A sourdough starter, also called levain, is a fermented dough filled with natural, wild yeast and a bacterium called lactobacilli. The starter is what makes sourdough bread rise. Instead of using active dry yeast like in other bread recipes, sourdough bread uses a starter.

SourJo is simply sourdough starter (see above) that has been dehydrated. This is my personal starter that is over 2+ years old. It is mature and filled with lots of healthy yeast and bacteria. I dry it once it’s reached peak activity which should make reactivating it quick and easy for you.

Hopefully a lifetime’s worth! If you continue to keep your starter fed (just flour and water), it will last forever.

It can pretty much last forever if it’s stored in a cool, dry place.

No, it is not. SourJo is made of organic, unbleached all-purpose flour, however some people with sensitivities to gluten may not have any issues with sourdough bread. I do not recommend using this starter if you have Celiac disease.

Yes, you definitely can! You can use bread flour, gluten-free flour, rye flour, or any other “fancy” flour. You just want to make sure that the flour is unbleached.

No, you can attempt to reactivate your starter without a kitchen scale. However, you’ll want to make sure that the measurements line up according to what I’ve instructed (simply Google “convert grams to ml”). The reason why I suggest using a scale is because it’s the fool proof way to do it, and I would argue that most sourdough recipes out there require a kitchen scale, so you’ll end up needing one anyways.

It’s honestly not the end of the world if you use metal. But since the process of reactivating the dehydrated starter can be quite sensitive, I suggest trying to stay away from metal until your starter is activated. In general, sourdough starter is acidic and can react with metal, so better safe than sorry in my opinion.

Since everyone’s water can vary based on where they live, I suggest using filtered water to reactivate your starter. If you know your tap water does not contain chlorine, then you are safe to use it. Chlorinated water can kill the microorganisms in your starter which will get in the way of trying to reactivate it.

Yes, that’s correct. I’ve given you an extra 5g in case, for whatever reason, you’re unsuccessful with your first shot at reactivating the starter.

Be prepared to feed your starter once per day from anywhere between 3 days to a week for it to reactivate. This means you want to make sure you’re not going away on vacation during this time period!

The reactivation process fully depends on the environment in which your starter is living. Factors such as temperature, water quality, flour used, etc. can all impact the time it takes for the starter to come back to life. Someone living in a warmer climate may see their starter get bubbly and double in size within a few short days. Whereas someone living in a cold Canadian winter may not see much activity for over a week.

Some suggestions:

Make sure you are using warm filtered water during feedings. Warmth is always your friend when it comes to getting your starter nice and active!

Keep your glass jar of starter in a warm spot. If your kitchen is on the cooler side, then keep it stored underneath a range light or in your oven with the oven light on.

Make sure the flour you are using is unbleached. Bleached flour is treated with chemicals and can be destructive to sourdough starter.

The beneficial bacteria and yeast that live in your starter are most happy, active, and balanced in a warm environment: I suggest between 20–23 °C (68–75 °F). Hot temperatures will make the process go faster. Cooler conditions will lead to slower activation and a less vigorous starter.

Once you’ve successfully reactivated your starter (aka it’s doubled or nearly doubled in size) you no longer need to follow the daily feeding guidelines I provided to reactivate it. For your next feeding: do not discard anything. Simply feed it about equal amounts of warm water and flour – add more flour if necessary, to create a thick batter consistency. Then leave your starter in a warm spot and it should double in size within 4-6 hours, providing you enough starter to use in your first sourdough recipe!

Glad you asked. See my recipe here!

You don’t specifically need a Dutch Oven; however, it is suggested.
A Dutch Oven conducts heat evenly for consistent baking and has a heavy lid that traps any steam released by the bread while it cooks. It can also withstand high oven temperatures that are required for artisan sourdough.

Your starter should ideally double in size within 4 to 6 hours. Because everyone’s kitchen temperature can vary, you want to make sure your starter is kept in a warm spot after feeding.

If you bake often: you can keep it stored on your kitchen counter at room temperature and feed it daily. If you don’t bake that often: keep it stored in the refrigerator. Make sure you are feeding it weekly. Do this by removing it from the refrigerator, wait for it to reach room temperature, then feed it flour and water. Place it back into the fridge and do the same thing a week later.

Start by discarding your starter so you’ve got about ½ cup remaining. You want to do this because you want to keep your starter a manageable size. I like to begin by feeding my starter a 1:1:1 ratio of starter, water, and flour. I will then slowly mix in more flour until it reaches a thick batter consistency. Some people like to measure or weigh out the ingredients, but I find simply eyeing it and going by consistency does the trick. Again, you just want it to reach the consistency of thick batter.

It’s just hungry! This layer is referred to as “hooch” – you can either dump that bit out or stir it into the rest of the flour before feeding it.

It simply means the warmth of the oven baked the surface of the starter. Likely because it sat under the oven light/in the heat for too long. Simply remove it and feed your starter again.

Your goal with the dehydrated starter I’ve provided is to reactivate it. During the reactivation process you want to keep your starter at a manageable size to get those healthy yeasts and bacteria to come back to life. Discarding is necessary to build a healthy and thriving sourdough starter. Once your starter is reactivated and you’ve begun baking bread with it, you may also need to discard some starter along the way as you feed it and use it in recipes. This is to ensure it doesn’t grow too big and become unmanageable, but also because not doing so will require you to go through an unmentionable amount of flour. There are lots of sourdough discard recipes out there (from pancakes to crackers)! If you feel uneasy about throwing it away, then Google “sourdough discard recipes”.