How to Make a Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
Have you always wanted to make your own gluten-free sourdough bread? First, you’ll need to learn How to Make a Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter! All it takes is gluten-free flour, water, and time.
So you want to make gluten-free sourdough bread? And all sorts of gluten-free sourdough discard treats?? Well, before you start, you’ll need your very own gluten-free sourdough starter! Though creating a sourdough starter from scratch takes about one to two weeks with daily maintenance, it is super easy and only takes a few minutes each day.
What is sourdough? Is all sourdough gluten-free?
Sourdough bread is a type of bread that is made with a sourdough starter, which is a combination of flour, water, and naturally-harnessed wild yeasts. Creating the sourdough starter culture is done through a process of fermentation, and that sourdough starter is used as the leaver for our gluten-free sourdough bread! Not all sourdough is gluten-free though, so it’s important to make sure you use gluten-free flours to create a gluten-free sourdough bread.
Not all sourdough is necessarily super sour! You can make it have a more sour flavor with a longer ferment, but if you do a short ferment, you can also make it taste not very sour. It’s up to your personal preference! A major plus of eating sourdough is the health benefits. Because sourdough is a fermented food, many people find it helps their gut health by improving their gut flora and microbiome. It’s also easier to digest than other breads, which can have a lot of additives.
The Science of a Sourdough Starter
As I mentioned above, a sourdough starter is made up of flour and water – that’s all. So how exactly does that mixture turn into a living thing that will help your bread rise? Through a process of fermentation, and harnessing the wild yeast and beneficial microbes that are in the air and all around us.
The yeast and microbes in your starter feed on flour, which then turns the starch and sugars in the flour into lactic acid and acetic acid, which is what gives the “sour” to your sourdough bread. It also improves the shelf life and the texture of the bread! The yeasts and microbes also create carbon dioxide. Those carbon dioxide bubbles are what helps your starter to bubble and grow, and gives your sourdough bread a light, fluffy crumb.1
This process works the same way for a traditional gluten-filled sourdough starter and a gluten-free sourdough starter, but they don’t look or feel quite the same.
Ingredients & Supplies for your Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
This process is pretty simple, but it does require one to two weeks of feeding and nurturing to get to a point where you’re ready to bake! There are only two (well, three) ingredients needed for your gluten-free sourdough starter. Since they’re so few, each one is important.
- Flour: since this is our only true “ingredient”, it’s important! You’ll want to use whole grain gluten-free flour – something like brown rice flour, buckwheat flour, sorghum flour, or millet flour. Do NOT use a gluten-free flour blend, which can contain starches, gums, and other additives that you don’t want in your starter. You’ll want to have about 3 lbs. of flour on hand to get your starter going. For some reason, quinoa flour acted oddly for me and created a very runny starter. I wouldn’t recommend it based on my experience.
- Water: I recommend always using filtered water for feeding your starter, as water that is high in chlorine (which a lot of city tap water is) can impede the growth of the bacteria, and therefore impede your starter’s growth.
- Air/Time in a Warm Location: the ambient air in your house is what will feed your starter and give it the bacteria it needs to grow. As your starter ferments, it will collect “wild yeast” from the air. It’s best to keep your starter relatively warm to help it grow.
- Glass Container/Jar: mine is about a quart. I find that to be a pretty perfect size for a mature starter. Make sure it’s not too small, or your starter may expand past the top and make a mess. You’ll need a lid for your jar, or a clean tea towel, and a rubber band.
- Kitchen Scale: you’ll need a scale for all of your bread-making, including weighing out your starter feeds.
- Wooden Spoon or Whisk
Items you’ll need for Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
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How to Make A Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
Full instructions are listed in the recipe card below, but here’s a run down to get extra familiar with the process.
Days One and Two: twice a day feedings
In the morning, combine 50g flour and 50g room temperature water in your clean jar. If you’re using an absorbent type of flour, you may need a little bit more water. You’re looking for a thick paste-like consistency. Scrape down the sides of the jar and close lightly, not fully sealed but covered. You can also cover it with a tea towel and a rubber band to hold it in place. Leave in a slightly warm place overnight. I keep mine on the counter, but don’t place next to a drafty window or anything! I also like to put a rubber band on the jar at the line where the starter is so I can track any rise.
Repeat at night before you go to bed (about 12 hours later), adding 50g more of each flour and water to the jar. Stir, and scrape down. We’re doing twice a day feedings in the beginning to help strengthen the starter quickly.
Repeat this process morning and night for two full days, or four total feedings. You should be noticing some bubbles by now, and maybe some odd smells!
Days Three through Seven:
Time to start discarding! The morning of day three you’ll want to remove all but 100g to 120g of the starter. Later on in the process, you can keep the starter to use for other recipes. But at this point, you’ve still got bad bacteria in the mix, so I recommend throwing it away or putting it into your compost.
For the next five days, you’ll want to discard all but 100g of starter every feed. Keep feeding 50g each of flour and water. We’ll up this to 100g for maintenance when we start baking with it. For now, we don’t want to create any extra waste! You may notice your starter gets less active when you start discarding it. Don’t worry – that’s normal, and your starter is just gaining strength.
Keep feeding twice a day until you start seeing good bubbles. Once you’re seeing good bubbling and a decent rise, you can switch to once-a-day feeds and increase your feedings to 100% hydration.
100% hydration feeding means a 1:1:1 ratio of starter:flour:water. This can vary slightly based on the absorbency of your flour, but it will be about equal. For my brown rice flour starter, it ends up being pretty even. With my sorghum starter, I find I only need about 80g of sorghum flour to 100g each of starter and water. We’re looking for a thick, pasty consistency, so add a little extra water if your starter gets too thick.
Week 2
Around this time is when I generally start having a nice bubbly starter with a pleasant, yeasty smell. However, everyone’s conditions are different, so don’t worry if you’re not there yet! Just continue on with feedings. If your starter is smelling good (a sour sweet aroma, like a good sourdough) at this point with good bubbles, you can start using the discard for sourdough discard recipes.
Once you switch to the 100% hydration feeding, you will start seeing good growth and should notice that your starter will double (or come close) sometime between three to five hours after feeding. When it’s at its highest, that’s what we call peak activity. Peak activity is when you’ll want to mix up your preferment for your sourdough bread.
Remember! As your starter matures, it will make better bread, so if your first loaf comes out a little flatter than you’d like, don’t fret – as the starter strengthens through feedings, you’ll get bigger bubbles and a better rise.
Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter Maintenance
Where to store your starter: I store mine on the counter and it does well. In cooler climates, some people prefer to keep it in a warm area, such as on a fireplace mantle, the microwave, or in an oven with the oven light on. If you choose to risk it with the oven, I recommend place a post-it note over the “on” button so you don’t preheat your oven with the starter in it! Once established, you can store your starter in the refrigerator.
Regular Feeding Instructions: if your starter is at room temperature, you will want to feed it every day so it doesn’t get too hungry. You will continue with the 100% hydration feedings. This means you will discard down to 100g of starter every day, then feed it with 100g room temperature filtered water and 80-100g gluten-free whole grain flour. Mix well and cover lightly.
Storing your starter in the refrigerator? you will only need to feed once a week, following the same instructions as above.
- If you are feeding for maintenance: you can feed and return straight to the refrigerator.
- Feeding to prepare for a bake: remove from the refrigerator, feed as normal, and bake at peak rise. Sometimes, two feedings are needed to help the starter come back from its dormancy in the fridge.
Frequently Asked Questions
My gluten-free sourdough starter isn’t bubbling yet.
Usually, a little more time, patience, and nurturing will help your starter along! Harnessing wild yeast for a sourdough starter is so conditional, and sometimes it just takes longer than other times. This depends on things like the climate, temperature, time of year, and many other factors, such as which strains of wild yeast are in the air around you!
If you want to help give it a boost, placing it in a warm place can help. Also, adding an apple slice or a few raisins can help give it a boost. I’ve personally never needed to use this, but you can do outside research if you’re having a difficult time getting it started.
If it’s been three to five days and NOTHING is happening, it may be time to start over!
My starter isn’t doubling.
It’s best to wait to start baking bread until your starter is doubling, or close. But catching it right at the doubling point can be tricky! Even while I was trying to catch the precise doubling time in these photos, it started to fall.
You’ll want to keep a close eye on your starter in the beginning so you can notice how long it takes to reach peak rise in your conditions. As you get to know the timing better, you can check on your starter to catch it at peak rise to make your preferment. I find that it doubles faster on hot, humid days, and takes longer on cooler days.
There is mold/colored slime on my starter 😬
This isn’t a great sign and if your instincts tell you something is off, it’s time to start over. This shouldn’t happen if you’re keeping your starter happy and fed, but occasionally something can contaminate your starter to cause this and you don’t want to risk your health with anything that seems off.
