How often to feed a sourdough starter, on the counter and in the fridge

Ask five bakers how often to feed a starter and you'll get five schedules. The good news is that a starter is forgiving, and the guidance from King Arthur Baking and university extension services is simpler than the internet makes it look. It comes down to where you keep the starter and how often you bake.

On the counter: once a day

King Arthur's current advice for a starter kept at room temperature is to feed it once a day. Some of their older pages said every 12 hours, but their newer guides make once a day the default, with twice a day, about 12 hours apart, as an option if you want a livelier starter. University of Illinois Extension suggests daily feeding if you bake every day or three to four times a week.

A counter starter suits you if you bake often. It's always close to ready, and you'll learn its rhythm quickly.

In the fridge: once a week

If you bake once a week or less, the fridge saves flour and effort. Cold slows the starter down, so it needs a feeding about once a week. After you feed it, leave it out at room temperature for an hour or two so it gets going, then put it back. King Arthur's guides give anywhere from about an hour to a few hours for this.

A fridge starter that's been ignored for a while isn't ruined. See how to tell if your starter is dead for how to bring it back.

How to wake a fridge starter before baking

A starter straight from the fridge is too sluggish to raise bread well. King Arthur's 2026 guide suggests starting about two days before you bake:

1. Two days before, in the evening: take it out, feed it and leave it at room temperature for about 12 hours.
2. The day before: feed it twice, about 12 hours apart.
3. Bake day: mix your dough 6 to 12 hours after the last feeding, when the starter is at or near its peak.

Another way to judge it: keep feeding every 12 hours until it doubles or triples within 6 to 8 hours of a feeding. Illinois Extension notes you don't need to warm it up before the first feeding.

Feeding ratios, and why they change your schedule

A ratio like 1:1:1 means equal weights of starter, flour and water. For example, 50 g starter, 50 g flour and 50 g water.

• 1:1:1 is King Arthur's standard, and the smallest feeding they recommend.
• Bigger ratios slow things down. In King Arthur's tests at about 78°F (26°C), a 1:1:1 feeding peaked in roughly 4 to 6 hours, while 1:4:4 took about 12 hours to be ready.
• Very large ratios work overnight. Illinois Extension suggests 1:10:10 for a long overnight rise.

So if your starter peaks too early for your schedule, feed it a bigger ratio. If it's sluggish, go back toward 1:1:1, the smallest ratio King Arthur recommends, and find a warmer spot.

When is a starter at its peak?

A starter rises after a feeding, reaches a peak, then slowly falls as it gets hungry again. King Arthur puts the peak at roughly six to eight hours after feeding, and says a healthy starter doubles within 6 to 8 hours at 75°F (24°C) or warmer. Illinois and Clemson extensions give 4 to 6 hours. The difference comes down to temperature and how healthy the starter is, so learn your own starter's timing. A rubber band around the jar at the starting level makes the rise easy to see.

Signs it's past its peak and hungry: it has sunk back down, it smells sharper (alcohol, vinegar or acetone), or a layer of liquid, called hooch, has formed on top.

Why you discard

Discarding feels wasteful, but it does two jobs. Without it, you'd soon have far more starter than you could use, and it would become too acidic. Colorado State University Extension adds that removing some keeps the population of yeast and bacteria well fed and stable.

The discard doesn't have to go in the bin. It keeps in the fridge for a week or two, and plenty of recipes, like crackers and pancakes, are built around it. Bake it before eating it, though. The CDC and FDA warn against eating raw flour or dough.

How Sourdough Starter Tracker keeps the schedule for you

In our app, each starter has a status, Active, Refrigerated or Dormant, and the reminders follow it:

• Active: remind once, twice or three times a day, at times you choose.
• Refrigerated: remind every 7, 14 or 21 days.
• Dormant: no reminders while it rests.

Switch a starter from Refrigerated to Active when you start waking it up, and the reminders change with it. Each starter's face also shows when it's getting hungry, so you can see at a glance which jar needs you. When you're ready to feed, the built-in calculator works out the flour and water for your chosen ratio.

Sources

• King Arthur Baking: Sourdough starter feeding schedule (2026), Feeding and maintaining your starter, Sourdough feeding ratios, Ripe sourdough starter, Why is my sourdough starter not rising?, Sourdough Tips and Recipes (2026)
• University of Illinois Extension: Sourdough 101, Sourdough webinar FAQ
• Colorado State University Extension: Sourdough starter best practices
• Clemson Extension: How to make, feed and bake with a sourdough starter
• CDC: Don't eat raw dough · FDA: Handling flour safely