I’ve found keeping around 200g of starter ready to go at any time ideal for the amount of baking I do here at home. In addition, I regularly make sourdough pancakes, sourdough waffles (see the next section), and even a sourdough galette from time-to-time. Having that excess starter almost always gets used in some way, and if it doesn’t directly go into a baked good, the excess sourdough starter goes in my compost pile.
My typical feeding schedule means my starter is at full power and ready to go when I need it for the amount of baking I typically do—but sometimes scaling things back to “maintenance mode” is the right option to ensure I can still bake but in a reduced capacity.
What to do With Starter Discard?
Maintaining this small sourdough starter means much less discard than maintaining a larger starter, but there will always be some discard. One approach is to save up all this discard in one container in the fridge in what I like to call a sourdough starter cache. Then, use all this at once in a starter discard recipe or my sourdough waffles, pancakes, or banana bread at the end of the week.
What’s Next?
If you haven’t tried my simple weekday sourdough bread that’s the next place to turn; with this starter, you can make two loaves of sourdough during the busy work week without having to scale up the starter refreshments. This smaller sourdough starter maintenance routine and that weekday recipe are an effective team: minimal waste, minimal fuss, and healthy sourdough bread any day of the week.
Happy baking!
If you try this smaller sourdough starter, I’d love to see how you use it! Tag @maurizio on Instagram and hashtag your photo #theperfectloaf so I can take a look.
188 Comments
Hi! First time baker here and finally got a sourdough starter that will rise and fall consistently thanks to your guides!
– Is it possible to keep this smaller sourdough in the fridge to extend the refresh time as well?
Hey there! Yes, it can work, but I prefer giving it a room-temp feeding at least every two weeks or so.
I am a little confused about the ratio of starter to feeds, for the amount of time needed to make a mature starter. Here you mention that with a ratio of 1:5:5 the starter is ready for the next feed in 12 hours. However when you make a levain over 12 hrs, you use a ratio of 1:10:10 for the levain to be mixed in the dough 12 hrs later. What ratio should I use, if I want the starter/levain to be ripe for making the dough?
It also depends on the flour you’re using and the temperature it’s kept at… Good Q! I use 1:5:5 here to ensure the starter is plenty ripe by morning time.
I apologize if someone has already asked this, but is it best to use organic flours to feed your starter or does it matter? Also, do you feel that using different types of flour to feed negatively affects its strength? I generally use organic bread & rye or build a 100% organic rye. Btw, I had great results with your stiff starter bread recipe. Thanks, Maurizio, for your time and sharing your knowledge.
It doesn’t have to be organic, no. You can really use any flour you’d like! (Sorry for the late reply 🙂)
I never have discard. I keep 40-50g in a Bonne Maman jam jar in the fridge. The day before I bake I take the starter out of the fridge, add 55g flour and 55g water, stir it, and leave on the counter for 4-6 hours.
When the levain has doubled, I mix my dough (375g water, 10g salt, 100g levain, 500g flour). I let it rise with 4 folds at 30 minute intervals. After the last fold I let it rise in the bowl for 3-5 hours. Then I shape and put in a banneton in the fridge to rise overnight. The next morning I bake it at 450F in a Dutch oven, 20 minutes covered, 20 minutes uncovered.
After mixing the dough, I put the jam jar back in the fridge. Some of the levain sticks to the utensils so there is about 40g left in the jar for next time.
Thanks for the comments, Phillip! Really interesting process and it sounds like it’s working quite well for you. I’ve never been able to use my starter so close to taking it out of the fridge, but I do know other bakers who have. I always say, do what works for you (and your starter) 🙂 Happy baking!
Maurizio! You are awesome! Everything you share is detailed, well-explained, makes total sense! I just bought your book and it is, let me just say – NOT A DISAPPOINTMENT! Thank you for all things delicious bread.
Thanks so much Jay, I really appreciate that!!
I usually keep it in the fridge for up to a week, then use it all on the weekend.
Yes, I’d still use bottom shelf for baking!
Great post! It is just my wife and me at home now, so this will save me waste and supplies.
You’re very welcome!
I’ve had a starter for over two years but due to negligence I end up having to start all over again. I followed the seven step guide and I keep getting zero results the very first day with the rye I end up having a triple in size but second third and fourth day nothing at all no growth whatsoever. I decided to try it all over again and this time I got zero growth on all days. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I’ve been using the same flour and water that I’ve used all along. And I have it in about 72 to 74°F temperature. Any thoughts? I’m about to try it for the third time this upcoming week to see if I get different results.
