• A clean glass jar with a lid
• Unbleached all-purpose flour
• Room-temp water
• A food scale

1. Put dehydrated sourdough starter flakes in a clean, tall jar and crush the flakes into smaller pieces.
2. Add 15 grams of room-temp water and stir to dissolve. It’s ok if there are some lumps.
3. Cover loosely and let sit for 4 hours. This allows the yeast to “wake up.” Stir your starter a few times to incorporate any lumps that didn’t originally dissolve.
4. After 4 hours, add 30 more grams of room-temp water and 30 grams of unbleached all-purpose flour. Stir until there are no dry patches of flour. 
5. Cover loosely and let sit on the counter.
6. After 24 hours, discard half of the starter and then add 45 grams of room-temp water and 45 grams of unbleached all-purpose flour.
7. Cover loosely and let sit for 24 hours.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 again for two more days: discard half of the starter and then add 45 grams of room-temp water and 45 grams of unbleached all-purpose flour. Let your starter sit loosely covered for 24 hours.
9. Your starter should be bubbling by the end of the third or fourth day. Continue repeating steps 6 and 7 until your starter rises and falls. The timeline could vary based on the type of flour you use, the starter's temperature, etc.
10. Once your starter is active and bubbly, move onto the next section: Maintaining and Using Your Sourdough Starter.

If you are feeding your starter every day, you will discard all but 25 grams of starter and feed it with 100 grams of room-temp water and 100 grams of unbleached all-purpose flour. You can throw away the starter that didn’t get fed (we call this “discard”), or you can keep it in a separate jar in the fridge and add it to almost any baking recipe! Highly recommended! If you are feeding your starter once per week, take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature and then feed it like normal. Here is a great video to help you through baking your first loaf of sourdough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEtU4Co08yY

• Add to your pancake or waffle mix
• Add to banana bread batter
• Make flatbread by mixing ½ cup starter, ½ tsp baking soda, and salt. Let sit for 1 min and then cook in an oiled pan.

• The reason you are able to keep your starter at room temp without it spoiling is because you have created a hospitable environment for all the yeast to grow. If you forget to feed your starter for a day or two, that is ok! Just pick up your feeding schedule. 
• Make sure you do not completely tighten the lid on your starter. The reason you must leave your jar loosely covered is because gasses are being produced as your starter grows. This will create pressure inside the jar if it is tightened all the way and your jar could break. You want to give the gasses a bit of space to escape. 
• If you see a layer of dark liquid on top of your starter, don’t be alarmed! That is called hooch and it’s just a sign that your starter is hungry and needs to be fed. Simply feed your starter like normal. 
• “Feeding” is a bit of a misnomer, since you are taking only a small portion of the starter and adding a much greater amount of flour and water. “Propagating” is a good way to think about it, since you are creating an environment for the original starter to grow and thrive. 
• Sourdough discard is awesome, so don’t throw away the portion of the starter that doesn’t get fed. You can add sourdough discard to almost any baked good. It’s one extra step that adds a ton of flavor and texture. When adding it to banana bread, for example, let the batter sit at room temp for at least an hour so that the sourdough has a chance to reactivate.