What You Need to Start Sourdough: A Beginner's Tool List (and What Can Wait)

To start sourdough as a beginner, you need three things besides flour and water: a digital kitchen scale, a wide-mouthed glass jar and a rubber spatula. A thermometer and a couple of mixing bowls come next, once you start baking. A bench scraper, a proofing basket and a Dutch oven are nice to have, and every one of them has a kitchen swap you probably already own. You can start your starter this week with what's in your cabinets plus a scale.

When I started, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. How hard could it be to mix flour and water in a jar? Turns out, pretty hard, and a few of the right tools made it a lot less hard. In my book I say none of these are by any means required, but I use every single one of them in my own sourdough baking adventures. Here's the list, in the order I'd buy it.

The short version

If you only read this far, here's what to get.

• Start with these: a kitchen scale, glass jars, a rubber spatula
• Add these next: a thermometer, glass or stainless steel mixing bowls
• Nice to have: a bench scraper, a proofing basket (banneton), a Dutch oven

In my book I put it this way: you don't need to buy everything all at once. Start with the essentials and gradually invest in extras like a thermometer or proofing basket as you gain confidence.

A digital kitchen scale

If you only buy one tool, make it the scale. The secret to sourdough success is precision, and a scale makes your measurements spot-on every time, so you're never guessing.

There are only two ingredients in a starter, and the standard feeding is equal parts flour and water by weight. My book puts it plainly: the secret to sourdough success is precision, and a digital kitchen scale ensures your measurements are spot-on every time.

Here's my own routine, so you can see why I lean on it: 30 grams of starter, 100 grams of water and 100 grams of flour, stirred until there's no dry flour left. With a scale that takes about a minute. Without one, I'd be guessing every single day. If you want the full routine, it's in how to feed a sourdough starter.

Glass jars (more than one)

A wide-mouthed glass jar is the perfect home for your starter. Glass doesn't absorb odors the way plastic can, and you can see all the bubbly action through the side, which is half the fun.

In my book I recommend buying at least six jars so you always have a clean one ready to go. That sounds like a lot until you're moving your starter into a fresh jar on a Tuesday night and every other jar in the house is full of leftovers.

Two more things about the jar. Keep the lid loose, because your starter keeps making gas after a feeding. And clear glass matters more than you'd think, because it's how you read what your starter is doing.

The rubber band (the cheapest tool on this list)

This one is a pro tip from my book: mark your jar with a rubber band or a dry-erase marker so you can track your starter's rise and fall. Right after I feed, I wrap a rubber band around the jar at the level of the starter. When the top has climbed to twice the height of the band, it has doubled.

It costs nothing, and it does the remembering for you.

A rubber spatula

A rubber spatula is perfect for mixing, scraping down the sides of your jar and making sure every bit of your starter gets the love it deserves.

Clean your tools right away

One habit belongs on this list too, and I cannot stress it enough: clean any jar or tool that touches your starter immediately. That glorious little flour and water concoction hardens fast, and after only a few minutes it resembles the consistency of concrete. A quick rinse right after you feed saves you a lot of scrubbing later.

One more from my book: scrape large amounts into the trash rather than the sink. I hear horror stories of ruined garbage disposals fairly regularly.

A thermometer

Sourdough is all about temperature. A thermometer helps you nail the right water temperature and keep your dough-proofing environment consistent.

Water temperature matters most when you're trying to get your starter ready to bake. The warmer the water, the faster the starter will rise. My book says 75 to 85 degrees is perfect, and to be careful not to go over 90 to 100 degrees, because that could scorch your flour.

That's why it sits on the "next" list. For the first week, filtered water does the job, or tap water left uncovered for 24 hours so the chlorine can dissipate, which is my book's tip if tap is your only option. Once you're baking on a schedule, a thermometer takes the guessing out of it.

Mixing bowls

Glass or stainless steel bowls work best for mixing your dough. They're easy to clean and won't react with your ingredients. You probably own one already, and that's all you need until you're baking more than one loaf at a time.

Nice to have, and the swaps

These three make baking easier and your loaves prettier. None of them is needed to make a starter, and each has a swap.

A bench scraper. It's a handy tool for dividing, shaping and handling your dough, and it makes cleanup a breeze too. Until you have one, a sturdy spatula or the flat edge of a knife can lift dough off the counter.

A proofing basket, or banneton. It gives your dough structure and helps it hold its shape during the final rise. Plus, it makes those gorgeous spiral patterns on your loaf. No proofing basket? My book's swap is a colander lined with a clean dish towel. It gets the job done.

A Dutch oven. This is how you get that professional, crispy crust. If you don't have one, my book's swap is to bake on a preheated baking stone and cover your dough with a large metal bowl to trap steam.

What I'd buy first, if I were starting over

If you're starting your first starter this week, get a scale and a few jars, grab a rubber band from the junk drawer, and use the spatula you already have. That's it. You can follow the whole first week with those, and the day-by-day is in how to make a sourdough starter from scratch.

When your starter is bubbly and you're ready for your first loaf, add the thermometer and the proofing basket (or the colander trick). The Dutch oven can wait until you know you're hooked. Fair warning, you probably will be. Personally, I'm addicted.

And if your starter ends up living in the fridge most of the week like mine does, a clean jar and a rubber band are all that routine needs. It's all in how to store a sourdough starter in the fridge.

Quick answers

What do I need to make a sourdough starter? Flour, water, a kitchen scale, a wide-mouthed glass jar and something to stir with. A rubber band on the jar helps you see the rise.

Do I really need a kitchen scale? It's the one tool worth getting first. A starter is fed by weight, and a scale keeps every feeding the same.

Can I make sourdough without a Dutch oven? Yes. Bake on a preheated baking stone and cover the dough with a large metal bowl to trap steam.

What can I use instead of a banneton? A colander lined with a clean dish towel.

Bake it anyway

Your first loaf may not be perfect. Mine certainly wasn't (not pictured). Bake it anyway, with whatever tools you have.

If you want the whole beginner's guide in one place, my book, Sourdough Starter for Starters (on Amazon, linked from the book page), covers the tools, the ingredients, the first seven days and what to do when your starter acts up.