What’s the alcoholic smelling liquid on top of my starter?
That’s called hooch, and it’s an alcoholic byproduct of the fermentation process. You can stir it in and continue, or you can drain it off. I find it makes the starter a bit more sour if you stir it in, so keep that in mind depending if you want a more or less sour starter.
Once established, do I need to feed my starter every day?
No, you don’t! You can keep it in the fridge and just feed it about once per week if you prefer. But if you prefer to bake often, you should keep it at room temperature and feed it every day. If you forget and miss a day, it’s not the end of the world and your starter isn’t ruined.
You can also dehydrate your starter if you don’t plan on using it for a long time but want to hold on to it. The dehydrated starter will rehydrate in water.
Can I use gluten-free all-purpose flour?
I don’t recommend it, as it often contains lots of starches and gums, neither of which are great for your starter. Whole grain flours create the best starters because they contain natural strains of yeast.
Do I need to use the same flour to feed my starter forever?
Nope! You can switch flours if you need to. It’s best to be relatively consistent with your flour at the beginning, but after your starter is established, you can switch your flours. Try not to switch every time, though.
Can I feed my starter with a combination of flours?
You can! A lot of people find success with using a combination of flours, such as brown rice flour and buckwheat flour, or sorghum flour and brown rice flour. If you’re having a hard time getting your starter going with just one flour, doing a combination of flours can be helpful in giving it a kick-start.
What should I do with the discard? I don’t like throwing it away!
You certainly don’t have to, and I rarely throw mine away. Thankfully, I’ve got a few recipes using gluten-free sourdough discard. Here they are:
- Gluten-Free Sourdough Scones
- Gluten-Free Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Easy Gluten-Free Sourdough Pizza Crust
- Gluten-Free Sourdough Cinnamon Sugar Crackers
How to Make a Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
- Prep Time: 5 minutes a day
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Category: Sourdough
- Method: Starter
- Cuisine: Gluten-Free
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
*There is a TON more information & FAQs in the blog post above, so check there to see if your questions are answered*
Always wanted to make your own gluten-free sourdough bread? To get started, first you’ll need to learn How to Make a Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter! All it takes is gluten-free flour, water, and time.
This process takes about one to two weeks, twice a day in the beginning, but only takes a few minutes for each feeding.
If you want to see more visuals of the process, I documented the entire process of creating a sourdough starter from scratch on my Instagram story highlights. You can go to my Instagram page and look for “GF Starter” and “Starter 2” to see the process. There is also a Starter Q&A highlight with helpful troubleshooting.
Ingredients
- Gluten-Free Whole Grain Flour, I recommend brown rice flour, sorghum flour, buckwheat flour, or millet flour, or a combination. I’d start with about 3 lbs – you’ll need more for maintenance but this will be a good starting amount!
- Room Temperature Filtered Water
Instructions
How to Prep for Your Starter
- Clean your jar well with soap and hot water. It doesn’t need to be sanitized in a hot water bath like canning, but it needs to be clean to make sure there are no bacteria lurking around that will harm your starter and hinder its growth.
- Weigh your jar on your scale. Using a label or piece of tape, mark your jar with how much it weighs. This will help you to know exactly how much starter you have left in your jar when you’re feeding.
Days One and Two: twice a day feedings
- In the morning, combine 50g flour and 50g room temperature water in your clean jar using a non-reactive spoon, like stainless steel or wood. If you’re using an absorbent type of flour, you may need a little bit more water. You’re looking for a thick paste-like consistency. Scrape down the sides of the jar and close lightly, not fully sealed but covered. You can also cover it with a tea towel and a rubber band to hold it in place.
- Leave in a slightly warm place all day. Repeat at night before you go to bed (about 12 hours later), adding 50g more of each flour and water to the jar. Stir, and scrape down. We’re doing twice a day feedings in the beginning to help strengthen the starter quickly.
- Repeat this process morning and night for two full days, or four total feedings. You should be noticing some bubbles by now, and maybe some odd smells! Persevere through any bad smells, they should go away in a few days.
Days Three through Seven:
- First Discard: If you’re seeing bubbles and have a sour smell, you’re ready to discard. Day three you’ll want to remove half of the starter. Later on in the process, you can keep the starter to use for other recipes. But at this point, you’ve still got bad bacteria in the mix, so I recommend throwing it away or putting it into your compost.
- For the next five days, you’ll want to discard half of the starter every feed. Keep feeding 50g each of flour and water. We’ll up this to 100g for maintenance when we start baking with it, but for now, we don’t want to create any extra waste! You may notice your starter gets less active when you start discarding it. Don’t worry – that’s normal, and your starter is just gaining strength.
- Keep feeding twice a day until you start seeing good bubbles. Once you’re seeing good bubbling and rise, you can switch to once-a-day feeds.
Week 2
- Around this time is when I generally start having a nice bubbly starter with a pleasant, yeasty smell. However, everyone’s conditions are different, so don’t worry if you’re not there yet! Just continue on with feedings. If your starter is smelling good at this point with good bubbles, you can start using the discard for sourdough discard recipes.
- Once you start seeing good bubbles and have a pleasant smell, this is usually sometime during the second week, increase your feedings to 100% hydration, with 100g of flour.
- 100% hydration feeding means a 1:1:1 ratio of starter:flour:water. This can vary slightly based on the absorbency of your flour, but it will be about equal. For my brown rice flour starter, it ends up being pretty even, but with my sorghum starter, I find I only need about 80g of sorghum flour to 100g each of starter and water. We’re looking for a thick, pasty consistency, so add a little extra water if your starter gets too thick.
- Once you switch to the 100% hydration feeding, you will start seeing good growth and should notice that your starter will double (or come close) sometime between three to five hours after feeding. When it’s at its highest, that’s what we call peak activity. Peak activity is when you’ll want to mix up your preferment for your sourdough bread.
Starter Maintenance
Where to store your starter: I store mine on the counter and it does well. In cooler climates, some people prefer to keep it in a warm area, such as on a fireplace mantle, the microwave, or in an oven with the oven light on. If you choose to risk it with the oven, I recommend place a post-it note over the “on” button so you don’t preheat your oven with the starter in it! Once established, you can store your starter in the refrigerator.
Regular Feeding Instructions: if your starter is at room temperature, you will want to feed it every day so it doesn’t get too “hungry” and create a lot of “hooch”, the alcoholic liquid that can form on top of a hungry starter. You will continue with the 100% hydration feedings, meaning you will discard down to 100g of starter every day, and feed it with 100g room temperature filtered water and 80-100g gluten-free whole grain flour. Mix well and cover lightly.
If you are storing your starter in the refrigerator: you will only need to feed once a week, following the same instructions as above.
- If you are feeding for maintenance: you can feed and return straight to the refrigerator.
- If you are feeding to prepare for a bake: remove from the refrigerator, feed as normal, and make your preferment when the starter is at peak rise. Sometimes, two feedings are needed to help the starter come back from its dormancy in the fridge and get to a good, bubbly rise.
Notes
If you want to see more visuals of the process, I documented the entire process of creating a sourdough starter from scratch on my Instagram story highlights. You can go to my Instagram page and look for “GF Starter” and “Starter 2” to see the process. There is also a Starter Q&A highlight with helpful troubleshooting.
What an amazing, comprehensive guide! I knew nothing about baking or sourdough starters and these instructions are super easy and not intimidating! Following along her Instagram stories helps too, so you can see visuals. My starter lives in my fridge now for the week and I take him out Thursday night and after two feeds I’m baking all weekend again!! Obsessed!!
Thank you for the comment, Vanessa!! So happy I could help you make a bubbly and happy sourdough starter :)
Rachel I’m in love with your gluten and started recipes. I wasn’t I cooker but your blog and your recipes has just changed the way I used to look at the cooking and kitchen tasks lol.
If I’m storing my starter in the refrigerator. Should I feed it and immediately put it in the refrigerator or should I wait a little bit?
Thanks
a week ago, I began this starter….as I have had very poor results with yeast GF bread….the Bakerita method appeared to be good, so I began my starter….with brown rice flour & filtered water……everything was going well….on Day 5, I was ready to do the feed…and found black mold on the inside of the rim to my jar. I threw it away…..I have a healthy SD Starter….which is about 7 months old and does well…..I expected the same results with the GF SD Starter…..Perhaps I will give it a go again….NOTE: my jar had been hand cleaned and after having gone through the dishwasher
Hi Kay! Mold is not good, especially so early on. I’d make sure you’re always using a clean spoon as well. If the mold was just on the side of the jar, not actually the starter, you could have tried to move it to a new jar and continued on. If the mold reappeared, time to restart, but alas – you’ve already thrown it out! But just a tip for if you decide to try again :) which I hope you will!! Let me know if there are any questions I can answer for your next try.
