Maintaining your Starter

Simple, Reliable Care for Long-Term Success

Now that your Yeast Coast Sourdough starter is active and thriving, let’s keep it healthy for the long haul. Whether you bake every day or once a month, caring for your starter is simple: just a quick daily or weekly ritual that keeps your culture strong, and ready to rise.

This guide walks you through two options: a daily routine and a weekly refrigerator method. Choose what fits your baking rhythm and lifestyle.

What you'll need:

An active sourdough starter
A large glass jar with a loose-fitting lid or cover (I recommend the Weck 743 with the seal and clips removed)
A food scale
A silicone spatula
Something to mark a jar with: a wet erase marker, washable marker, or rubber band

Option 1: Daily Maintenance (Recommended)
Best if you bake several times per week

Keep your starter on the counter and feed it once per day, ideally around the same time each day. Feeding your starter daily keeps it ready to bake with anytime the mood strikes, without too much planning ahead. Here’s how:

Retain 20g of your starter and discard the rest. Remember: you don't have to throw it away! Save it in a jar in your refrigerator and use it to enhance your other bakes.
Add 40g water + 40g bread flour of unbleached all-purpose flour.
Mix well, mark the level with a band or marker, and cover loosely.

Repeat these steps around the same time each day to maintain your starter. You should observe it rising over six hours and beginning to recede. We like to feed our starter in the evenings, so it's ready to bake in the morning.

Getting your Daily Fed starter ready to bake

Before baking, you will need to create a larger amount of starter to use in your recipe by feeding it a larger quantity of flour and water. Periodic larger feeds are beneficial to the health of your starter as well. The amount you feed your starter will vary depending on the amount required for your recipe.
Let's use our Simply White Sourdough Bread recipe as an example (recipe card is included with your starter kit). This recipe calls for 120g of ripe sourdough starter. Therefore, we will make 140g total: 120g to use, and 20g to keep your starter going.

Retain 20g of your starter, and discard the rest
Add 60g water + 60g flour
Mix well, mark the level, cover loosely, and rest overnight.

As this is a larger feeding ratio, it will take slightly longer to double in size. A larger feeding ratio like this is perfect for overnight feeding. It should be at its peak and ready to mix into dough first thing in the morning.

That evening, at your regularly scheduled feed time, you may go ahead and feed your starter normally without the need to discard.

You'll follow this procedure when preparing to use any recipe. Take the amount of starter required for the recipe, divide it by two, and add that much flour and water to your 20g of starter. This will create enough starter to bake with, and 20g for you to maintain for next time.

Keep in mind: larger feeding ratios will take longer to reach peak than smaller ratios (1:1:1 will peak within a few hours, 1:4:4 can take 12 hours), so keep this in mind.

Option 2: Weekly Maintenance (Refrigerator)
Best if you bake once per week or less

Keeping your starter in the fridge slows down its activity, meaning you only need to feed it once per week. It is perfect for those looking for more flexibility, but does require more planning before use.

Remove your starter from the refrigerator.
Retain 20g of your starter and discard the rest.
Add 40g water + 40g bread flour of unbleached all-purpose flour.
Mix well, and cover loosely.
Let it sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours before returning it to the fridge.

This weekly feeding will keep your starter viable and ready to reawaken when you’re ready to bake.

Getting your Weekly Fed starter ready to bake

Cold starter rarely bakes good bread. When you're planning to bake, bring your starter out of the fridge and feed it at room temperature twice, about 12 hours apart. After two active feedings, it should be bubbly, doubled in size, and ready to raise dough. Why two feeds? Feed 1 helps room-temperature cultures reawaken gradually. Feed 2 builds enough volume and strength for rising dough. Relying on one feed may work in some cases, but two feeds ensure peak activity and consistent rise.

For the first feed, follow the Daily Maintenance feeding schedule above.
For the second feed, you will need to create a larger amount of starter to use in your recipe by feeding it a larger quantity of flour and water. Periodic larger feeds are beneficial to the health of your starter as well. The amount you feed your starter will vary depending on the amount required for your recipe.
Let's use our Simply White Sourdough Bread recipe as an example (recipe card is included with your starter kit). This recipe calls for 120g of ripe sourdough starter. Therefore, we will make 140g total: 120g to use, and 20g to keep your starter going.

Retain 20g of your starter, and discard the rest
Add 60g water + 60g flour
Mix well, mark the level, cover loosely, and rest overnight.

Before returning your starter to the refrigerator, you may go ahead and feed it normally without the need to discard.

Do I have to choose one method? NO!

You may move your starter back and forth however makes sense for your life and baking needs.
Scenario 1: Let's say you bake a few times a month, and typically use the refrigerator method. You bake a loaf of bread on Thursday, then want to bake cinnamon rolls on Saturday and another loaf on Monday. Rather than return your starter to the refrigerator on Thursday, you would leave it out and follow the daily method until you're done with the week's baking. Then, feed it and return it to its home in the fridge.
Scenario 2: You bake twice a week, and use the daily feeding method. Life gets busy and you won't have time to bake for a while. Give your starter a good feed and let her rest in the fridge. While feeding weekly keeps your starter closer to bake-ready, your cultures can survive for several months without feeding. If life gets in the way, do not fret. Give it a few good feeds whenever you're ready to resume baking and it will be ready again in no time.

Helpful Notes & Tips

What kind of flour should I use?
Your starter will thrive on bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour.
Do I need to use filtered water?
Chlorine in water can inhibit yeast activity. We recommend using filtered water for feeding and in recipes. If you use cold water from your refrigerator, you may either leave it out to come to room temperature, or warm it briefly in the microwave.
Why 40g?
We’ve tested many feeding ratios, and recommend a 1:2:2 ratio for daily feeding. That's one part starter: two parts flour: two parts water by weight. This ratio produces a stronger rise, avoids acid buildup, and is stable. If your busy schedule causes you to miss or delay a feeding, you will get right back on track.
Why do I need to discard?
Regular discard helps keep your starter healthy, strong, and manageable in size. But “discard” doesn’t mean waste. Keep a jar in your refrigerator and save the discard for a flavor boost in your other baked goods. Check out our Discard Recipes (coming soon) for ideas to turn it into crackers, pancakes, waffles, cookies, muffins, and more.
What's next?
We are passionate about sourdough, and love sharing knowledge. Check out our Sourdough Chat Blog for tips, tricks, recipes, experiments, and more.

Keep It Simple, Keep It Strong

Caring for your starter isn’t a chore. It’s a small daily or weekly practice that keeps your baking in motion. With a little consistency, your Yeast Coast Sourdough Superstarter will last for your entire life, growing stronger and more flavorful with time.

We’re here to help every step of the way. Questions? Reach out anytime at hello@yeastcoastsourdough.com.