Hey, Andy! It’ll likely be different every time you do this… Just totally different conditions and circumstances every time. I would say try to warm your water to 80F when you do this, that way things should pick up faster (warmer temps encourage increased fermentation activity). Also, you might want to pick up a gallon of filtered spring water from your market and also use that.
Also, have a read through my starter FAQ—lots of tips and help there, too!
Thx for the reply. I used water filtered in my Berkey water filter and I warm it to the low 80’s. I’ll check the faq’s and see if I missed something.
Fantastic!
Ok I have started again this time with 50/50 ap and whole wheat flour. Day two it doubled so I think now I am on a good path.
Hi Maurizio –
I keep my starter in the frig and refresh weekly. After adding flour/water mixture should I keep it out of the frig for a few hours to start fermentation before returning it to the frig?
I like to do that, yes.
Hi Maurizio,
I followed your suggestion for a smaller starter and it rises and falls nicely and it smells good. I use Rye flower in combination with Spelt-Flour (Dinkel). Now the only thing I am wondering about, why my starter doesn’t show those nice bubbles? I also was a bit disappointed with my sourdough pizza, since my starter did not rise the dough enough. What should I do to strengthen the starter? I would appreciate your comments. Greetings Dagmar
It’s totally okay if you don’t see big bubbles, as long as you’re seeing strong signs of fermentation each day it’ll be just fine. The bubbles are somewhat a factor of the flour you’re using, a stronger flour will likely show larger bubbles.
My expensive flour necessitates a small ferment and subsequent discard. I keep 60 g in the fridge. The only thing is that three days prior to baking, build your starter.
Sounds like a good plan to me, Dave.
During the first year of the pandemic when both commercial yeast and flour were sometimes in short supply, Andrew Jianjigian at Cook’s Illustrated developed a similar method of keeping a small starter going. He called it the Quarantiny Starter Project. His refreshment routine was 10:10:10 twice a day — only 30 grams total, but I tried it and it works.
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/2268-make-your-own-mini-sourdough-starter-with-the-quarantinystarter-project?incode=MCSCD00L0&ref=new_search_experience_4
I love Andrew’s writing and methodology. Yes, that works too!
Hi Maurizio!
I’ve tried two of your bread recipes with your starter, and everything was perfect and delicious.
But since i’ve started to maintain a smaller amount of starter (it’s been one week), it didn’t ripen well and didn’t rise at all, but i can see some small bubbles.
But today i have to make 2 loaves of bread, should i go and use it anyway?
I would have used it!
Hi Maurizio!
What is your advice to make small loaves? Like 250/300 g in weight…good for two people? How can I scale down the recipe and the time to achieve a good loaf using small amounts?
Hey there! You could halve any of the two-loaf recipes here (halve all the ingredients), then divide that dough into two smaller loaves and bake those. Baking smaller loaves typically means a reduction in the total bake time due to the smaller size.
Found your Web site this morning and have been reading your posts for around an hour now.
Firstly, thank you so much for the effort you have put in to this.
I recently got a small piece of a starter from a local bakery, fed it up over a week and last night / this morning, made my first loaf (about to go cut into it now….. VERY EXCITED!). I bake once a week, so I’m opting to keep my starter in the fridge and bring back to life a day or so before my baking day (currently thinking Friday is proving and Saturday morning is baking).
But, my question is, why do we discard some of the starter when feeding / refreshing?
I see everyone say to do it, but I can’t seem to find anyone really talking in any detail about this. Why fo we need to do it? What happens if we don’t? Can you get away with out discarding?
Might be over thinking this, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks again 😊
Hey, Tom! Glad to hear my site has helped. Discarding isn’t always necessary, it kind of depends on your refreshment schedule. That “discard” can actually be seen as a preferment you can use in a bake instead of discarding it, but if you aren’t baking that day, then some of the starter does have to be discarded to make room for fresh flour and water (new food, if you will).
Check out my starter FAQ for a longer answer to your Q, and more! Happy baking 🙂
Maurizio, love the website! Quick question. I notice you use AP flour here but then mention blends of Rye, AP, and Whole Wheat in the other Starter Maintenance guides. any reason you wouldn’t use a 50/50 blend here for whole wheat or do 75% AP with 25 Rye?