Thank YOU . I shall try again !
The gluten free flour I have is all purpose but contains- brown rice, golden flaxseed, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, arrowroot, tapioca flour and xanthan gum. I’m concerned about the xanthan gum, is it still okay to use for starting starter?
I wouldn’t recommend using an all-purpose blend because starches and xantham gum aren’t great for starters!
RE: First discard — “…But at this point, you’ve still got bad bacteria in the mix, ….”
Can you expand on this some more ..??.. What is the ‘bad bacteria’ ..??…. and how does throwing out 1/2 the starter get rid of the bad bacteria ..??…
First few days had a great response… did the first ‘discard’ … now have a liquid on top…
☼ Not really sure what this ‘discard’ process actually accomplishes ???
Hi Jann, this article from Epicurious does a better job explaining it than I could in a comment – I recommend you give that a read for a good explanation of why we discard.
Total win! I’ve attempted a GF starter before and it was a flop. THIS WORKS!!! =D
Woohoo!!! Thanks for the feedback, Misty! I hope I’m hearing about your beautiful bread next!
I’m thoroughly enjoying your guide and the sourdough process! My brown rice starter is on day 10 with good bubbles and decent rise (some days are better than others). On day 3, I had a delicious sour smell. Unfortunately, after that, it started smelling like alcohol. I realized I wasn’t discarding enough, which explained the alcohol smell (too much starter and not enough food). I fixed the problem about three days about. I’m now discarding down to 100g and doing one feed a day at 1:1:1. Still, my starter has a hint of alcohol, even if it is starting to smell more yeasty. So here are my questions:
1) Can I use the starter yet, or should I wait longer?
2) Can I use the discard, even if it smells like alcohol?
3) How do I get the starter to smell sour/yeasty again?
Thank you!
So glad the guide has been helpful, Bethany! I would wait until the starter is pleasantly yeasty smelling at peak rise – it can smell like alcohol even at full maturity when it’s hungry. You could use the discard, but the flavor might be off, so maybe do a small test batch of something before using a ton of ingredients on it to see if it comes through. Just keep feeding and it will smell yeasty and lovely again soon! This is all part of the process and the bad bacteria are being purged through each discard — soon the good bacteria will reign supreme and it will smell lovely and be ready to bake with :)
I appreciate the feedback! I guess I’m just confused when to start using the discard. What should I be looking for as signs that it’s safe to use the discard?
Hi Bethany, it’s safe to use but the flavor might be off, which is why I recommend waiting to use it until it smells pleasant to you.
Newbie here! I used brown rice flour and sweet white rice flour for my starter.
But I fear it was too runny! I definitely did not create a paste. I’m going to leave it and see what happens. But curious on necessary consistency and if I can alter the ratio and or just add more necessary ingredient. Then, resume the recipe for feeding days ?? Or better yet, what’s wrong with my rice flours ??
Do you think using white rice flour would be just as effective as brown rice?
Hi Elizabeth, it’s best to start with brown rice flour if you can, but white rice flour should work as well, it just may take a bit longer. Totally fine to start with brown rice flour though and then maintain with white rice flour!
When I say this changed my life, I’m not being overly dramatic. I have been gluten free for nine years, and the thing I missed most was good bread and specifically sourdough. This made the process so much less intimidating and set me up for success from the start. I also highly suggest you follow her on instagram, she has so much helpful info in her story highlights as well. I will forever be grateful I found Bakerita Blog!!!
Woohoo, so happy I could help bring good bread back into your life, BreAnna! Thanks so much for the lovely feedback.
If I am keeping my sourdough starter in the fridge, do I need to keep discarding once a week when I feed it? Thank you!!!
Hi Jenny, yes you’ll want to keep discarding to keep it a manageable size! But I recommend using the discard to make something delicious :)
I am using my starter at least weekly and I’m loving bread again! I’d like to create a backup starter in case it ever goes bad. You mention dehydrating. Do you have any specific instructions for this? Or is freezing a viable option? I saw some references to this online. Thanks!
Hi Karin, yes freezing is definitely a viable option! You can dehydrate by spreading some starter thin on a clean baking sheet (or parchment) and letting it dry at room temperature for a day or two – it will crack as it dries out. Just let it dry out completely and you can blend into a powder or just leave it as little bits which you can then rehydrate with water!
Hi! Can you give instructions on how to rehydrate and then use in your recipe pls?
Hi Lisa, here’s a guide on rehydrating your starter! Hope this helps :)
DAY 1: Combine 5 grams dried sourdough starter in a small glass jar. Add 25 grams room temperature filtered water. Stir until the dry starter is completely submerged in the water.
Cover loosely and allow mixture to sit for about 2 hours at room temperature. This helps rehydrate the starter and initiates the first bit of yeast activity.
After a few hours, add 20 grams brown rice flour or sorghum flour (or whichever flour you’d like your starter to be) and stir until thoroughly combined.
Note: We’re using slightly more water than flour in this first feeding – a thinner, more hydrated starter allows for increased activity for yeast and bacteria.
Cover with a lid and store at 76°F/24°C (or room temperature) for 24 hours if desired.
FEED 2: After 24 hours, the mixture will look smooth and likely not too lively – you likely won’t notice too many bubbles. Add 25g water and 25g flour to the mixture. Stir until completely combined and let rest, covered, for another 24 hours.
FEED 3: At this point, you should notice some activity and bubbles! Now we’re going to continue building up the starter so you have enough to bake with, while continuing to build the strength of the starter. Repeat the same steps as day 2, adding 25g each flour and water to the mixture and let rest for 12-24 hours. At 12 hours, you can feed again to help speed up the process.
FEED 4: at this point, you should have about 155g of pretty active starter! You’re going to start the discard process here. Remove all but 100g of the starter from the jar, and feed with 50g each flour and water. Let rest and rise for 24 more hours and you should see it grow in size.
FEED 5: for the next feed, we’ll switch to a 1:1:1 feed, which means you’ll discard all but 100g of the starter, and feed with 100g each of water and flour. Use the extra sourdough starter in a discard recipe! From here on it, this is how you will maintain your starter. You’ll hopefully see good growth from this feed, but sometimes it takes a few 1:1:1 feeds to get your starter to peak activity. However, unlike starting from scratch, you’ll be able to use the discarded starter in discard recipes right away!
Your starter can be stored at room temperature with daily feeds, or you can store it in the refrigerator and do weekly feeds.
Do you use all that you dehydrated or just a piece?
Thanks!
Hi Lisa, I usually do about 20g dehydrated starter :)
Hi Rachel! I am new to the sourdough world. I bought my starter (100g + first feed) from a friend. I have made two loaves and they have been great. BUT I haven’t discarded yet and I have had it for 5 days. Her and I didn’t talk about discard and I didn’t realize I had to do anything. I have been feeding my starter (kept on counter) 1-2 times a day and have made the two loaves mentioned above. I realized my first jar got really full so I transferred some to a different jar and fed that one. Am I supposed to be discarding this? Do I just put the discard in a jar in the fridge and use it in recipes you provide? I am confused on why discard, etc once I have a started established.
Thank you for any help!
Hi Nicole, yes you can transfer for your extra discard (I like to feed 100:100:100 of starter/flour/water, so discard is anything over 100g of starter) into a jar and store in the fridge to use in discard recipes. You don’t need to feed it. If you’re baking bread a ton and/or storing in the fridge, you may not have much discard.
Hi Rachel,
Can I use my regular all purpose flour starter n convert it by feeding 1:1:1 ration twice everyday from day 1. Will it give me same result… if yes then for how many days should I feed my starter before baking..
Do get back, thankyou romaverma
Hi Roma, theoretically you can, but it will never be 100% gluten-free and wouldn’t be suitable for anyone with gluten allergies or celiac disease!
Oh, ok, not even after 10-20 feeds??
Is the process correct…
Yes, the process is correct. It will never be 100% gluten-free because there will always be traces of the original starter remaining. To make it 100% gluten-free, you’ll need to start it from scratch with only gluten-free flour.
I’ve been having a lot of fun with my starter and about to make my second loaf soon. Just a couple questions….
