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Quick and easy sourdough starter

How to make an active sourdough starter in less than 24 hours. Perfect for gluten-free or regular bread

A good, healthy sourdough starter is key to delicious sourdough bread. But what if you don’t have time to catch a wild starter? Here is a quick and easy sourdough starter that only takes 24 hours to make.

Struggles with Sourdough Starter

There are a number of reasons why it can be difficult to maintain a healthy traditional sourdough starter. Sometimes starters take too long to become active and never become very vigorous. They can grow mold or turn pink (that has happened to me). Or they can look great, but taste bad.

Here are a few of the main reasons why sourdough starters can be tricky:

  1. Regional variations in wild yeast: There’s a reason why we think of San Francisco sourdough and not Dallas sourdough… some regions just have better tasting wild yeasts. However, even if you buy a San Francisco sourdough starter online, it will quickly get taken over by the local varieties of yeast.
  2. Poor air quality: If you live in a heavily polluted city, or have problems with mold in your building, then you may have trouble maintaining a healthy sourdough starter.
  3. Filtered air: Using a hepa filter in your home will greatly reduce the wild yeasts and bacteria that can colonize your starter.
  4. Type of flour: Certain flours, like buckwheat, are great at catching sourdough starters. However, other flours like rye, barley and rice are difficult to maintain. It isn’t impossible, as my husband regularly keeps a rye starter, however, his rye starter is never as vigorous as my buckwheat starter.

An Easy Sourdough Starter

If you are struggling to keep a healthy sourdough starter, or if you don’t want to wait for 5-7 days to develop a health starter there is an alternative way to kick-start your sourdough: start your sourdough with a culture that already contains active bacteria and yeast.

There are a number of different SCOBYS (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeasts) that exist in the fermenting world:

  • Milk Kefir
  • Kombucha
  • Jun
  • Water Kefir

Each of these can be used to kickstart sourdough bread. They will each bring their own flavour and qualities to the loaf, however, they will create a bubbly, yeasty and fermented starter.

There are two ways to use this quick sourdough starter recipe:

  1. If your home doesn’t have air-quality issues, then you can use the starter to attract the natural yeast and bacterial strains in your environment. To keep the starter going after the initial ferment, just feed it equal parts of water and flour.
  2. Alternatively, you can simply make a new quick sourdough starter every time you want to bake with sourdough. Then you can make exactly the required amount. However, I recommend adding a small amount (1/4 tsp) of commercial yeast to provide some added boost.
There are many reasons why peope struggle to keep a healthy sourdough starter, particularly when the air quality is bad
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Quick and Easy Sourdough Starter

Easy sourdough starter - kombucha sourdough, kefir sourdough

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

Get a jump on your sourdough bread with kombucha, milk kefir, water kefir or jun. Using a yeast-based culture will result in a vigorous starter in just 24 hours. Perfect for anyone struggling to make traditional sourdough bread.

  • Author: Emillie
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 1/3 cup 1x
  • Category: Bread
  • Method: Sourdough
  • Cuisine: Simple
Scale

Ingredients

  • 2 oz flour (or 1/2 cup depending on flour)
  • 2 oz fermented beverage (1/4 cup -see section above for options)

Instructions

  1. Mix equal parts (by weight) of flour and a fermented beverage in a glass container.
  2. Loosely cover with tea towel and leave in a warm spot. Above the fridge works well.
  3. Stir vigorously every 12 hours until ready to use. Leave it for at least 24 hours, and up to 72 hours (3 days).

Notes

  • The best beverages to use are either milk kefir or an unflavoured kombucha. Don’t include the actual SCOBY or grains. The fermented liquid will have enough yeasts and bacteria to kick start the sourdough starter. However, avoid using off-the-shelf grocery store kefir and kombucha. They usually don’t contain  active strains of yeasts.
  • Most sourdough bread recipes require a 100% hydration ratio for the starter. (Meaning equal portions of water and flour by weight.) This is easiest to do with a digital scale (affiliate link) that has a zeroing function. If you have to measure the ingredients by volume then remember that whole grain flour is heavier than white flour.
  • This quick sourdough bread method will work for gluten free recipes as well! Just use a gluten free bread flour mix and GF bread recipe.
  • See section above for information on how to feed and maintain this type of sourdough starter.

Keywords: quick, easy, kombucha, milk kefir, water kefir, jun, starter, gluten free, 2 ingredient or less, 5 minutes or less

Filed Under: Traditional SourdoughTagged With: Jun, Kombucha, Milk kefir, Water kefir

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Comments

  1. Anonymous

    September 23, 2019 at 4:45 am

    I have tried this and left it for 1 week, it hasn’t gone off but there are no bubbles, what would you recommend? Thanks

    Reply
    • Emillie

      September 23, 2019 at 7:16 am

      That is surprising because it should only take 1-2 days. After a week you should have at least caught a free range sourdough culture! Did you use homebrewed kefir or kombucha? Because store-bought often doesn’t contain much “live culture” or at least none of the yeast culture.

