Starter School

The whole life of a starter.

Making one, feeding one, rescuing one, and understanding what's actually going on in the jar. Everything here assumes you'd rather know why than be told what.

A starter is the one piece of sourdough you can't buy your way out of understanding. It's alive, it responds to your kitchen, and it will behave differently in February than it did in July. Eight guides covering its whole life — from a jar of flour and water on day one through the day you take it out of the fridge after six months and wonder if it's still in there. The library is complete. If you already have one and it's misbehaving, the Trouble Atlas is the faster route. If you want to read about famous cultures rather than make one, that's the Culture Index.

Create a starter from scratch

Flour, water, and about two weeks. Day by day — including the false rise on day three and the dead stretch on days four to six where most people give up.

Takes10–14 days

Feeding and ratios

1:1:1, 1:2:2, 1:5:5 — what the numbers mean, how they change the timing, and how to pick one that fits when you're actually home.

ControlsPeak time

The fridge rhythm

Weekly maintenance for people who don't bake daily. How long it really keeps, and how to bring it back to peak in time for Saturday.

Effort~4 min/wk

Keeps2–4 weeks

Reviving a neglected starter

Three months in the back of the fridge, black liquid on top, smells like paint. Almost always recoverable — here's the sequence.

Takes3–5 days

SuccessVery high

Drying and backing up

How to dry a starter to flakes that keep for years, and why you should do it this week rather than after you've lost one.

Stiff levain vs liquid

Converting between hydrations, and what it does to flavor — stiffer runs sweeter and slower, slacker runs sharper and faster.

Convert2–3 feeds

Choosing a starter flour

Rye, whole wheat, white, or a blend. What each does to activity, timing and sourness, and why rye is the emergency lever.

The discard question

Why you discard, how to discard less, how long discard keeps, and what's actually worth making with it.

Best fixKeep less

Keeps1–2 weeks