1. When I take my starter out to make the preferment do I feed the original starter too or leave it til the next day?
2. How long does the discard last in the fridge before I should toss?
Hi Heather, I usually feed my starter right away after removing some for the preferment just to replenish, but I’ve also left it until the next day and it’s been totally alright. As for discard, I usually try to use it within a week, but I recommend going by smell. If it’s smelling strong/sour, you probably won’t want to use it because that flavor will transfer to the recipe you’re using it in. You can also freeze the starter discard if you won’t be using it for a while! Hope this helps :)
I started week 2 of my starter process last night and went ahead with the 1:1:1 ratio. However, even though I’m using brown rice flour, it is not even close to 1:1:1 with the water. To get a thick paste I have to add more than a few drops of water. When I was just adding 50 grams of water and flour, it was more of a custard texture. Doing a 1:1:1 ratio, it becomes more powder than anything and it all gets clogged up in the whisk. But I have a lot of bubbles on day 8.5!
Hi Haley – totally normal! Every brand of flour has different absorbency levels, which is why I say about a 1:1 ratio is ideal – sometimes you need a little extra water, sometimes a little extra flour, depends on a lot of different conditions. But glad you’re having good bubbles!
I have an old, very hardy gluten starter that I feed with rye flour or white flour. Can I convert some of this into a gluten free starter? If this is possible how long will it take to become totally gluten free?
Hi Blake, you can start feeding it with gluten-free flours instead and it will become mostly gluten-free in a few weeks, but will always have a small trace of gluten — it will likely be okay for those with gluten sensitivity, but I wouldn’t recommend this method for anyone who has celiac as even the small traces of gluten will be bad for them. I hope this helps!
Hi Rachel! Your blog and book changed my gluten free life! I tried the sourdough starter today and my bread was perfect. I want to use my starter two more days for bread and pizza but during the weekend I want to put it on the fridge. I have two questions: 1 Do you cover the jar with a lid when is on the fridge? 2 When you take it out to begin baking again you cover it with a kitchen towel again as in the beginning or a lid?
Thanks for your help!
What a wonderful compliment!! Yes, I do cover it with a lid when it’s in the fridge to prevent it from drying out too much. I keep the same lid on through the whole thing – I use a Weck jar and just rest the glass lid on top without sealing it, which works well to keep a little bit of airflow, but not let in any bugs or anything. You can switch to a towel if you prefer, or just rest the lid on top. Hope this helps, and enjoy all your sourdough goodies!
So, as the morning of Day 3, my starter had climbed pretty high up in the jar with all kinds of bubbles. And smelled nice and fresh. Surprised the heck out of me.
Still, as instructed, I reluctantly tossed out a gob of it down to the 100g’s and have been doing the +50g flour + water additions (tossing out the ‘extra’.). By the time of each feeding, the thing has expanded to double or more, with small bubbles throughout, and a smattering of larger ones.
A couple questions:
– Is it *supposed* to smell bad? Mine hasn’t yet – just a nice, fresh wet dough aroma.
– I haven’t gotten ‘hooch’ yet, but there’s usually a small puddle of water at the bottom of the jar – underneath the dough. I include that with the starter I discard. Should I reduce the water/flour ratio a tad?
The thing seems so civil and well-behaved and here I’m sitting wondering if I’m doing it right. LOL
Meanwhile 5 stars so far!
Hi Yodan, woohoo, sounds like you have a happy starter!! It certainly isn’t supposed to smell bad, it just can happen a decent amount of the time so I like to prepare people for it. The hooch on the bottom usually just means it’s a little hungry, nothing wrong with it. Reducing the water a tad can definitely help with that :) sounds like you have some delicious bread in your future!!
Why are all of your photos labelled as ‘Sorghum Starter’? Sorghum is a sweetener like molasses, has nothing to do with sourdough starter.
Hi Ellen, because the starter is made with sorghum flour! You’re referring to sorghum syrup.
Hi Rachael, I’m almost through week 1 and my starter seems to be going well. I’m still discarding and feeding twice a day. Just wondering how to increase the amount of stater. If I discard down to 100g at every feed it will never increase in size. Do I discard once a day but feed it twice a day? Then when I do have more starter do I need to feed it more flour and water at each feed so that the 1:1:1 ratio is correct? Thanks for your help, cheers julianne
Hi Julianne, is there a reason you want a lot more starter? If so, just increase the ratio – you can always do 150:150:150, or similar, it just needs to be 1:1:1. Hope this helps!
Hi again, I thought I would need more because when baking the bread the recipe asks for 150g of starter. I only ever have about 200g, so there would only be 50g left to keep the stater going. Would I then only add 50g of flour and water to keep the ratio correct? Even if I were to add 100g to that I would use all of it the next time I bake bread. Sorry I’m just a bit confused! Thanks for your help
Sorry I worked it out! I wasn’t considering that when I go too 100g feeds there will also be 100g of water.
Hi oh good, glad you figured it out! :) enjoy!! LMK if you have any other questions.
Hi Julianne, you should have 300g if you’re feeding the starter 1:1:1 and discarding to 100 (100g of each). Not sure how you’re ending up with 200g! Does that make more sense?
Newbie here! I used brown rice flour and sweet white rice flour for my starter.
But I fear it was too runny! I definitely did not create a paste. I’m going to leave it and see what happens. But curious on necessary consistency and if I can alter the ratio and or just add more necessary ingredient. Then, resume the recipe for feeding days ?? Or better yet, what’s wrong with my rice flours ??
Fyi i used volume for measuring :)
Hi Francesca, yes I believe the post mentions this but every flour (even between brands and batches) has different absorbency so if you need to add more flour to get to a pasty consistency, that’s totally fine. Just adjust the amount to get to the right texture and all will be good. Also, using volume is not super accurate – would definitely recommend a scale, especially when you’re starting to bake bread.
Hello! I’m at day 3 – the method states to discard all but 100-120g with each feed, but to continue to feed twice a day until bubbles really start to appear. Does that mean I need to discard down to 100g twice a day? Maybe I’m reading it wrong?
Hi Lisa, that’s correct! Using the smaller amount that comes from discarding helps it mature faster.
You mention Brown rice, would white rice do as well or same??
Thanks!
Yes you could use white rice flour too! I recommend brown rice because the extra hull/bran in the brown rice can help the starter get going faster, but white will work too :)
Ok great. Well, I’ve actually had my starter going for several weeks now, so I guess I meant for maintenance..? Thank you
My starter was active and bubbling (about 3 weeks old now) and was rising, altho only by about half. Now for some reason it has stopped rising much at all after feeding and has less bubbles.. plus it seems to immediately form the liquid on top no matter how much I stir it in. Would you have any ideas why this might be? I’ve been pretty consistent with the whole process so I can’t imagine what happened
Hi Maggie, did you change flour brands at all? I’ve noticed hooch forms more when you’re using a courser grain of flour, so sometimes switching brands makes that happen. You can also try feeding with two different kinds of flour, like rice and sorghum for instance, to introduce new strains of yeast, which it sounds like your starter may need to give it a boost! Adding a tiny bit of honey or maple syrup can help too (gives extra sugars for the yeast strains to feast on) and so can adding in a raisin or apple slice for a few days, for the same reason.
Thanks for such a quick reply! This whole time I’ve been using Bobs Red Mill Sorghum Flour, but just yesterday I switched to brown rice, hoping that would help. I’ll try a blend going forward and see if that helps! What’s odd is it seems to develop a liquid hooch pretty quickly, but after 24 hours that’s been absorbed and it does appear bubbly, just less so and not as risen (perhaps only an inch or so). I’ll see if switching up flours and perhaps adding one of your suggestions helps over the next few days. Cheers!
Hello! I began the starter a day and a half ago, and it is already looking and smelling fantastic! I am super excited. Thank you so much for the super detailed blog post, it has been super helpful.
I have two questions:
1. I am running low on millet flour (the flour I used), would it be possible to add a different type of flour, such as brown rice, or should I buy more millet flour from the store? Which would work best?
2. You mention in this post that you should not eat the sourdough discard for some time. When is it safe to use the discard in recipes?
Thank you so, so much for your time and effort! Have an awesome day :)
PS: On an unrelated note, I made your paleo brownies yesterday, and they are gone already! Super, super tasty, and I am not even paleo!
So glad it’s going well, Niamh! Another flour should be totally fine – I regularly feed my starters with other flours if I’m running low on the base flour. You can always switch back when you get more millet flour. I recommend not eating the discard until it smells very pleasant and yeasty – most likely nothing bad will happen before then, but I like to recommend erring on the side of caution since there are more bad bacteria early in the process. I hope this helps, and SO glad you’re loving the brownies. Hope you have some fabulous GF bread soon too!
