How to Make a Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
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.
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: 5 minute
- 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.
Keywords: gluten-free sourdough, sourdough starter, gluten-free sourdough starter
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!!
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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
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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
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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?
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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!
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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!!!
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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 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?
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!:))
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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?
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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 ?
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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.