A sourdough starter doesn’t need to be managed—it needs to be tended.
At Folke Estate, we think of it as something quietly living in your kitchen. Not delicate, not complicated—just responsive. It reflects the way you care for it: steady attention, simple habits, and a little patience over time.
When you stop overthinking it, maintaining a starter becomes second nature.
A sourdough starter is a living culture of wild yeast and beneficial bacteria, created from just flour and water.
It doesn’t behave like an ingredient you use up. It behaves more like something you look after. It rises, settles, and rests in its own rhythm, shaped gently by temperature, time, and feeding.
Your role isn’t to control it. It’s to keep it balanced.
For many bakers, the journey begins with a dehydrated culture brought back to life. If you’ve just rehydrated your Florence starter, you’ve already taken the first important step in building your baking rhythm.
Once revived, your focus shifts from activation to consistency—gentle, regular feeding and observation.
If you’re in the process of rehydrating or want to revisit the steps, you can find the full guide here:
Rehydrating your Florence Sourdough Starter
After rehydration, give your starter a little time to settle. It may take a few feeds before it becomes fully predictable. This is normal. You’re not fixing anything—you’re simply helping it find its rhythm again.
When making sourdough, adjusting the ratios of flour, water, starter, and salt can significantly influence the flavor. For example, a lower starter percentage or longer fermentation often produces a tangier loaf, while a higher starter percentage and shorter fermentation can result in a milder taste. Since every starter and environment behaves differently, experimenting with these ratios can help you discover the flavor profile and texture that you enjoy most.
Feeding is the one constant.
You don’t need a complicated process—just a simple reset.
Remove some starter.
Add fresh flour and water.
Mix until smooth.
Leave it to rest.
That’s the pattern.
A simple, reliable ratio many bakers return to is 1:1:1—100g starter, 100g water, and 100g flour. Under steady conditions, this will typically allow your starter to double within 4–6 hours, depending on temperature and environment.
Over time, you’ll stop relying on measurements alone and start noticing the small details—how it looks just after feeding, how it feels when it’s ready, how the aroma shifts as it matures.
It becomes less about instruction and more about recognition.
After feeding, your starter will begin to rise.
It becomes lighter, aerated, full of small bubbles. At its peak, it often sits slightly domed—alive with activity but calm in appearance.
Then it gently falls away again.
That peak is where it’s strongest for baking.
With time, you won’t need to check it constantly. You’ll just know when it’s there.
There isn’t one correct way to store a starter—only the rhythm that suits how you bake.
On the counter, it stays active and needs regular feeding. This suits frequent baking and a more hands-on routine.
In the fridge, everything slows. Feedings space out, and the starter rests between uses.
Both approaches work. The important part is consistency within whichever rhythm you choose.
Your starter will change with its environment.
It may rise faster in warmth or slow down in cooler conditions. It may behave differently with a new flour or after time in the fridge.
This isn’t instability—it’s responsiveness.
Most changes settle with a few regular feeds and a return to routine.
Maintaining a starter doesn’t need to be a task on a list. It becomes something quieter than that, a few minutes in the kitchen. A quick feed. A moment of attention every now and then.
The Folke Estate Sourdough Kit is a complete introduction to the art of sourdough baking. It combines essential tools, a live starter culture, and simple guidance to help you confidently begin baki...
Read more
What Tools Do You Need for Sourdough?
At Folke Estate, we believe sourdough baking doesn’t need to be complicated. You don’t need a professional bakery setup or a wall of specialist equipment to create beautiful, bakery-style loaves at...
Read more