Hello!! I am about seven days into my starter, and I have a few questions. So far it is looking fantastic and it is already smelling SO good! I have noticed “hooch” on top of the starter. I read that this is because the starter is hungry, probably because it is so hot here. Right now I am leaving 100g of starter feeding 100gish water and 100g flour once a day every morning. Do you know if/how I should change how much I feed it? Should I do it twice a day? If so, how much do I discard? Thank you so incredibly much for your help and the in-depth blog post! I also made some awesome GF pancakes today with the sourdough discard and they were the best gf pancakes ever!:))
Hi Elizabeth! The starter definitely gets hungrier during the summer. You can feed twice a day if you can, it will help it reach maturity faster as well. You’ll discard the same amount so you’re always feeding equal amounts of starter, water, flour. I hope this helps!
Perfect, this helps a ton!
So happy it helps!
Hi! I’m on day 8 and my starter seems to be doing well. I’ve been using brown rice flour and before every feed the top appears cracked and dryer and the bottom still quite wet, with a souring smell. I’m not too sure if this is how it should be as I had transferred it to a bigger jar on day four before weighing it and had accidentally been discarding too much, about 2/3 of the starter instead of 1/2. So on the night of day four, I fed it double the required amount to get back to the size it was. I was wondering if I should feed for a couple more days to catch up and make sure it’s right. Thanks!
Hi Maria, it sounds like things are going well! A slightly drier top and wetter bottom is totally normal, especially when the starter is hungrier and if you’re not using superfine flour (which is fine – I think that’s more important for bread than the starter). As long as you’re doing a feed of equal amounts, it should be fine! Happy bread baking :)
Hi Rachel! How do I know when my starter is ready to be used for bread?
Hi Julia, it will be ready to use when it’s rising well (doubling, or just about) and smells pleasantly yeast with no bad smells. It usually takes a little over a week or so, depending on how often you’re feeding!
Hi there,
Can you use oat flour as one of the flours to feed the starter? Say, like, partly oat and partly brown rice flour?
Also, do you always have to feed your starter the same amount as the starter itself? And do you always have to discard?
If I have it at room temperature, do I have to discard before I feed it? If my starter is 300 grams, could I feed it just 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water and expect it to be enough to maintain it on the counter? Or does it have to be equal parts starter/flour/water for every feeding?
Thank you!
Hi Rachel, yes you can use oat flour to feed the starter. I always follow the 1:1:1 ratio, which is the same amount of starter, flour, and water. You don’t have to discard, but if you don’t want to waste too much flour feeding it, I’d recommend you do so you don’t have to feed it a huge amount.
I believe this last question is already answered. I recommend reading through this entire post as well – it answers a lot of the questions you have here!
Hi! I have a few questions! 1. Before you remove starter for a loaf of bread, how do you make sure you have enough starter left over for future use? 2. If you have only 50g of starter left over, do you then keep feeding it with 50g each of flour and water to keep it going? Do you have to increase the amounts or can you stay at that amount until you want to bake again? 3. How do you know how much to increase your feedings for ex: 2 loaves of bread? Sorry for the questions, but I want to make this work but have been feeling confused!! Thank you!
I had never done a starter before and was feeling intimidated by the whole thing, but I decided to give it a shot after reading through your recipe page on making a GF starter and my first GF sourdough bread turned out amazing! My whole family enjoyed it. This recipe page was very thorough and organized, which made it easy to follow! I also made the sourdough discard crackers today, and those were a hit for my family as well! Thank you for your help and taking the time to share all of these wonderful GF recipes!
I’m so thrilled you successfully made the starter, bread, and crackers, Laura – that makes me so happy to hear!!
Hello – I have been feeding my starter for well over two weeks and it still hasn’t doubled in size – ever. Some days I can see bubbles and other days nothing. I have been using organic brown rice flour and I was even feeding it twice a day. Any advice?
Thank you!
Hi Julia, it doesn’t need to fully double in size but you should definitely be seeing bubbles and growth. It goes through a slow down when you start discarding too and that is totally normal! It takes longer to mature during the winter. You can try giving it a boost with some sugar (an apple slice, a few raisins, or a touch of honey all work well) to help kickstart it a bit :)
Hi Rachel! I’ve had AMAZING success with your very throrough guide. After posting pics of my beautiful loaves (and reporting how amazing they taste) – I have several friends excited to try it themselves. How can I share my starter with them? Not sure if sharing GF starter is different than the process of how people share regular sourdough starter? Thanks again for all your work on the blogs – I’ve been sharing the links constantly and encouraging folks that it’s absolutely doable!
Hi Amy! This is so lovely to hear :) you can just give your friends 100g jars of starter and instruct them on how to feed and maintain it with equal amounts of flour and water.
There is a white snowy look on the surface of the sourdough starter. What is it and can it be saved? It has an off smell to it until it’s mixed up. I just don’t know. My previous loaves were very successful and rose with bubbles. Help me please and thanks
Hi Claire, sounds like it might be kahn yeast (I recommend googling pics to confirm) which is harmless. Just scrape it off the top and continue feeding as usual. If it recurs, I recommend scraping the top and switching to a new clean jar. Hope this helps!
I’ve had my starter going since June of 2022, thanks for this, I’ve made loads of sourdough and focaccia and pizza crusts for my celiac wife and she’s super stoked. If we are going away for a few months can I freeze a starter? I saw notes about dehydrating, what’s the best way to go about that?
Thanks again!
So glad you’re loving it, Toni! You can freeze it, keep it in the fridge, or dehydrate it by spreading on a clean sheet of parchment/baking sheet/silicone sheet and letting it dry overnight until it’s firm and easy to break up. Then just store in a jar!
Hi there! What size jar would you recommend using to start?
Hi Alex, a jar approx 24 oz should work – I link this one in the post!
Hi there
I’ve been milling my brown rice in the thermomix. I mill it on speed 10. To the eye, it looks like flour, but feels gritty in my fingers. Is this ok? I have never felt store-bought brown rice flour before to know as a comparison.
Hi Mel, you want a pretty fine flour – I’ve never ground my own before. You’ll notice if it’s too gritty when you mix with water – the water will settle on top and have a hard time absorbing the water evenly if it’s not fine enough.
Trying this starter as I write! Thank you!! I have baked bread in my 3 qt Dutch oven. Is this recipe to large for my pan?
It depends on the size of your banneton but a smaller one (around 7″) should be fine in that size Dutch oven.
Hi! I am on day 11 . I live in DC and the temp in the house is 67-69 degrees. The jar stays in my oven and I leave the light on- it gets pretty warm in there! What temperature should I be aiming for? The highest rise I got (day 8 – after leaving oven light on for 4+ hrs) was around 65%. So not close to double. Do you recommend that I leave light on for 12+ hrs today and see if it will double? Do I wait until close to double to start baking?
Thank you so so much. I’ve had so many fails with starter and your instructions and IG stories are by far the best!
I can’t wait to bake! Thanks!
Hi Ann, it just depends on conditions to get the best rise – it doesn’t need to fully double, but should be pretty close. You can try adding in an apple slice or a raisin for a day or two to add in the extra yeast and see if that helps boost it a bit!
I’m using brown rice for my starter and have been feeding it at least daily for the last week. It is doubling and has wonderful bubbles, but it smells like nail polish. Am I just missing the peak rise time to smell it? Has it gone off? I’m going to try and feed it twice a day for a couple days then increase to the 1:1:1 ratio. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Hi Catherine, that’s normal as it gets going – the smell should normalize in the next few days most likely! It’s just the smell of certain bacteria that will die off as the starter gets stronger.
I began making GF sourdough starter 5 days ago with Bob’s red mill 1:1 GF flour.. and I see here in your recipe it says to not use ones with starch or gums.
I noticed that one has potato starch and 2 gums in it
Should I start all over ? And if so, what Flour do you recommend ?
You don’t need to start over but I’d recommend using a whole grain flour going forward if you can :)
Is there a Youtube video of this entire process? It’s a bit confusing just reading it. I learn better by watching.
Hi Doreen, there isn’t but I do have story highlights on my Instagram where you can watch the whole process!
Thank you so much. I’ll look for it.
Hi (:
I have a couple of questions..
1. From days Three through Seven you wrote “Keep feeding twice a day until you start seeing good bubbles”. Should I discard the sourdough with every feeding or once a day?
2. You wrote “100% hydration, with 100g of flour”, does it mean I need to feed 100g of starter with 100g of flour and 100g of water?
3. What do I need to add to the starter after I use some of it and I want to put it in the refrigerator?
4. For the question “If you are feeding to prepare for a bake” you wrote “feed as normal”. Did you mean a 100% hydration feeding or 50g of flour and 50g of water? and do I need to discard the starter in this process?
Thank you for this recipe! I’m going to make your sourdough bread recipe right after the starter will be ready!
Hi (:
(I sent this comment before but I cant see it anywhere.. so I’m sending it again)
I have a couple of questions..
