Get your starter up to speed

2 weeks · all levels

Fourteen days to get a quiet starter back to being reliable. Set feeding times, bigger feeds and a warmer spot — and at the end you bake with it.

What you'll be doing

1 One set time Week 1 · Starter Pick an hour you know you'll be around, and feed at that hour every day. Irregular feeding is the most common reason a starter runs slow.
2 Bigger feeds Week 1 · Starter From 1:1:1 to 1:5:5. More food means a later but much higher peak, and a starter that isn't sitting in its own acid.
3 Three degrees warmer Week 1 · Learning On top of the fridge, or in the oven with just the light on. Below 20 degrees everything runs about twice as slow as recipes assume.
4 Note when it peaks Week 2 · Starter Four days of tracking how high it rises and when. That makes the peak prediction yours, instead of a formula's.
5 The float test, and why it often lies Week 2 · Learning A spoonful of starter in water. If it floats, there's plenty of gas in it — but a starter that has just fallen back will float too. So it's the height you want to watch above all.
6 Bake with it Week 2 · Baking A bake at peak, with a timeline built on your kitchen temperature. Proof that it's doing what you want again.