Sourdough Starter Feeding Schedule: How Often, How Much, and When to Refrigerate

One of the most common questions I get from new sourdough bakers is some version of: "How often do I feed this thing?"

It's a totally fair question, because the answer isn't one-size-fits-all. How often you feed your starter, how much you feed it, and where you store it all depend on how often you bake and what kind of routine fits your life. The good news is that once you understand the basics, it all clicks into place pretty quickly.

I've been maintaining heritage sourdough cultures for over 25 years, and I've helped thousands of customers figure out a feeding schedule that works for them. In this post, I'll walk you through everything: room temperature maintenance, refrigerator storage, feeding ratios, how to prep your starter for baking day, and how to adjust for hot and cold kitchens.

First, Understand What Feeding Actually Does

Your sourdough starter is a living colony of wild yeast and beneficial bacteria. When you feed it flour and water, those microorganisms eat the starches and sugars in the flour and produce two things: carbon dioxide gas (which is what makes bread rise) and organic acids (which give sourdough its tang).

After a feeding, the starter goes through a predictable cycle. It starts flat. Over the next several hours, the yeast gets to work producing gas, and the starter rises. It hits a peak (its highest point), which is when it's most active and powerful for baking. Then, once the yeast has consumed all the available food, gas production slows and the starter begins to fall back down. Eventually, if you don't feed it again, it goes dormant and a layer of dark liquid (called hooch) may form on top.

The goal of a feeding schedule is to give your starter fresh food at the right intervals so it stays healthy, active, and ready to bake with when you need it.

Understanding Feeding Ratios

Before we get into schedules, let's talk about ratios. When sourdough bakers write something like "1:1:1" or "1:5:5," they're describing the proportion of starter to flour to water by weight.

1:1:1 means equal parts starter, flour, and water. For example: 50 grams of starter, 50 grams of flour, 50 grams of water. This is a quick snack for the yeast. Your starter will rise fast and peak in just a few hours, which is great if you're planning to bake soon. But it also burns through its food quickly, so it won't stay at peak very long before it starts to fall.

1:5:5 means one part starter to five parts flour and five parts water. For example: 10 grams of starter, 50 grams of flour, 50 grams of water. This is a balanced, everyday meal. The starter rises slowly and steadily, typically peaking in about 12 to 14 hours at room temperature. This is my personal daily feeding ratio. I feed at night and it's ready to go by morning.

1:10:10 means one part starter to ten parts flour and ten parts water. This is a feast. I do this about once a week to build extra strength in the culture or if my starter has been a bit sluggish. The higher the ratio, the more food the yeast has to work through, which means it ferments longer, develops deeper flavor, and comes out stronger on the other side.

Here's the simple rule to remember: more food equals a slower rise equals a stronger starter.

Option 1: Room Temperature (For Frequent Bakers)

If you bake several times a week or even daily, keeping your starter on the counter at room temperature is the way to go. It stays active and ready to use with minimal prep time before baking.

How often to feed: Once every 24 hours. If your kitchen is very warm (above 80°F), you may need to feed twice a day (every 12 hours) to keep the starter from getting too acidic and sluggish.

How to feed:

1. Before each feeding, discard enough starter so only about a quarter of the jar remains. Save the discard in a separate container for discard recipes like pancakes, crackers, and pizza dough. Don't pour it down the sink because it can clog your drain over time.
2. Add flour and water. For daily maintenance, I recommend a 1:5:5 ratio by weight. So if you keep 10 grams of starter, add 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. If you prefer something simpler and you're baking within the next few hours, a 1:1:1 ratio works fine (equal parts starter, flour, and water).
3. Stir well until there are no dry flour pockets. The consistency should be a thick paste.
4. Cover loosely (lid set on top but not sealed, or a cloth secured with a rubber band) and leave at room temperature.

When to bake with it: Your starter is ready to use when it has risen to its peak and is just beginning to show the first signs of falling. For a 1:1:1 feeding, that's usually about 4 to 6 hours. For a 1:5:5 feeding, that's more like 10 to 14 hours, depending on your kitchen temperature.

You want to catch it at or near its peak for the strongest rise in your bread. If it's already fully collapsed and deflated, it's past peak and will still work but won't give you as much oven spring.

Option 2: Refrigerator Storage (For Occasional Bakers)

If you only bake once a week or less, there's no need to feed your starter every day. That's a lot of flour going to waste (or to discard recipes) when you're not baking regularly. The refrigerator is your friend here.

Cold temperatures slow down fermentation dramatically. Your starter essentially goes into hibernation in the fridge, using very little food and requiring much less attention.

How to store it:

1. Feed your starter as normal (1:1:1 or 1:5:5).
2. Let it sit at room temperature for about 30 to 60 minutes after feeding so fermentation gets started.
3. Tighten the lid and place it in the fridge.

How often to feed: Every 7 to 10 days is ideal. Pull the jar out, discard, feed, let it sit at room temperature for an hour or so, then put it back. A healthy starter can actually survive in the fridge for up to a month without feeding if life gets busy. It won't be happy about it, but it will bounce back with a few consistent feedings.