1. You wrote “Keep feeding twice a day until you start seeing good bubbles” on days Three through Seven, should I discard the starter every feeding or just once a day?
2. ON week two you wrote “increase your feedings to 100% hydration, with 100g of flour”, does it mean I should discard the starter, feed 100g of the starter with 100g of flour and 100g of water?
3. For the question “If you are feeding to prepare for a bake” you wrote “feed as normal”, did you mean to 100% hydration feedings or 50g of flour and 50g of water feedings?
4. What do I need to add to my starter if I used some of it and I want to put the rest of it in the refrigerator? do I need to feed it before it goes to the fridge?
Thank you!
Hi Avery, let me answer your questions!
1) once you start discarding, you’ll want to discard with every feeding.
2) yes, that’s correct – you’ll feed equal amounts of the starter with flour and water. I recommend 100g of each!
3) feed as normal will refer to the 100g feedings, after the first bit you’ll always be feeding 100g (unless you want to maintain a smaller amount of starter)
4) I recommend feeding the regular amount right before you put it in the fridge.
Hope this helps – let me know if you need any more clarification!
Thank you so much!!
Hi, I started to discard the sourdough with every feeding, since then the starter doesn’t have as much bubbles as it had before, I saw you wrote it is fine that the starter is less active after it was discarded and been fed, but my starter has very few bubbles. Is it fine? Should I change something? Or should I just keep feeding it?
Thank you!
Hi Alen, it’s totally normal for it to slow down a bit as you start discarding – it will rebound in a few days!
What is a preferment? I’ve never heard that term, and have been making sourdough bread (regular) for a long time. Thanks!
Hi Diane, it’s essentially another feeding before you make the dough, and all of it goes into the dough. You can read all about it in the main sourdough bread post!
Hello Rachel, Is it possible to make the sourdough starter also from whole rice flour and not from brown rice only?
Thank You, Ziv
Hi Ziv, you can use any kind of rice flour to create a sourdough starter.
Thank you so much Rachel
Rachel, Just to make sure I understood correctly – from the third to the seventh day throw away half of the sourdough twice a day? Thank you, Ziv
Hi Ziv, yes, that’s when you’ll begin the discarding process! You don’t have to do it twice a day, but it helps build up the starter to be stronger more quickly. I have story highlights on my instagram (@bakeritablog) if you want to watch the whole process.
Hi Rachel, Sorry every step begets new questions. 1. Today I started feeding my starter at a ratio of 1:1:1. I fed at 08:30 in the morning and saw that at 15:30 it reached it’s peak, grew about half of it’s size. My question is, should I wait until tomorrow morning for the next feeding, that is, stay with one feeding a day, or feed more times a day? Won’t it be hungry by tomorrow morning and have hooch?
Second question, I want to keep the sourdough in the refrigerator – with what and how to cover it?
Thank you, Ziv
I just mixed my first 1:1 beginning starter. Making it with fine brown rice flour and filtered water. 50g of each. My question is how thick is the first paste? Mine is a crumbly paste. Should I add a little more water?
Hi Karen, yes it should be a thick paste – different flours (even same type by brand) have different absorbencies, so you’ll need to adjust as needed to get to a thick paste consistency.
Hey I’m making my started from brown rice flour, it bubbles a little but it simply won’t rise and it’s been 9 days now :(
Any tips would be awesome
Hi Jo, it can take a variety of times depending on conditions, but you can try adding a bit of sugar to help give it a boost!
It worked! I have a doubling starter! Thanks sooooo much :)
Fabulous, happy baking, Jo!
Hello Rachel!
I tried to do the water test with the starter (when you put some starter on top of warm water..) and my starter didn’t pass the test! (It should float on top of the water if the starter is really to be used, my starter sinked to the bottom). Is that mean my starter isn’t ready to be used? If so what should I do? Or maybe the water test is only for starters with gluten?
Thank you!!
Hi Barbara, that test is much more accurate for gluten starters, and less effective for gluten-free starters! If you’re getting a good rise and it has a good smell, you can try baking with it – that’s the best way to see how it performs :)
Thanks!!
My son and I started it yesterday morning (so it’s had 3 feedings total), and it’s already a bit bubbly and rising. I fed it this morning and noticed it had risen quite a bit after a few hours, so put on a rubber band, and it’s continuing to rise. It’s 73.4 in our kitchen, but wow, this is quick. I used half brown rice flour and half buckwheat.
What’s the minimum amount of time you’ve needed in the summer? And for anyone else who wants to use that combination, I also needed 12 extra grams of water like Rachel did in her videos!
Womp womp. Right after the next feeding, my starter stopped bubbling and doesn’t rise anymore. I read up on it and apparently, this is an issue with buckwheat. It’s quick to get going but then looks like it’s failing. They said to just keep going. So we’ll see. :D
I’m on day 11 of making brown rice starter. It has nice bubbles but is nowhere near to doubling – maybe 1/3 rise. Two days ago I added a bit of maple syrup. Yesterday I did half sorghum and half brown rice flours. That’s one issue. The second is that in the first week I thought it was being too small yeasty. Now it smells more like rubbing alcohol. There is no hooch liquid on top or bottom, just this unpleasant smell. Help!!!
The rubbing alcohol smell is normal – I recommend continuing with the feedings and it should dissipate soon. It sounds like your starter is still gaining strength. It doesn’t necessarily need to double either, if you’re seeing bubbles throughout, that’s a good indicator that it’s gaining strength and will fluff up a bread nicely.
Thank you for your reply. About how long should it take for that smell to go away?
I’m on week 4 I believe of my starter! It’s supper bubbly and active but after about a week and a half it started smelling funky. It smelled really good for a couple of days and then all of the sudden it started to smell very strong and like alcohol with a bad smell behind it. I’m not sure of this is normal for a gluten free starter but it definitely isn’t for a gluten starter so I’m worried I did something wrong. I don’t want to bake with it if it isn’t a normal thing so I was hoping you might have some advise!!
Hi Alyssa, it’s odd that it would start smelling bad strongly so far into the process, which makes me worry it may have been contaminated with a bad bacteria. Instead of giving up, I’d recommend transferring a small amount to a new clean jar and feeding frequently for a few days to build it back up and see if that helps dilute the bad bacteria that’s likely causing the bad smell. You won’t want to bake with it while it’s smelling super off, as that smell can transfer to the baked good. I hope this helps!
It helps a lot thank you! I will try am that and hopefully it gets better!
Hello
: I am beginning D3 morning. I would like to confirm.
I discard half of my jar of starter first (using my digital scale). THEN I feed my starter 50g of flour and 50g of water. THEN D3 evening I discard half of my jar of starter (using my digital scale) and THEN feed again 50g of flour and 50g of water. I keep doing this for D4 and D5 and D6 and D7 .
Week 2 begins with D8 morning, if all looks good, I weigh my starter (less my glass jar weight) and then I add my starter weight 1.1.1 ratio. If starter weighs 90g, I add 90g flour and 90g water, YES???
Hi Ava, yes this is correct. You can watch videos of the full process on my instagram highlights (instagram.com/bakeritablog) if it helps you to have a visual!
H!
When can I start baking with the starter?
Once it starts having good bubbles in week 2?
Thank you!
Hi Elsa, yes once it’s smelling good, rising well and has good bubbles!
Hello, I started 50gms of Brown rice flour with approx 60gms water 36 hours ago (50gms water was still a very dry paste). Fed 12 hours later and enough water to make it a smooth batter like texture again. Left it for the next 12 hours in the oven with a light on but mixed it once, and this morning the starter has exploded out of the container. There is a nice slightly sour smell but I’m worried as my starter has more than tripled in 36 hours perhaps it’s over energetic (wrong fermentation with bad microbes?) and not something I should continue with.
Do I still retain 100gms but perhaps feed less than 50gms daily for the next 2 weeks since my starter seems to be an excessive over achiever? Many thanks!
Sounds like a good problem to have! You can definitely do smaller feeds, and maybe transfer to a bigger jar so you don’t have any more explosions :)
i’m on day 2 and my starter has double in size a few hours after both my morning and evening feeds. should i continue with the schedule you posted?
Hi Derek, that’s awesome! You can start discarding, which may cause a bit of a slow down in the process – you can start to use it whenever it’s active and smelling good :)
Hi Rachel,
I have used a gluten free flour blend but the starter seems to be doing well, day 7 and very bubbly and sour smelling. I have made your buns they worked pretty well. Was going to try the bread loaf tomorrow and your cookies.
Would you suggest throwing away the starter and starting again with rice flour?
Kat
Thank you for sharing this!
Will the process/ratios all be the same if I use Teff?
