There's not one perfect roadmap to success, largely because you're dealing with wild yeast and bacterial cultures. Add the flour and other dry ingredients. https://www.marthastewart.com/7794755/sourdough-starter-from-scratch For example, say you had a starter that weighed 40 grams. Mix with a wooden spoon until the yeast is dissolved. If you haven't made a sourdough starter before, this easy recipe is a good place to begin.
Based on my side-by-side testing of different flours and flour blends, many options work well. “The idea is you always want to feed it right at peak. But where does the path to sourdough bread begin? The best thing to do is to just start. After even more time (two weeks, or longer), you will have a mature sourdough starter—a stable community of microbes that can leaven bread. There's no simple, one-size-fits-all recipe for a sourdough starter, but that doesn't mean they're hard to make. But there’s a balance.
Here is a table showing my own schedule and ratios over the two-week period that it took me to make a stable sourdough culture from scratch. But at least anecdotally, Kristen Dennis and I have both found that less frequently fed starters show slightly less vigorous activity than starters fed on a more frequent, lower-ratio schedule.I like to feed twice a day: once every 12 hours at a ratio of 1:5:5, kept at 72 degrees. Again, pay attention to these- your starter is telling you what it needs. The starter should feature uneven dimples on its surface, evidence of a few big, sturdy, bubbles on the top, and should feel like bubbly whipped cream when you stir it. Bakers are known to covet a healthy starter and care for it like a treasured family heirloom. It is happy and alive. For example, if feeding 1:1:1 or 1:2:2, then a healthy starter usually peaks in 4 to 6 hours at a warm temperature (78-80 degrees). With regular yeast bread, you can use a store-bought packet of active dry yeast. "In the beginning, it’s wise to start with a 1:1:1: ratio. Should I do anything different? If you give your friend a 1/2 cup of your discard starter, it should be good to use, but I would recommend you have them feed it (if you think it is hungry) so they can keep it going and not use it all up in one loaf.I presume you include the 4-6 hours WITHIN the 8 hours of rest on the counter?My starter doubles, is able to float in water, and peaks after about 6 hours.I’m currently 3 hours in and it’s about halfway to doubling.Thanks for your recipes, the pancakes and scones were delicious (I added chocolate chips :))I prefer to make bread with really hungry starter. These microbes metabolize the flour's natural sugars to produce carbon dioxide, ethanol, lactic acid, and other desirable byproducts. https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2019/03/beginner-sourdough-starter-recipe Pour the starter into a plastic container that is at least four times larger than the liquid starter (such as a 1/2-gallon ice cream container or Mason jar). After all, complexity is what makes cultivating a sourdough culture worthwhile. Can you explain/assist?Hi, don’t worry too much about floating, if it is doubling within 6 hours after feeding.Do you mean it after you fed it, it rose out of the jar? ?I would just keep doing what you are doing! You can use whatever you have on hand (so long as it's not bleached flour), and then transition to another—assuming your starter continues to peak and be active. At the very least, you want a quantity that will fill the bottom of its container. Right in your own kitchen, with your own homemade sourdough starter.Stir everything together thoroughly; make sure there's no dry flour anywhere.