• Organic all-purpose flour
• Room-temp water
• A clean glass jar with a lid
• A food scale
• A spoon or rubber spatula

1. Put your dehydrated sourdough starter flakes in a clean, tall jar and crush the flakes into smaller pieces.
2. Using a food scale, 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 organic all-purpose flour. Stir until there are no dry patches of flour. 
5. Cover loosely and let sit on the counter for 24 hours.
6. After 24 hours, throw out half of the starter (you can eyeball this) and then add 45 grams of room-temp water and 45 grams of 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 all-purpose flour. Mix and let 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 and the temperature of the starter.
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, make sure to feed your starter every 24 hours. This is not necessary, however, since you can simply keep your starter in the fridge between uses.

If you are baking a single loaf of bread, the recipe will likely call for 100g sourdough starter. The easiest and most fool-proof way to make sure you always have starter that is ready to use is to keep 10g of starter in a jar in the fridge at all times. The evening before you plan to prepare your loaf, take the jar out of the fridge, feed it with 50g flour and 50g water, and leave it on the counter overnight. By the morning, the starter will have risen and will be ready to use. Then, take out 100g of starter and mix into your dough. The remaining bit of starter in the jar goes back into the fridge where it can sit until the next time you bake.

The next time you want to bake, simply take the jar out and repeat the above process.

• 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 like a pancake in a buttered 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! Simply feed your starter again or put it in the refrigerator. 
• Make sure you do not completely tighten the lid on your starter. Gasses are being produced as your starter grows, which will create pressure inside the jar if it is tightened all the way. You want to give the gasses a bit of space to escape so your jar doesn't break.
• 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.