Yes, for a counter starter. A 1:1:1-fed starter at 22°C starts getting hungry after 12-16h but isn't stressed for 24h. One missed day is fine; three in a row calls for a revival feed. Fridge starters tolerate a skipped week easily.

Does it matter which flour I use?

For daily maintenance: no - any bread flour works. For bake prep, 10-20% whole rye or whole wheat adds fermentation speed and flavour. For reviving a sluggish starter, switch to 100% whole rye for two feeds - the bran carries dense wild yeast populations.

My starter is huge. Do I have to feed so much?

No. Discard until you have 30-50g, then feed that small amount. A 50g base is just as vigorous as a 500g one and wastes far less flour. Smaller is almost always better for home maintenance.

What is the 1/3/3 rule for sourdough starter?

It's a simple feeding ratio: one part starter to three parts flour to three parts water by weight - for example 20g starter, 60g flour, 60g water. The bigger flour and water portions feed the colony more food than a 1:1:1 feed does, so it peaks more slowly and stays active longer before it gets hungry. It's a handy middle ground when 1:1:1 gets hungry too fast for your schedule but 1:5:5 is more dilution than you need.

Can I feed my starter less than 1:1:1, or what's the best ratio from scratch?

You can feed below 1:1:1 (say 2:1:1 - more starter than flour), but it's rarely a good idea: there's less fresh food per microbe, so the starter sours and gets hungry fast. If anything, go the other way and give it more flour and water. For building a brand-new starter, equal weights (1:1:1) is the simplest reliable ratio. Once it's established, a larger feed like 1:3:3 or 1:5:5 gives a cleaner, more vigorous rise and a longer window before the next feed.

Can you feed a starter too often, and what does an overfed starter look like?

Yes. If you feed again before the starter has peaked and started to fall, you keep diluting the colony before it has had a chance to work - it stays sluggish and never builds a strong rise. An overfed starter looks flat with few bubbles and barely climbs, and smells mild, floury, almost like raw batter rather than pleasantly tangy. The fix is easy: stop feeding and wait until it actually peaks and falls, then feed once. Let the starter's own rise-and-fall rhythm set your schedule, not the clock.

How often should I feed my sourdough starter?

On the counter at room temperature: once a day at 1:1:1, or every 24h if you switch to a bigger 1:4:4 ratio. In the fridge: once a week. If you bake several times a week, keep it on the counter; if you bake monthly, keep it cold and feed it weekly. The honest answer is 'when it has peaked and started to fall', which is why logging the time and rise of a few feeds beats following any fixed clock.

Can I measure feeds by volume instead of weighing?

You can, but a scale is far more reliable. Flour packs unevenly, so a cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 120g to 150g, which quietly changes your hydration and your ratio from feed to feed. Once you weigh, the ratio is exact every time and the starter behaves predictably. A cheap digital kitchen scale is the single best sourdough purchase you'll make.

What temperature should the water be when I feed?

Room-temperature water for normal counter feeds. Use 28-30°C (lukewarm, not hot) when you want to kick-start a fridge-cold or sluggish starter. Never use hot water above about 50°C/120°F - that range starts to kill the wild yeast and bacteria. If your tap water is heavily chlorinated, let it sit out for an hour or use filtered, since chlorine can slow fermentation.

Why isn't my starter rising after a feed?

The three usual culprits are cold, a too-small ratio, or a recently fridged starter that hasn't woken up. Move it somewhere 24-27°C, feed at a clean 1:1:1 or 1:2:2 with a little whole rye, and give it a full 8-12h before deciding. A starter straight from the fridge often needs two or three counter feeds before it doubles again. If after several warm feeds there's still zero activity, work through the dead-starter diagnostic.

Sourdough Tracker Tools

Guides

The Complete Sourdough Starter Feeding Guide: Ratios, Timing, and Temperature

Everything you need to know to feed your starter right - and stop guessing when to do it.

Feeding

Beginner

Technique

Julia YukovichCo-Founder + CEO

·June 28, 2026·

8 min read

·Updated

On this page

The three ratios - and when to use each Counter vs fridge: two completely different schedules How temperature changes everything When to feed - without a rigid clock Bigger ratios, longer windows: feeding for a real schedule Do you really have to discard before feeding?Infographic: which feeding ratio?

Key takeaways

1:1:1 (one part starter : one part flour : one part water by weight) is everyday maintenance - keeps the colony alive without growing it.

1:5:5 is the bake-prep feed - dilutes acidity and gives a clean, vigorous peak 10-12h later. Use it the day before a bake.

Temperature changes timing more than ratio does. 4-5°C warmer = roughly one hour earlier peak.

Log every feed. After 10 feeds the rhythm of your starter becomes obvious; until then everything is guesswork.

Bigger ratios stretch the window. At warm room temp a 1:1:1 peaks in ~4-6h, 1:2:2 in ~8h, 1:4:4 in ~12h - feed less often by feeding more.

Step by step

Discard to target weight

Spoon or pour out starter until the jar holds your base weight (e.g. 50g for a 1:1:1 feed). Tare the scale with the jar on it.

