For 500g of flour, a common amount of active sourdough starter is 100g (20%), but you can use less (50g for a slower rise/more sour, ~10%) or more (up to 150-250g for a faster rise), depending on desired timing and flavor, with amounts typically ranging from 10% to 25% of the flour weight. The key is adjusting the fermentation time: more starter = faster rise; less starter = slower rise and potentially more sourness.
1:1:1 Ratio: 50g starter, 50g flour, 50g water.
As I get ready to feed it, I often have too much starter and I need to keep the ratios the same - equal portions of starter, flour, and water (1-1-1). If you have too much starter compared to the additional flour and water you're adding, your hungry starter consumes all the nutrients and then it's not as bubbly.
Generally speaking, it is very common for bread recipes to call for starter in the amount of 10 to 20% of the flour weight. So, an average recipe for 500g flour would use 100g starter.
If you are building a brand new starter and you are early in the process discard down to 25 or 50 grams and feed equal parts by weight. If you are feeding to get enough for dough your minimum feeding, for 100 grams of starter, is 100 grams each of flour and water.
The biggest mistake with a sourdough starter is impatience, primarily by using it before it's strong enough (weak starter) or discarding too much/feeding inefficiently, which weakens it further, leading to flat bread; you must give a new starter weeks to mature and consistently feed it at its peak for proper leavening power. Other common errors include using chlorinated water, incorrect water temperature, or ignoring temperature for sluggish activity.
An overfed starter can be too diluted and it will be very watery. Your workers are there, they are just overwhelmed with too much food and water.
It sounds like too much water. A thin starter can't hold the bubbles. Use a scale, and feed less water than flour by weight. Try 90% of the flour weight, work from there.
For 500g flour, 100g of starter is common. You can go lower, like 50g, if you want the dough to move slower. 10-20% of flour weight, that way you can adjust for loaf size. 50g is 10% of a loaf using 500g flour and 5% of a loaf using 1000g flour.
Signs of an Overfed, Weak Starter
No you do not have to stir sourdough starter before you use it. You measure the sourdough starter by weight, not volume, so stirring it or not makes absolutely no difference.
You'll need to either work in volume or weight! If weight, for 100g starter, reduce the water and flour amounts by 50g each. As 4 cups is equivalent to 500g flour, the 100g starter is 20%.
So basically, whatever you have in starter, double the amount for water, and triple the amount for Flour. -1-For example, if you have 170g ripe sourdough starter, mix in 340g water and 510g flour (preferably bread flour or any flour with high protein content). Mix in around 9g of salt.
The most important sign of sourdough starter readiness is that your starter is doubling every single time you feed it. A sourdough starter needs to at least double its volume, but could even triple if it's really active and happy.
Symptoms of a bad starter include a single loud click, rapid clicking, slow cranking, grinding noises, or nothing at all when you turn the key, even if lights work; this often happens intermittently, especially when the engine is warm, and can be distinguished from a weak battery if the car still won't start after a jump-start. A burning smell or smoke from under the hood can also occur, and sometimes you might hear the starter spinning (whirring/whizzing) without the engine turning over.
Whole Wheat Flour: Some bakers swear by using whole wheat flour in their starters. This flour includes the whole grain of wheat, including the bran, endosperm, and germ.
Your sourdough starter should be bubbling and rising up the sides of its container within 4 hours of feeding (always keep your starter in a container that has plenty of room for expansion!).
This is the second proofing stage which can take anywhere between 12-48 hours. The longer you proof the dough, the more acidic it will become, and the more the gluten will be broken down.
Premature discarding and overfeeding will weaken your starter and elongate the process. Don't discard and re-feed a weak starter before it shows increasing bubble activity or height from the previous feeding. If you don't see more bubbles or a faster rise each day, skip a feeding, and give it more time.
Sourdough (leaven) appears in the Bible primarily as a metaphor for growth, corruption, or the pervasive nature of the Kingdom of God, notably in Jesus's parables (Matthew 13:33, Luke 13:21) where a small amount of leaven affects all the flour. It's also significant in the Exodus story, where God commands Israelites to eat unleavened bread (matzah) to commemorate their hasty departure from Egypt, symbolizing a break from Egyptian mastery of sourdough. While not a daily staple in the religious narrative, its presence highlights themes of spiritual transformation, hypocrisy (the "leaven of the Pharisees"), and foundational religious practices like Passover.
A good sourdough starter is active and bubbly, showing significant rise and aeration within hours of feeding, passing the float test, having a pleasant tangy aroma, and a stretchy, gooey consistency, achieved through consistent feeding with quality flour (whole grain helps start, white for maintenance) and water in a warm environment (around 78-85°F) using a reliable ratio (like 1:1:1 by weight). It's a balance of wild yeast and bacteria, thriving with regular feeding and proper hydration.
Wide-mouth jars are best for growing, feeding and maintaining sourdough starters. Over the lifetime of your starter, you will need to remove a lot of starter from the jar as well as add a lot of flour and water. If you have a narrow-mouthed jar, the small opening will make feeding and caring for your starter messier.