How to prep for baking day:

1. The night before you plan to bake, take the starter out of the fridge.
2. Discard all but about a quarter of the jar.
3. Feed it with a 1:1:1 or 1:5:5 ratio using room temperature or slightly warm water.
4. Leave it on the counter overnight.
5. By morning, it should be bubbly, risen, and ready to use.

If your starter has been in the fridge for a long time (more than two weeks without feeding), it might need two rounds of feeding over 24 to 48 hours before it's strong enough to leaven bread. Just feed it, wait for it to rise and fall, feed it again, and repeat until it's reliably doubling within 4 to 6 hours.

Option 3: The "I Barely Bake" Approach

Maybe you love having a sourdough starter on hand but you only bake once or twice a month. That's totally fine. Here are your options for keeping the starter alive with minimal effort:

Fridge with weekly feeds: Follow the refrigerator instructions above and just feed once a week. Takes about 5 minutes.

Dehydrate a backup: Take some of your active starter, spread it thin on a piece of parchment paper, and let it dry completely at room temperature (this can take a day or two). Once it's fully dry and brittle, break it into flakes and store them in a sealed bag or jar. This backup will last for months (even years) and can be rehydrated whenever you need it using our rehydration instructions. It's like a sourdough insurance policy.

Adjusting for Hot and Cold Kitchens

Temperature changes everything about your feeding schedule. Here's how to adjust.

Hot kitchen (above 80°F, common in summer): Your starter will ferment much faster. A 1:1:1 feeding might peak in just 2 to 3 hours instead of 4 to 6. If you're keeping your starter on the counter, you may need to feed twice a day or switch to a higher ratio like 1:5:5 so it has more food to work through and doesn't peak and collapse before you're ready to use it. If the starter gets too warm and is consistently overactive, move it to a cooler spot or put it in the fridge between feedings.

Also watch the consistency. Hot weather is the number one cause of starters getting too thin. Warmer temperatures speed up fermentation and produce more liquid. If you notice the starter getting runny, add a bit more flour at your next feeding to thicken it back up. A too-thin starter lets gas escape instead of trapping it, which prevents it from rising properly. This is the most common problem I help customers with during summer months.

Cold kitchen (below 68°F, common in winter): Everything slows down. A starter that normally peaks in 6 hours might take 12 or even 24 hours. This doesn't mean anything is wrong. You can either be patient and let it take its time, or help it along by finding a warmer spot (on top of the fridge, near a heating vent, in the oven with just the light on) or by using warm water (75 to 80°F) at feeding time.

In very cold environments, you might only need to feed once every 36 to 48 hours at room temperature because the starter is burning through its food so slowly. Pay attention to the rise and fall cycle rather than the clock.

What a Healthy Feeding Routine Looks Like

Here's my personal routine, just to give you a concrete example of what this looks like in practice:

Every evening around 9 or 10 PM: I discard most of the starter, keeping about 10 grams in the jar. I feed it a 1:5:5 ratio (10g starter, 50g flour, 50g water). I stir it well, cover loosely, and leave it on the counter.

By morning (about 12 to 14 hours later): The starter is webby, bubbly, and at or near its peak. If I'm baking that day, I use it. If not, I repeat the process that evening.

Once a week: I give it a big 1:10:10 feeding to build extra strength and depth of flavor. Same process, just more food relative to the amount of starter.

That's it. It takes about 3 minutes a day. Once you find your rhythm, it becomes second nature.

How to Know When Your Starter Is Ready to Bake With

Regardless of your feeding schedule, here are the signs that your starter is at peak activity and ready to be mixed into a dough:

• It has roughly doubled in volume (or more) since its last feeding.
• The surface is covered in bubbles, and you can see bubbles throughout the sides of the jar.
• It has a pleasantly yeasty, slightly tangy smell.
• The texture is loose and airy compared to right after feeding.
• If you tilt the jar, the starter looks webby and stretchy rather than dense and pasty.

If your starter hasn't hit these marks within the expected timeframe, check the temperature of your kitchen, the consistency of the mixture, and the type of flour you're using. Our troubleshooting guide covers all the common reasons a starter might be underperforming.

Quick Reference

I bake daily or every other day: Keep starter on the counter. Feed once every 24 hours (or every 12 hours in hot kitchens). Use a 1:1:1 or 1:5:5 ratio.

I bake once a week: Store in the fridge. Feed once a week. Pull it out the night before baking day, discard and feed, and let it rise overnight on the counter.

I bake once a month or less: Store in the fridge. Feed every 7 to 10 days if you can (once a month minimum). Consider dehydrating a backup. Give it 1 to 2 days of counter feedings before baking to get it back to full strength.

Questions?

If you're not sure what feeding schedule works for your situation, or if your starter isn't behaving the way you'd expect, send me a message. I help customers dial in their routines all the time, and I usually respond within minutes.

For more detail on feeding ratios specifically, check out our feeding ratios explainer page. And if you're just getting started with a new dehydrated starter, our rehydration instructions will walk you through the first 5 days step by step.

Happy baking.