Sourdough starter feeding ratios: 1:1:1, 1:5:5 and 1:10:10

A feeding ratio is three weights: starter, flour and water, with the starter counted as 1. It tells you how much fresh food the starter gets, and that sets how long it takes to rise and fall.

Reading a ratio

Equal weights of flour and water make a starter at 100% hydration. Enter your own feed to see its ratio:

Which ratio to use

The more food each gram of starter gets, the longer it takes to eat through it. A 1:1:1 feed peaks soonest. A 1:10:10 feed lasts longest between feeds.

The Perfect Loaf's maintenance routine feeds 20 g of starter with 100 g of flour and 100 g of water, which is 1:5:5, with the starter kept at 76 to 78°F (about 25°C). For a hot kitchen its author suggests widening to 1:10:10 and using cool water.

Fermento's starter template begins with 50 g of flour and 50 g of water once a day. Change it to match your own routine.

Reading the peak

A fed starter rises, peaks and then starts to fall. The Perfect Loaf's advice is to feed it at the peak or shortly after.

If it smells sharp, like acetone, well before the next feed is due, it has run out of food. Feed it more often, widen the ratio, or keep it somewhere cooler.

What to write down

• The time of each feed and its ratio.
• The flour you used.
• The room temperature.
• How long it took to peak.

A week of notes is enough to see the pattern and pick a ratio that peaks when you want to bake.

In Fermento

A starter has its own record: when it was last fed, when the next feed is due, how healthy it looks, and a family tree of the offshoots and loaves that came from it. See starters and SCOBYs and the sourdough timeline.

Updated 11 November 2026.