      If it hasn’t gone off, does it at least smell good? If it smells good then bake with it using some instant yeast as back up.

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        September 23, 2019 at 8:38 am

        Ah that may be it -it is store bought but says it contains live culture. I will try it anyway. Thanks!

        Reply
  2. Pauline

    November 4, 2019 at 6:59 am

    If I have prepared the sourdough using water kefir successfully, pls may i know how to make a loaf of bread . Pls may i have a bread recipe. Thank you

    Reply
    • Emillie

      November 4, 2019 at 7:33 am

      Hi Pauline,

      I have exactly the same autoimmune reaction to gluten. And have been gluten free for over 10 years. I have a ton of recipes for GF sourdough and breads, etc. Using buckwheat or teff will create a very healthy sourdough starter without added culture. They both have their own yeast that is right on the grain. Here’s a recipe: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/gluten-free-sourdough-starter/ And recipes for bread: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/category/types-of-ferments/gluten-free-sourdough/

      Cheers, Emillie

      Reply
  3. Raelene

    November 12, 2019 at 4:02 pm

    Hi once bubbling after say 72 hours do I just maintain the starter as per your other starter instructions ie dump and feed?? Please let me know thank you Raelene

    Reply
    • Emillie

      November 12, 2019 at 5:06 pm

      Yes, you can maintain it just like a regular sourdough starter. It will continue to be happy and bubbling as long as you keep feeding it.

      Reply
      • Raelene

        November 12, 2019 at 7:12 pm

        Thank you for letting me know . I used fresh mulled buckwheat and the recipe weights but it is quiet a thick paste, what consistency should it be? Should I add a little more water kefir?

        Reply
        • Emillie

          November 12, 2019 at 9:07 pm

          Buckwheat usually ferments quite well. So I’m sure it will work out, even without extra water kefir. Try to make it the consistency of a thickened sauce. I find that buckwheat absorbs a lot more water than other grains, so you will probably need to add extra. If it’s already bubbling, then just add water. Otherwise, you could add water kefir. Good luck!

          Reply
          • Rita

            May 30, 2020 at 8:30 am

            Dear Emillie, thank you for your recipe. Silly question as you more likely have already answered, I just prepared the mix of home made kefir and and strong white organic flour, I suppose I will know when it’s ready as it will double in volume? Use it then for my first bake experiment and Irefrigerate it until the next use? By treating it as other starter do you mind same kind and quantity of flour and plain warm water? Thanks a million from London .

          • Emillie

            May 30, 2020 at 3:58 pm

            Hi, It probably won’t double in volume. However, it will be bubbly and have increased in size after about 24 hours. Then you’re good to bake! As for future baking, with this recipe, there are two choices. Either make exactly what you need, each time you want to bake. Or keep feeding it water and flour and store it in the fridge between uses just like a traditional starter. To get it to catch like a traditional starter, you’ll need to leave it out and feed it for a few days to really get it going the second time you want to bake with it. Enjoy!

  4. Raelene

    November 13, 2019 at 12:41 am

    ❤️

    Reply
    • Rita

      May 30, 2020 at 11:08 pm

      Thank you Emille! My previous 2 attempts of making one from scratch in a traditional way didn’t work, however I’ve been making my own kefir for a couple of years, so it might be the right solution

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Emillie

        May 31, 2020 at 5:28 pm

        Great! Hope this is the right solution for you!

        Reply
  5. Rachel Gossens

    January 22, 2020 at 6:34 am

    Hi, still very new to the sourdough world. Just wondering- once I have it started with the milk kiefer and flour and it’s ready, and after I dump the scraps, do I feed it with MORE milk keifer and flour or just water and flour?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      January 22, 2020 at 6:41 am

      Just keep it fed like a typical sourdough starter, on water and flour. If it doesn’t do well, then you just need to keep at it. Sourdough is mostly fed by your local strains of yeast and bacteria. It can take a while (2-3 months) to establish a good local culture.
      Good luck!

      Reply
  6. Hannah Grayboff

    February 3, 2020 at 5:39 am

    Hello,
    I really love this idea of using water kefir as a sourdough starter, I lived in the jungle previously and had high humidity-it didn’t work for me ever. I’m in a much dryer climate but I am at 1,400 meters above sea level-does this change anything? Another thing is I tried last week to do this, but after 3 days it wasnt really bubbling a lot. Read about the float test and it failed. So today I have tried again. When using the water kefir, you’re talking about the F1 batch or the 2F batch? Thought I’d ask. Are there recipes that call for this little amount of sourdough starter to make bread or is this to keep alive and keep feeding? Thank you

    Reply
    • Emillie

      February 3, 2020 at 1:44 pm

      Hi Hannah, I would use the unflavoured first ferment, but if you think it’s a little too sweet, then do a second ferment, just without any additional sugar or flavour. All you really want is the yeast!

