Before you mix your dough, your starter needs to be ready for action.

Think of your starter as a miniature dough. Its properties transfer directly to your bread. If your starter doesn’t have a good balance of yeast and bacteria, neither will your dough.

This guide helps you assess your starter’s current state and prepare it for baking, whether it’s been sitting in the fridge for a week or you just fed it yesterday.

Based on The Sourdough Framework flowchart for readying your starter.

The first question: How long has it been since your starter was last fed?

This determines whether you need a revival feeding first, or can go straight to the pre-bake feeding.

Think back to your last feeding. Was it:

• Within the last 3 days? Your starter is likely still balanced.
• More than 3 days ago? The bacteria have likely taken over.

When a starter sits unfed for too long, acidity piles up and the environment becomes hostile to yeast. The bacteria dominate while the yeast goes dormant.

Your starter has been sleeping for a while! The bacteria have been slowly consuming resources while the yeast went dormant.

You’ll need 1-3 feedings to rebalance the yeast and bacteria before baking.

Don’t worry, this is completely normal. Starters are resilient. They’ve survived worse than a few weeks in the fridge.

Let’s start the revival process. Plan to bake 2-3 days from now.

Your starter needs a boost before it’s ready for baking.

When bacteria dominate (which happens after a few days without feeding), you need to give the yeast a chance to catch up.

Plan your timeline:

• Feed now, wait 12-24 hours
• Then do a pre-bake feeding 6-12 hours before mixing your dough

This means you should plan to bake tomorrow or the day after.

Time to wake up your microbes! Use the 1:5:5 ratio:

• Old starter: 10g
• Flour: 50g
• Water: 50g

Steps:

1. Take 10g from your existing starter
2. Add 50g flour (same type you normally use)
3. Add 50g water (room temperature, unchlorinated)
4. Mix thoroughly until no dry flour remains
5. Cover loosely and place in a warm spot (24-28°C / 75-82°F)

The 1:5:5 ratio provides enough fresh food for the yeast and bacteria to multiply while diluting the accumulated acid.

Let the starter ferment for 12-24 hours.

During this time, the yeast and bacteria are waking up and multiplying. The fresh flour provides food, and the diluted acidity gives them room to thrive.

What’s happening inside:

• Yeast and bacteria are dividing and growing
• CO2 production is starting up
• The microbial balance is resetting

Check back in 12-24 hours to see how it’s doing.

After 12-24 hours, check your starter:

• Any bubbles? Even small ones count
• Has it grown? Any increase in volume?
• How does it smell? Yogurty or mildly vinegary?

If you see some activity, great! You can proceed to the pre-bake feeding.

If there’s little to no activity, your starter may need another revival feeding. This is common for starters that have been dormant for weeks or months.

No worries! Some starters need a bit more encouragement, especially if they’ve been dormant for a long time.

Repeat the revival feeding:

• Old starter: 10g
• Flour: 50g
• Water: 50g

Each feeding helps the microbial population grow stronger. After 2-3 feedings, even the most sluggish starter usually bounces back.

If after 3+ feedings there’s still no activity, try a different flour or check that your water isn’t heavily chlorinated.

Now for the important feeding: the one that prepares your starter for the dough.

Feed 6-12 hours before you plan to mix your dough.

Use the 1:5:5 ratio:

• Old starter: 10g
• Flour: 50g
• Water: 50g

This gives you ~110g of starter, more than enough for most recipes (which typically need 50-100g).

Mix thoroughly, cover loosely, and place in a warm spot.

Your kitchen temperature affects how fast your starter ripens.

Adjust your ratio based on conditions:

• Cool (18-22°C / 64-72°F): 1:5:5 ratio → ready in 8-12 hours
• Warm (23-26°C / 73-79°F): 1:5:5 ratio → ready in 6-8 hours
• Hot (27°C+ / 81°F+): 1:10:10 ratio → ready in 8-12 hours

In very warm climates, use 1:10:10 or even 1:20:20 to slow things down and fit your schedule.

Pro tip: If you want to make a dough first thing in the morning, feed before bed using a higher ratio.

Now we wait for the starter to show good activity, signs that the yeast and bacteria are awake and fermenting.

Typical timeline: 6-12 hours depending on temperature and ratio.

Your starter is ready when it shows all the signs of ripeness, which we’ll check in the next step.

Don’t worry about exact timing. The signs of the starter matter more than the clock.

First sign of readiness: visible fermentation activity.

Look at your starter and check:

• Bubbles on the surface? Large or small, they indicate CO2 production
• Bubbles on the sides? Check the sides of your starter jar
• Has it increased in size? Any rise counts, ideally 50-100%

These bubbles are CO2 produced by the yeast and bacteria. More bubbles = more microbial activity = better rise in your bread.

Second sign of readiness: the right smell.

Give your starter a good sniff. A ripe starter ready for baking should smell:

• Yogurty (lactic acid, mild and creamy)
• Or mildly vinegary (acetic acid, tangy but not harsh)
• Possibly slightly alcoholic (yeast byproduct)

The smell should be pleasant and balanced, like a ripe starter “shortly before collapsing” as described in The Sourdough Framework.

If it smells harsh, like nail polish remover (acetone), it’s over-fermented. You might want to consider giving it another feeding.

Your starter isn’t showing good activity yet. This is normal!

Options:

1. Wait longer (2-4 more hours) and check again
2. Move to a warmer spot to speed things up

Fermentation time varies based on:

• Temperature (warmer = faster)
• Starter strength (newer starters are slower)
• Flour type (whole grain ferments faster)

Patience! The signs of the starter matter more than any timeline.

The smell gives important clues:

Acetone/nail polish remover: Your starter is over-fermented. The microbes have run out of food and are stressed. Feed again with 1:5:5 and wait 6-8 hours.

Very sour/harsh vinegar: Too much acetic acid. This happens when it’s been too long since feeding. Feed again.

No smell at all: The fermentation hasn’t really started. Wait longer, or move to a warmer spot.

Unpleasant/rotten: If your starter smells truly bad (not just sour), something may have gone wrong. Start over with a fresh feeding.

Perfect! Your starter is showing good activity and ready for your dough.

You’ve confirmed:

• ✅ Visible bubbles and rise
• ✅ Pleasant yogurty or vinegary aroma

Important: Use your starter while it’s active. The microbial activity will start to decline as they run out of food.

If you can’t use it right away, you can slow it down by putting it in the fridge.

Timing your bake:

• Feed before bed → ready by morning
• Feed in the morning → ready by evening
• Use higher ratios (1:10:10) to delay readiness

Starter quantity for your dough:
Most recipes call for 10% starter (50g for 500g flour). Adjust based on:

• More starter (15-20%) = faster fermentation, can overferment faster
• Less starter (5-10%) = slower fermentation, great when doing a fermentolysis

The float test:
Some sources recommend dropping starter in water to test if it floats. This is not reliable for all flour types. Trust the visual and smell signs instead.

Save some starter!
Always keep a bit back for your next bake. Never use all of it!

Your starter is primed and ready. All that microbial activity is about to go into your bread!

Ready to make your dough? The Bake Sourdough Bread journey will guide you through every step.

Remember: your starter’s balance transfers to your dough. You’ve done the work to get it right. Now enjoy the bake!

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