Hi Stef, yes teff should be fine – process will be the same!
hi, my starter looked great on day 3 – doubled in size, cracked tops, tons of bubbles! – but now on day 9, it seems to not be active at all? no bubbles, no rise – i tried putting it in a warmer spot and adding a raisin, but no dice! how long to i keep going before i start again? can it go from “dormant” to active again? thank you!!!
Hi Emily, usually it slows down when you start discarding and around the time you mention, totally normal and nothing to worry about. Keep caring for it as usual and it will come back! :)
nvm! she’s bubbly rising & sour now. just needed to be patient :)
I am finding that I have to feed 50 Gms brown rice flour and 100 Gms water to achieve the desired consistency. Is this ok?
Hi Shelina, yes it is – just depends on how absorbent your brown rice flour is!
Thank you. It’s been a week and I am not seeing bubbles like I do in the gluten starter! Will carry on for another week I think?
Hi Shelina, I would give it at least a few more days to see if it activates!
Hi! Stupid question, but I am assuming you mix with a spoon the starter with each feed? Doesn’t that get rid of the bubbles? Is the bread going to be gummy? Sorry for the dumb question just a first-time baker (especially with bread).
Hi Elizabeth, no stupid questions! :) Yes, you mix with a spoon during each feed, and it will deflate the bubbles, but they’ll come back when it begins to rise again.
Another stupid question. When making the starter, do I close the jar with lid or do I use a cloth just to cover opening? Is this true throughout the growing stages? I see you recommended a mason-like jar with lid. So would I keep the lid shut throughout? Just confused— your pictures show starter without closed lid.
I use a lid that doesn’t latch all the way, just rests on top – you can see it in the top pictures, it’s a glass circle that rests on top of the jar. This is the specific jar I use, without the latches or sealing ring. That way it prevents flies from getting it, but still allows for some air flow. A cloth works too!
Loving this! I missed a feeding on day 3 (the second one) do I need to start over or can I keep going? It has a very vinegar like smell and didn’t expand overnight like it has been.
Hi Nina, it should be ok with one missed night – just continue feeding and it should come back. Weird smells are definitely normal in the beginning!
Hello! The guide says to discard all but 100-120 starting on day three, but the instructions say to discard half (which is slightly different amount for me, it leaves me with about 190g of starter when I discard half)… should I be going all the way down to 100-120 or is doing half, leaving me with 190, OK? I messed up on my first try and want to get it right on take 2. Thank you!
What if you have refirgerated your starter and then totally forgot to continue feeding it! Lol!!! Can I revive it or should I discard? Totally embarrassing question :)
Hi Charli, you should definitely try to revive! Unless there is visible mold, they usually come back splendidly :)
Hi Rachel! What advice can you give me about using less flour to feed my starter/keeping my starter small? I’d like to prevent waste and feed it less, as I’m not making bread or using it very often. Thanks!
So sorry if this is repeated. Any advice would be great. I’m on week 2 and although I’m getting some rise above my elastic band line it’s not doubling and going up the jar. I’ve used brown rice flour and stuck to the recipe (I think)
Thank you
Hi Charlotte, that’s totally normal! You can try adding a little sweetener, an apple slice, or some raisins to try and help boost the starter a bit more.
Thank you so much. You’re so good to reply. Apple slice it is!
I’m so excited to try this recipe. I’ve been making your focaccia recipe and it has been amazing! I was wondering if the brown rice flour has to be superfine. I have Bob’s Red Mill brown rice flour and also Vitacost superfine brown rice flour. I’m curious to know which of the two options is best for getting the starter going for the first time. Is it ok to use the regular brown rice flour to get it started and then once it is more established switched to a superfine flour? Does the thickness of the milled rice make a difference in the overall feel of the final bread when it comes to sourdough? For what I have tested in regular gf breads superfine flour gives a better consistency, more like a regular bread instead of a grainy feel. I hope this makes sense. Thank you so much for the post and all the guidance you provide. I can’t wait to get the starter going.
Hi Naty, superfine flour is preferred but you can use bob’s brown rice flour too. I would say superfine is definitely preferred for baking bread, so if you want to use up your bob’s, you can use it for the starter! It requires a little less water: flour than superfine since it doesn’t absorb quite as much water. You’re right in that superfine gives a better final texture, so getting the starter going with bob’s when you won’t be using it for baking quite yet is a good idea :)
Hi!! I am on day 9 of my starter and I have good bubbles but the smell is like acetone. Should I keep 2 a day feedings until the smell get sweet and yeasty? Or is something wrong?
Thank you!
Also, should I switch to 1:1:1 yet or not yet?
Thank you!
I never leave comments for anything but I have to say this recipe for starter was so worth the work and the wait and the “I must be doing something wrong”. Watching the video really helped. Thankyou for that.
I am now making Gluten Free Sourdough bread for my son who is Celiac. He is so excited to be able to enjoy Sourdough Bread again that has such a wonderful taste and texture.
My DIL requested some starter and is taking over the bread making at their house. So cool!
Also the best chocolate chip peanut butter cookies ever Also GF chocolate cake …
so fluffy and yummy. I haven’t baked so much since my childhood.
Thanks
So glad you’re loving the recipes, Sharon! Thanks so much for the review and feedback, and happy baking!
Can I use a 50/50 mix of sorghum flour and millet flour?
Hi Dee, yes you can!
I just have to say thank you.
I have been making all my gluten free dreams come true, because of you.
Bagels, English muffins, bread, cinnamon rolls…
I am a chef and have followed food blogs for a very long time through my cooking journey.
This is it. You are the elite gluten free food blog.
You are very good at what you do.
This made me tear up!! Thank you SO much for the kind words, it means more than you know.
I misread the directions and have only been discarding at one feed during days 3-7. Do I need to throw out my starter and start over? I do have bubbles and it does rise. But if there is still too much of the bad bacteria in there because of not discarding enough then I obviously don’t want to keep adding to it and waste my flour and money on something I can’t use.
No need to throw out if she’s happy! The only reason to discard is to keep the starter a manageable size.
I am almost ready to start making my bread with the sourdough starter. I’ve been doing the.1-1-1 ratio. Last evening I did it and when I looked at my sourdough starter, it had risen like an inch within a couple of hours. This morning it fell. What does that mean?
Hi Karen, the starter will always fall after it reaches the peak of it’s rise! Once it’s fallen, it’s hungry again (has used all the available “food” in the form of sugars/grain) and it’s time for another feeding.
Thank you for the reply. , I feel like I have a good established sourdough starter so I mixed the three ingredients to let it sit for 4 to 18 hours. The mixture is thick and not runny, so is that correct? It just feels like a sort of a stiff dough at this point and I just wanted to check to make sure that it was what it was supposed to be. Also, I had put a little bit of discard into my discard jar that I keep in the refrigerator. I added 40 g of water and 40 g of brown rice flour to the remaining sourdough starter. Is that also OK?
I’ve followed the recipe to a “t” and I’m still having trouble with the starter smelling like alcohol. I don’t have any liquid up top (hooch) and feeding twice a day relgiously and still can’t get a good yeast smell. Any tips or thoughts? My top does seem to be a little dry when it’s time to feed. Also, when I stir it, it smells fine but it’s when I initially open the lid before I mix it up that I get this smell.
Thanks so much!
Hi Caylee, how old is your starter? When it’s young it can take a little while to get that good yeasty smell.
It’s day 6; however I went a full 2+ weeks with the 100g feedings etc before scrapping that starter because it never smelled right (never got the yeasty smell but had good bubbles). So not sure what is happening…this is my second try with the starter and hoping it doesn’t fail this time :)
And fyi the last time, I tried to do a different flower after 12+ days to try and help, (I also added a tiny bit of honey per your other replies in the comment section) as well as continued to do twice a day feedings to ensure it wasn’t hungry. But still had the acetone/alcohol smell (but no hooch) for each feed. Top always looks a little dry but no growth or anything on top that would give me another clue.
Hi Caylee, many times you just need to be patient. It can take a bit of time for the bacteria to find balance.
Well written. Easy to understand. First set of instructions to speak about building strength in the starter. Never picked that up before. Thank you.
So glad it was helpful!
I’m new to this, my grandson is gluten free. Want to try, what is your MVP flour for taste.
Probably, milder or less sour because he’s only 11. Thanks you in advance.
Hi Sandra, brown rice flour or sorghum are my favorites for starter. Both mild and make a great starter and bread.
Hi there! I’m on day 8 and just switched to the 1/1/1 feeding in the instructions. That means, if I discard down to 100g of starter daily I’ll be getting rid of 200g of discard daily. When can I start using the starter vs. the discard? My starter doesn’t bubble up super fast as it’s cold here but it does bubble up reliably and smells amazing.
