Control your sourdough routine by choosing a feeding ratio that fits within your day. If you want to feed your starter 3x per day and bake often, a 1:1:1 or 1:2:2 ratio works beautifully. If you’re more of a twice-a-day feeder, a 1:5:5 ratio is ideal (that’s what I do!).

If you want to ideally feed your starter once per day for the most part, a 1:10:10 ratio works well.

You can use sourdough starter feeding ratios to dictate when your starter will be ready to use. And it’s not like you have to use it as soon as it peaks – it stays there for a few hours, typically, giving you a window of time.

I have a feeding ratio calculator on my website that made this experiment easy. I just put in that I wanted 100g of starter for each jar, and I entered the ratios. It told me how much starter, flour, and water to use without me doing any math. Visit the link in my bio to get to my website. The calculator is there!

Here is specific information about when my starters peaked and how long they stayed that way before deflating. My home is 75°F.

1:1:1 ratio: Took just under 5 hours to peak and stayed peaked for 3 hours.
1:2:2 ratio: Took about 5.5 hours to peak and stayed peak for about 6 hours.
1:3:3 ratio: Took 8.5 hours to peak and stayed peaked for 5 hours.
1:5:5 ratio: Took 10 hours to peak and stayed peaked for around 4.5 hours.
1:10:10 ratio: Took 17 hours to peak and stayed peaked for about 2.5 hours.

By the way, I don’t know why the 1:5:5 ratio is the only jar that didn’t overflow. Comment with your thoughts! #sourdoughstarter #feedingratios #sourdoughtimelapse #feedingsourdoughstarter

Share.

30 Comments

  1. I do a 1 to 4 ratio and it works perfectly for me. With my home temperature it’s takes a little longer to rise therefore feeding it every 24 hours versus every 12.

  2. Stayed peak as in you have that window to use it?? I rarely use my starter if it’s not just peaked because I’ve failed so many loaves but didn’t know if it was a peak issue or something else

  3. I have been consistently successful with a 1:1:1 but just because that works for me doesn’t mean it works for everyone. I really feel like the environment plays a huge role.

  4. test results:
    1:1:1
    5hrs to peak and stayed for 3hrs

    1:2:2
    5.5hrs to peak and stayed for 6hrs

    1:3:3
    8.5hrs to peak and stayed for 5hrs

    1:5:5
    10hrs to peak and stayed for 4.5hrs

    1:10:10
    17hrs to peak and stayed for 2.5hrs

  5. loved seeing all your makes and it's really cool to see you finding your style through knitting/crochet/sewing! also i would be interested in the videos you mentioned at the end!

  6. No where in the video or super long description does it elaborate on what the components of the ratio are. I don't even see it in the comments. Is it "starter : water : flour"?
    Is it just really obvious or something? Or is everyone here just experienced with sourdough?

  7. I just started back up and I learned that all I need is a couple of tablespoons of starter and then I check my recipe to see how much starter they want. So then I divide that half and half of flour and water and then I add that to my two tablespoons of starter. Then I have enough starter for my recipe and I still have a couple of tablespoons left over

Leave A Reply