      You can kickstart sourdough this way, and try to keep it going. However, if the conditions in your house make it hard to culture sourdough, then it may be hard to keep it going. So just start new a few days before you want to bake. At 1400 meters, it might be too dry for sourdough. Also, some climates are just not sourdough friendly.

      Most of my gluten sourdough recipes call for very little starter, however, my GF recipes use more starter. The recipe can be scaled, so just make whatever you need. Let me know how it works out for you.

      Cheers, Emillie

      Reply
  7. NUKY CROWTHER

    April 4, 2020 at 12:01 am

    Hi there, I’m completely new to fermenting bread, so I need a bit of guidance. Once my sourdough Is complete (I’ll be making it with milk keffir) then I’ll have to feed it everyday? And will I have to do always the equal parts of keffir and flour or should I do just with water?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      April 4, 2020 at 7:28 am

      I designed this recipe so that you make just what you need to bake right away. Then start over again the next time. If you want to keep the starter alive, I recommend feeding it with water and flour and it will slowly transform into a traditional sourdough starter. Here’s how to feed a traditional sourdough starter: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/sourdough-starter/

      Enjoy!

      Reply
  8. Carolyn

    April 8, 2020 at 11:07 am

    Hi Emillie, I made extra dairy kefir so I could start this today. Thank you for doing this, I’ve passed your site on to other friends with the recent surge in interest for all things fermented.
    I want to make your Pain de Campagne bread, but the recipes asks for 1-1/3 cups sourdough starter, and the quick and easy starter says it will yield only 1/3 cup. Do I just divide the bread recipe in 4 and only make one smaller loaf? That’s fine because I’m only one persona and 2 big loaves would be a lot! Or am I missing something?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      April 8, 2020 at 1:38 pm

      Hi Carolyn, Thanks for sharing my website! I designed this recipe so that it could be scaled to suit whatever your recipe might need. Are you able to mix together a bit more sourdough for the full batch of bread? Alternatively, you could try making a 1/3 batch. Especially if it’s your first time. Sourdough bread does take a bit of feel and learning, so a small batch isn’t a bad idea. Cheers, Emillie

      Reply
      • Carolyn

        April 9, 2020 at 8:59 am

        1/3 batch is the route I’ll take. Thank you!

        Reply
        • Emillie

          April 11, 2020 at 6:53 am

          How did it work out?

          Reply
          • Carolyn

            April 13, 2020 at 11:22 am

            Bread is good, not as pretty as yours, need to work on folding technique, but tasty.
            I can’t figure out how to add a picture here.

            ★★★★★

          • Emillie

            April 13, 2020 at 12:37 pm

            My anti-spam software won’t let you send a picture. You can do it via Facebook or pinterest! Glad it worked out. I’ll admit that Brad has been perfecting his bread making since 2002! So he’s pretty good at shaping by now. 🙂

  9. Wendy

    April 25, 2020 at 6:44 pm

    Hello Emillie,

    With this kombucha sourdough starter, does it then make a 100% hydration starter?

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Emillie

      April 26, 2020 at 9:27 am

      Yes, its based on 100% hydration. Feel free to adjust as you want!

      Reply
  10. Nancy Bell

    May 6, 2020 at 1:42 pm

    So I have a great Kombucha starter going, just wondering if I use it with regular “sourdough” recipes at the same measure? If the recipe calls for 1 C of sourdough starter, it would use 1C Kombucha starter?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      May 7, 2020 at 1:32 pm

      Yes! I just recommend boosting the yeast with a 1/4 tsp of commercial yeast, since it’s not exactly the same as regular sourdough and doesn’t have quite the lift.

      Reply
      • Becky

        May 14, 2020 at 8:21 am

        When do you add the 1/4 tsp of yeast? When making the bread, or do you add it to the starter? If you make add it to the starter, at what point is it added? THANKS!

        Reply
        • Emillie

          May 14, 2020 at 11:47 am

          Hi Becky, add the yeast to your bread recipe. This starter will give the bread flavour and some loft, but not as much as a traditional sourdough starter (hence the little boost of extra yeast). Cheers

          Reply
    • Rachel

      July 18, 2020 at 9:19 am

      Hi!
      You’ve mentioned not to use store bought cultures for this. How or where do I get the water kefir or unflavored kombucha?