Weigh in flour

Add flour to match your ratio. Daily maintenance: any bread flour. Bake-prep: 80% bread flour + 20% whole wheat or rye for a faster, more flavourful peak.

Weigh in water

Same weight as flour. Room-temperature water for counter feeds; 28-30°C to kick-start a fridge-cold starter. Stir thoroughly until no dry flour remains.

Mark the level and log

Slide the rubber band to the current level. Log the time, ambient temperature, and ratio. Rise % can be added when you check at peak.

Check at expected peak, log rise %

At peak, read the height against the rubber band. Log the rise %. That number, over 10+ feeds, tells you everything you need to know about your starter's health.

The three ratios - and when to use each

Every ratio is written as starter : flour : water by weight. 1:1:1 is the default - keep ~50g starter, add 50g flour and 50g water. Once a day on the counter, once a week in the fridge. 1:2:2 is a mild strengthening feed - keep 30g starter, add 60g flour + 60g water. Good after several fridge days when the starter is slightly sluggish. 1:5:5 is the levain-builder - keep 20g starter, add 100g flour + 100g water. The heavy dilution resets acidity and produces a predictable, vigorous peak in 10-12h. Use it the morning before baking.

1:1:1 - daily or weekly maintenance.

1:2:2 - mild strengthening after fridge rest.

1:5:5 - bake-day prep, cleanest rise.

Counter vs fridge: two completely different schedules

Counter (room temp, 20-24°C): feed once or twice a day. At 22°C a 1:1:1 feed peaks in 6-8h and is back at the starting line 12-16h later - that's your feed window. At 18°C the same feed takes 10-12h, so once a day is enough. Below 16°C the starter barely moves; twice-daily 1:1:1 risks over-acidifying before peak. Move it somewhere warmer instead.

Fridge (3-5°C): feed once a week. The colony goes dormant but doesn't die. Take it out every 6-7 days, discard to 50g, feed 1:1:1 with room-temperature water, leave out 4-6h until you see any activity, then return to the fridge. Skipping a week occasionally is fine; skipping three weeks means a counter revival (see how to put your starter to sleep and wake it back up).

How temperature changes everything

A rough rule: every 4-5°C warmer cuts the time to peak by about one hour. At 20°C, a 1:1:1 peak arrives in 8-10h. At 24°C, 5-7h. At 28°C, 3-4h. This matters enormously for planning: the recipe that says 'feed and wait 8h' was written in a 22°C kitchen. Your August kitchen at 28°C is a different ecosystem. Track ambient temperature with every feed and within two weeks you'll know your starter's peak time at every season.

When to feed - without a rigid clock

The starter tells you. After peak it falls. When it drops back near the rubber band mark - or starts smelling strongly of alcohol or vinegar - it's time. For most counter starters at 20-22°C that's 12-24h after a 1:1:1 feed. For fridge starters, 5-7 days. You don't need an alarm; you need a rubber band and a quick glance when you walk past the jar. Sourdough Tracker shows your last feed time on the starter card so you always know how long it's been without thinking about it.

Bigger ratios, longer windows: feeding for a real schedule

A 1:1:1 feed gets hungry fast, which is why most experienced bakers move to a bigger ratio for room-temperature maintenance. King Arthur's side-by-side test at warm room temp is a clean reference: 1:1:1 doubled and peaked at about 4 hours, 1:2:2 peaked around 8 hours, and 1:4:4 reached full peak at roughly 12 hours. More flour and water means more food per microbe, so the colony takes longer to exhaust it. Pick the ratio that lines the next peak up with when you can actually feed: 1:2:2 if you want a once-a-day rhythm without an evening top-up, 1:4:4 or even 1:10:10 if you need to skip toward 24h between feeds. The starter doesn't get weaker at a bigger ratio - it just paces itself.

Do you really have to discard before feeding?

For everyday maintenance: yes, but not because the discard is bad. Discarding keeps the jar small so a normal-sized feed is still a real dilution - feed a 200g starter with 50g + 50g and you've barely fed it at all. So pour off to your base weight first, then feed. The only time you skip the discard is when you're deliberately building a bigger levain for a bake. And the removed portion isn't waste: cold, unfed discard keeps a week in the fridge and turns into crackers, pancakes, and more. If you hate throwing flour away, keep a smaller starter (30-50g) so there's less to discard each feed.

Infographic: which feeding ratio?

Here's the whole thing on one page. Tap it to download, or pin it for your next bake.

Infographic comparing 1:1:1, 1:5:5 and 1:10:10 feeding ratios with peak times. — Tap the infographic to download it.

FAQ

Frequently asked

Share this article

Try Sourdough Tracker

Free plan, no credit card. We host in Germany. You can export and delete everything self-serve.

Written by

Julia Yukovich

Co-Founder + CEO

Julia is one of the Co-Founders. She handles design, development, product direction, and most of the support replies that arrive in the morning.

julia.yukovich at aicuflow dot comLinkedIn