How to Make a Sourdough Starter with Rye Flour (Day by Day)

When I first began, I had two starters. One was fed bread flour and one was fed rye flour, and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

So if you're wondering how to make a sourdough starter with rye flour, I have opinions, mostly earned by getting it wrong first. Here's why rye is worth reaching for, the first week of feedings one day at a time, and what to do when your jar won't budge.

Why rye at all

In my book I say rye is highly active. It's a favorite for starters because it's highly fermentable and packed with nutrients, and adding a little to your starter can really kickstart its activity. Whole wheat is packed with nutrients too, but it can make bread denser. Bread flour has more protein, which helps with structure and rise. They all have a job.

Think of your starter as a little community of wild yeast and friendly bacteria. Rye is the flour that keeps that community busy munching. That's why rye wakes up a sluggish starter, and it's a big part of why a rye flour starter makes a good first week.

What you need

• A clean jar and a kitchen scale (my book calls the scale your best friend, and I meant it)
• Rye flour. Organic and unbleached is the best choice for a starter, because less processing means more nutrients to fuel fermentation
• Lukewarm water. Filtered is best, because chlorine can slow down or stop your starter's activity. If tap is your only option, let it sit uncovered for 24 hours so the chlorine can dissipate
• A coffee filter or clean cloth and a rubber band
• A spot at room temperature, 70 to 75°F

Two ingredients. If you mess up, you can always start again.

Day by day with a rye flour starter

This is the 7-day schedule from my book, with rye as your flour. My from-scratch post uses smaller batches of the same rhythm, so use whichever one fits your jar.

Day 1. Weigh your empty jar and write the number down. You'll thank me on day 2. Mix 100 grams of rye flour and 150 grams of lukewarm water in the jar and stir until there's no dry flour left. Cover it loosely with a coffee filter, or a cloth and a rubber band. Leave it at room temperature for 24 hours.

Days 2 and 3. Discard all but 70 grams of the mixture (your jar weight plus 70 grams is what should be left). Mix in 90 grams of rye flour and 115 grams of lukewarm water. Leave it for 24 hours. Give it a name around now, because it's alive and a living thing deserves one.

Days 4 and 5. Discard down to 70 grams of starter, then add 90 grams of rye flour and 100 grams of lukewarm water. Wait 24 hours and repeat. If it has started bubbling, repeat in 12 hours.

Day 6. Discard down to 50 grams of starter, then add 90 grams of flour and 100 grams of lukewarm water. Same timing: 24 hours, or 12 if it's bubbling.

Day 7. This is the last feeding, and it's what you'll feed from now on. Discard down to 15 to 30 grams of starter, then add 90 grams of flour and 100 grams of lukewarm water. Wait 24 hours and repeat, or repeat in 12 if it's bubbling.

Discard sounds wasteful and isn't. It keeps your starter from overflowing and going sluggish, and there's plenty to do with the discard.

One more thing: do not seal the jar. Sealed jars can, and will, explode.

When your rye starter won't wake up

Rye is supposed to be the active one, so a quiet jar feels personal. Here's what my troubleshooting chapter says.

A sluggish starter usually means it's not getting enough nutrients or it's struggling in its environment. If it's already eating rye, check the environment first. Starters thrive in a warm spot around 70 to 75°F. Then check your water, because chlorine can harm the yeast.

If it's not doing anything at all, no bubbles and no rise, feed it with whole wheat or rye flour for extra nutrition, keep the jar somewhere warmer, and be patient. Starters can take a few days to bounce back.

If it smells like nail polish remover, don't worry, it's not ruined. The smell means it's starving and producing too much acid. Feed it more often, try twice a day for a while, and discard some starter before each feeding. The smell should fade as it recovers.

Mold is the only time to start over. If you see it, toss the starter, wash and sanitize the jar thoroughly, and begin a fresh batch. Anything short of mold, keep feeding. And if you're staring at the jar wondering which camp you're in, I wrote a whole guide: is my sourdough starter dead?

The rye split I still use

Back to those two starters. After a conversation with my chef friend, David, I concluded that two starters was completely unnecessary. He suggested I feed one starter mostly bread flour and a little bit of rye, which gives it the strength it needs to rise and fall consistently. My first long term starter, Rylie, was born. Yes, every good baker names their starter.

I still feed that way. My exact routine is 30 grams of starter, 100 grams of water, and 100 grams of flour, where the flour is 70 grams of bread flour and 30 grams of rye. Stir it, put a rubber band around the jar at the level of the starter, set the lid on loose, and leave it for 6 to 8 hours.

Mine lives in the fridge most of the week. I pull it out about once a week, feed it, bake with it, and put it back. The full routine is in how to feed a sourdough starter, and the fridge side is in how to store sourdough starter in the fridge.

I've killed more than one starter. Rylie was a casualty of constant and unpredictable travel and negligence on my part, and Bread Astaire took the brunt of a busy stretch. Rye wakes a starter up, but somebody still has to feed it.

How to tell it's ready

Look for three things:

• Bubbles, which show active fermentation
• A rise and fall, a consistent cycle that shows your starter is thriving
• A tangy smell, yeasty and slightly sour

Your starter is ready to bake with when it's bubbly and has doubled in size, which usually happens 4 to 6 hours after a feeding, depending on temperature and hydration. A rubber band around the jar makes the rise easy to see. If it hasn't doubled yet, it needs a few more days of feeding. My book also has a float test: drop a little in water, and if it floats, it's active.

Bake it anyway

Sourdough taught me a heck of a lot about patience, grace, and how to laugh things off when they don't go as planned. Your first loaf may not be perfect. Bake it anyway.