      Also, (just my luck) I’m allergic to rice and buckwheat. Do you know of any other combinations that would make a good bread?

      Thank you!

      Reply
      • Emillie

        July 19, 2020 at 6:53 am

        Hi Rachel, if you’re not already making your own water kefir, kombucha, etc. then you might want to make a traditional GF sourdough culture. I do most of my favourite GF baking with oat flour, in part because rice doesn’t agree with me either, but also because oats are naturally sticky and bake up nicely. You can find my gf sourdough culture recipe here: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/gluten-free-sourdough-starter/

        It will take about a week, but should work. Good luck!

        Reply
  11. Nadine

    May 14, 2020 at 11:41 pm

    Hi, thanks for this great site and information ! I have started a sourdough starter with wholemeal spelt flour and water kefir. The mix was very thick so I added more kefir water to make it more like a thick sauce as per your answer to a previous comment. After about 12 hours now it is very sticky and a little bubbly but it seems to have split so that I have a thin layer of liquid on the buttom and underneath a layer of flour mix that seems to not be bubbly at all. Would you have any suggestions what I did wrong? Can I just try to take out only the top part and continue with that maybe?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      May 15, 2020 at 9:50 am

      At this point, you should just stir it in. That sometimes happens as flour settles, and likely means you have a bit too much liquid, or perhaps the spelt hasn’t absorbed it well (which can happen with whole grain flour). Luckily, sourdough is very forgiving. Enjoy!

      Reply
  12. Elena Mancebo

    June 4, 2020 at 6:11 am

    Hi,

    Thank you for your recipie. I happen to have followed another sourdough starter recipe (with yeast, flour and water) and while the first loaf was good, I’m now struggling to get any proper sourdough out of it… (I store it in the fridge and feed it weekly with a little sugar)
    I was wandering if I could add a bit of home made kefir to ‘revive’ it or should I discard it and start oll over again…?
    Thanks a mil!

    Reply
    • Emillie

      June 4, 2020 at 9:58 am

      Hi, I think you have two options… either make a new starter every time you want to bake bread (with kefir and flour). Or you can start feeding it like a regular sourdough starter.
      To feed it like a regular sourdough starter, you’ll need to give it flour and water. Sugar just feeds the yeast and you want to feed both the bacteria and the yeast. To really revive this starter, you’ll need to take it out of the fridge for a few days and feed it flour and water every day. Approximately half its volume of flour and water, but you don’t need to be super accurate. Good luck!

      Reply
  13. Elena

    June 4, 2020 at 11:47 am

    Will try your second suggestion. Thanks for taking the time to respond so quickly!
    Will definetly try a kefir starter next time…
    Best

    Reply
  14. Sharon

    July 4, 2020 at 9:49 pm

    I have made Sourdough bread over 20 years ago but since then I have had to go on a gluten free dairy free diet. I would like to make my own sourdough again. Is this possible.? I also would like to learn about the other SCOBYS that you talk about as I am new to fermentation.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      July 5, 2020 at 1:25 pm

      Hi Sharon, I’m actually 100% GF! I have been for at least 10 years. So I only have a few wheat-based recipes (sort of required for a fermentation website) but all regular my baking and not-bread sourdough baking is actually made with GF ingredients. 🙂 I recommend making a typical sourdough starter with GF flour. You can find out more here: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/gluten-free-sourdough-starter/
      Enjoy!

      Reply
  15. sandra

    September 3, 2020 at 12:34 pm

    Hi, thank you so much for your recipe. I am kind of new with my milk kefir and really wanted to try this recipe out. Can you tell me if I am meant to use the whey produced from the milk kefir or use the kefir it self. Many thanks for all your help. Kind Regards

    Reply
    • Emillie

      September 4, 2020 at 8:27 pm

      Either would work. I’ve used both and it’s worked out. 🙂

      Reply
  16. Hau

    December 2, 2020 at 7:21 am

    Hi Emillie! Thank you for writing out this post 🙂
    You mentioned about after mixing 1:1 ratio of the cultured to flour, leave it for at least 24hours to 72hours. Does it mean I don’t need to feed it after mixing it the first time?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      December 2, 2020 at 9:18 am

      Yes… this recipe is designed to be used right away. However, if you want to keep the starter you will need to feed it water and flour after 72 hours. Good luck!

      Reply
  17. Lee Allisin

    December 20, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    How do I make kifger milk?..

    Reply
    • Emillie

      December 21, 2020 at 9:26 am

      Here’s my basic milk kefir recipe: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/easy-homemade-milk-kefir/ The hardest part is probably finding the grains. There are a few facebook culture sharing groups that might help. Cheers, Emillie

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Emillie, an island dwelling fermentation enthusiast. Fermenting For Foodies features healthy recipes designed feed your microbiome.
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