Thank you, Armando! That will work also. My goal with this post was to lengthen the refreshment cycle as long as possible with as little flour as possible. I find to do that, using 100% ap works best as it results in the least acidity built up over time. However, you can certainly use any blend you’d like, just keep an eye on your starter and refresh it as needed!
I’ve found that I can keep starter active in the fridge indefinitely by feeding it when I take some out to use. I usually keep about 1 cup in the fridge. I’ll take out the portion I want, and then I mix in equal portions of water and flour, and then put it back in the fridge. When I am ready to use it in a week, it’s already active and happy- ready to use. I never discard any at all.
I’ve spoken to many other bakers who take this approach as well! For me, I prefer to have mine working at room temp for a while before I use it to bake with, but whatever works!
I started my sourdough journey with Tartine and they use are 50% inoculation, whereas you use a 20%. Is there a reason for the difference or is it preference? Can I switch from 50 to 20 without issues?
I find mine ripens too fast if I carry over too much starter, 50% usually ripens for me in 5-8 hours. At 20%, I can go a full 12 hours without my starter becoming overly acidic for the style of bread I’m after!
Your approach sounds totally fine, Jerry! Your cool kitchen and small starter carryover should be perfect for a cool kitchen!
Hi Maurizio. Firstly, thank you for this blog. I love it.
As you suggested, with 5g of starter, it takes longer than 12 hours for it to peak.
If I increase the starter volume to more than 5g, should I also increase the flour and water volume? And if so, what is the ratio?
You’re very welcome! If you want it to ripen faster, then no, don’t increase the flour and water when you increase the starter. To ripen faster you want to increase the percentage of starter with respect to the flour and water (this will speed things up). Hope that helps!
Make sense… :p Thanks again!
Hi Maurizio,
I started my sourdough around 6 days ago, and although I’m getting some sour smells there are not too many bubbles and I’m getting very little or no rise at all. I feed it every ca 24 hours, and while feeding and discarding it feels a bit frothy (and floats okay when dropped in water). What signs should I look for when I want to bake? Does the starter need to rise, and by how much?
Bianca—usually I like to look for consistent signs of fermentation each day: some amount of rise, nice and bubbly on top, a change in aroma from sweet to progressively more sour. But that consistency is key. It usually takes around 7 days, so you might be in the clear now. Do try to keep your starter warm if you can, 78F would be ideal. Hope that helps!
Someone help! I fed my starter too early! It was day 3, and I thought it was day 4!!! Is it ruined?
Not ruined! Just stick to the creation guide, it’ll be just fine 🙂
Hi Maurizio,
Thanks a bunch for everything on this website! I have been creating an overnight levain from a rye starter for your high and higher hydration loaves. But recently have started an all purpose 100% starter which is almost overactive. I am feeding a 1:15:15 ratio starting with 5g starter and it is starting to drop after about 9 hours. For your high hydration loaves would you recommend that I use even less starter, perhaps 2g for my overnight wholewheat levain so it doubles in about 10-12 hours? or could I just use a younger levain with a larger amount of start and let it peak in about 4 hours?
Thanks!
Either way will work, Alex! I prefer to use less starter to slow the process down.
Right on! I have so, so many Weck jars here (all the ones you listed) and use them for everything. When I make pesto I freeze leftover in those tulip jars covered with OO. I jar jams and jelly with the smaller jars. I use the larger ones for stock in the freezer… The list goes on.
Hello Maurizio. I’m so delighted that I have found your site with such a detailed information and very nice receipts 🙂 Thank you very much for sharing it!
I have my rye flour starter keeping at the table at 26-28C and feeding it once in 24hrs. The ratio is 3:20:25 (starter/water/flour). when I open the lid, the smell is a bit acidic, but it evaporates within several seconds. When I use it for bread baking, I do 2 refreshments every 12-15 hours.
Mu question is if that’s OK to keep healthy starter this way? Thanks!
That sounds fine to me. In the end, though, whether it’s working for you or not is whether the resulting bread tastes great! If you like how it’s performing, the flavor and texture of the result, I’d say it’ll do just fine 🙂 But yes, generally I like to keep the leftover starter in the jar low when pushing the duration, as long as it’s always used when ripe to make a levain (or use directly in a dough).