Hi Molly, as long as it’s smelling good and bubbling well at it’s peak you can start using it!
Your recipes look amazing, and a friend was very kind to share a starter with me. I’m excited to make your bread but I have a question currently about pizza crust please. Would it be possible to use your pizza crust recipe as mini or full size deep dish? I was wondering if I formed it in the pan or pans, and let them rise in there, then perhaps docking the dough before par baking. Any assistance would be appreciated please.
Hi Steph, yes you can definitely do that! Cast iron pans would probably be best if you have them because it’ll help cook the dough all the way through. Enjoy!
Thank you very much indeed. I am four weeks in and have made 5 loaves of bread in a tin. I’m not getting enough rise to split open the cuts in the top but I have a very ancient oven (50s/60s) and over-proofing – I’m not blaming the recipe, my starter is happy. However it looks good, tastes good and keeps so well. I’m sure I’ll get better in time and I’m not spending $8 for bread full of all sorts and throwing half of it away because it goes bad.
So happy to help you on your bread journey, and I’m sure you’ll be able to adjust to get the best loaves you can with your oven :) enjoy!
I accidentally killed my old gf started and found your website. Thank you for this great recipe with easy to understand steps, and your clear responses to questions was very helpful! I was successful in creating an active starter with a combo of mainly brown rice and light buckwheat flours.
I live in Canada so it’s cooler here still, but I found using the lowest 24 hour yogurt making setting on my Instapot kept it happy and consistent temperature.
PS – I also made the bread and it was so delicious!
So, so glad I could be helpful in your sourdough journey, Lynne! Glad you have a happy starter and some delicious bread :)
Super silly question- (sleep deprived brain ) I forgot to discard for one feeding, will that mess things up, and should I extend the feed/discard without use cycle?
Thank you!
No, that’s just fine! :)
I know this is a recipe for developing a starter but If I used a commercial starter in the begining and I run out of brown rice can I start adding another gluten free flour such as buckwheat or sorghum
Thanks
Yes you can switch the flour that you’re feeding – no problem there.
Hi,
I’m a bit nervous because I tried a starter before and failed. I’m pretty sure it was because I used a gf flour blend. I’m feeling a little braver while reading your blog but I’ve encountered a new term: preferment. What is that and how does one make a preferment. Thanks
Hi Chris, you can read all about a preferment and it’s purpose in the full sourdough bread recipe post. It’s a great guide when learning about making GF sourdough bread with success! Good luck :)
Hi there, I was just wondering what to do when on day two (evening) there is still no bubbles but only liquid on top? Do I continue feeding it without discarding – or keep going with what is described for day 3?
Thank you :)
Hi Cynthia, I would stir and feed one more time, though it won’t be a huge deal if you continue on as normal :)
Perfect, that’s what I did…thank you Rachel :)
If I purchased a dehydrated starter, can I feed it with gluten free flour and be fine or do you recommend starting from scratch making my own starter?
Hi Shannon, did you purchase a gluten-free dehydrated starter? If not, it will never be fully gluten-free. If it is GF, you can feed as normal to bring it back to life. Most should come with instructions!
Hello!
Today is day 3 of having my GF starter. I accidentally missed the morning feeding. Will this affect anything? It is still rising.
Thank you!
No, should be ok! Just continue on as usual :)
This might be a silly question but in week 3-do i discard until there’s 100g of start left and then add 80g of flour and 100g of water? Does that mean I should transfer it to a big jar? At this stage can I save the discard and use it for other recipes? How long can I keep the discard for and can I keep it in the fridge? This is my first ever time making a starter and I’ve gotten this far but now I feel lost! Your instructions are so clear but for some reason I don’t feel I have a grasp on it! Halp! Thank you
Hi Ksanti, yes exactly – the amounts may vary slightly based on how absorbent your flour is. The jar doesn’t need to be huge, but big enough that the mixture has space to rise. At this stage you can definitely save the discard. It keeps well in the fridge for a few weeks (gets more sour as it sits) or you can store it in the freezer indefinitely and defrost as needed. Hope this answers your questions and clarifies things for you!!
Thank you so much Rachel! I am using a 3 flour blend that I had made long ago that seems to be rising pretty well now which is so cool! Thank you so much for the quick reply, and I will save the discard and check out your other recipes on what I can make with it!
I’m having great success using amaranth flour! I’m just starting week 2 –a few days earlier than expected because it looks perfectly bubbly and rises well within hours of feeding it!
I can’t wait to use this as I’m on a highly restricted diet that doesn’t allow for yeast, baking soda, or baking powder. Sourdough is my only option for a rise! My “grains” are limited as well. Only amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, millet, and wild rice which are all psuedograins. I’m looking forward to the texture of bread again! And maybe trying to make some sourdough brownies (using dates as a sweetener) once I can have cocoa again in a few months…
So glad to hear this! Thanks for sharing your success, Kare. Enjoy :)
Hi. After you take your starter out of the fridge to use. I read you feed it, do.you discard and feed?
Hi, yes I discard and feed it, as long as my starter is big enough. If you maintain a smaller starter, you can just feed it.
Hi! I tried a friend’s sourdough and am officially obsessed! If I am making a brand new starter for two people (hers is potentially contaminated due to a shared-use mill), do I have to double the recipe from the start or can I wait until the starter has matured enough to use it and basically halve my discard and double my feeding quantities then?
Hi Nina, you can definitely develop one starter and then once it’s mature, just just some of your discard to divide it into two. Happy baking!!
Hi! Once you made your first sourdough and there isn’t much discard left do you have to start over feeding it twice daily for 2 weeks or do you continue to do 100g feeds with 100g water daily until ready to use again? And can you use the discard part right away vs waiting to use for 2 weeks?
Hi Becca, you should have 150g of starter left after your sourdough unless you were feeding a smaller amount of discard. You just continue feeding 100g of each (starter, flour, water) until ready to use again. You can use all the discard now :) you can also keep in the fridge as needed to prevent waste, just feed right before it goes into the fridge.
Hi! I have only ever done non gluten free sourdough starter. If my gluten free starter is brown rice flour, does my loaf of bread have to be made with brown rice flour? Or can i use my regular flour blend?
Hi Sara, no you can use whatever flour for your starter and your bread – they don’t need to correspond!
Hi! Do you have to discard still once you’ve established the starter and are pulling it out of fridge to feed again for the week?
Thanks!
Hi Becca, you don’t have to discard if you’re pulling some starter out to use, but if you’re just feeding it, I recommend discarding some and making a discard recipe to use it up :)
If I’m in a period of baking more often, is it a problem to switch it to the room temp instructions for a while, then go back to the fridge and weekly feedings when I’m back in longer periods between bakes?
Also, just a verification of my thinking I guess. Before baking, the starter is fed and needs to be at room temp, right? Otherwise it’ll go back to dormant in the fridge and the bread won’t rise?
Thank you so much for such an incredibly detailed layout! I’ve made your discard chocolate chip cookies and they’re TO DIE FOR! Can’t wait to try my hand at bread!
Hi Vivian, not at all – you can switch between room temp and fridge storage as needed. And yes, it’s recommended to have the starter at peak rise before baking with. I’m so glad the post is helpful and I hope you make the most delicious bread + other sourdough treats!
Hi! I want to start this process and the instructions are pretty clear. The question that I have, is about the maintenance of the starter. How do people maintain the starter alive for years? I might travel 2-3 weeks, so how do you recover the starter left in the fridge for a longer period of time ? Thank you!
Hi Maddy, your starter will be ok in the fridge for a few weeks (just feed right before you put it in the fridge), and if you want to make super sure, you can freeze some starter in a jar, and/or dehydrate some! Happy baking :)
I am concerned about days 3 to 7. Do I discsrd and feed twice a day? Or discard once a day but feed twice? Sorry for the probdumb question. Day 3, today, I discarded and fed twice…
Hi Ilana, I discard and feed twice. You’ll notice a slowdown at this stage, so discarding and feeding twice helps to move through that stage a little quicker and help your starter get stronger, faster.
Thank you very much. You are great!
Can you make a sourdough starter from a non grain flour like Almond flour or Cassava flour?
I wouldn’t recommend almond flour (don’t think it would work, and would be super expensive to maintain) but I believe people have successfully made cassava flour starters. Fresh is Real has a post about using cassava flour for a starter!
Hi Rachel, thank you so much for this recipe. It worked like magic but I am not sure about the smell. Everything is pointing to a good started.
I haven’t been able to find anything to guide me what it’s suppose to smell like what smells I should be avoiding.
Thank you
Hi Jan, it should be a pleasantly yeasty smell when it’s rising/at peak rise- not too sour, or like acetone (though sometimes it can smell like that when it’s hungry).