In your clean jar or Tupperware, measure ½ cup (60 grams) of bread flour with ¼ cup (60 grams) of room temperature water. Stir until the mixture is smooth and free of lumps.

Loosely cover the jar with fitted lid by resting lid on top of jar to allow gases to escape during fermentation while preventing contaminants from entering. If you use Tupperware, press down 3 corners and leave 1 corner of lid off to allow gases to escape.

Place the jar in a warm spot, ideally around 75°F (24°C), and let it sit undisturbed for 24 hours.

How your starter should look and smell- You might notice minimal activity, such as a few bubbles or a slight rise. This is normal. Your starter may smell a little cheesy, sour, or even "boozy". All of these smells are normal for a sourdough starter at this stage.

Add ¼ cup (30 grams) of bread flour and ⅛ cup (30 grams) of room temperature water to the existing mixture. Stir thoroughly to combine.

Loosely cover the jar with fitted lid by resting lid on top of jar to allow gases to escape during fermentation while preventing contaminants from entering. If you use Tupperware, press down 3 corners and leave 1 corner of lid off to allow gases to escape. Allow to rest in warm spot for another 24 hours.

How your starter should look and smell- Look for signs of fermentation activity, such as bubbles throughout the mixture or a slight increase in volume. You may even see your starter rise a lot which is called a "false rise" at this point in the fermentation process. This isn't true yeast fermentation and be assured your starter cannot culture this rapidly. Your starter might smell even more cheesy or give an alcohol scent. This is normal and happens when the yeast is consuming the sugars and producing ethanol.

Incorporate 2 tablespoons (15 grams) of bread flour and 1 tablespoon (15 grams) of room temperature water into the mixture. Stir until well combined.

Loosely cover the jar with fitted lid by resting lid on top of jar to allow gases to escape during fermentation while preventing contaminants from entering. If you use Tupperware, press down 3 corners and leave 1 corner of lid off to allow gases to escape. Allow to rest in warm spot for another 24 hours.

How your starter should look and smell- you should be seeing fermentation bubbles in your starter and the smell can still be very strong of cheese or yeast. Don't worry! It will start to smell more sweet with time.

This is the first day you will start discarding some of your starter to avoid an excessive build up of starter. Remove roughly half (this doesn't have to be exact) of the starter mixture and discard it.

Note: it's not recommended to dump discard down the drain. Best practice is to throw away or you can compost it.

To the remaining starter, add ¼ cup (30 grams) of bread flour and ⅛ cup (30 grams) of room temperature water. Stir thoroughly.

Loosely cover the jar with fitted lid by resting lid on top of jar to allow gases to escape during fermentation while preventing contaminants from entering. If you use Tupperware, press down 3 corners and leave 1 corner of lid off to allow gases to escape. Allow to rest in warm spot for another 24 hours.

How your starter should look and smell- As your starter approaches maturity, you should start to see more and more bubbles and even a slight rise. The smell will probably still be very sour and slightly boozy.

Incorporate ¼ cup (30 grams) of bread flour and ⅛ cup (30 grams) of room temperature water into your jar and stir thoroughly.

Loosely cover the jar with fitted lid by resting lid on top of jar to allow gases to escape during fermentation while preventing contaminants from entering. If you use Tupperware, press down 3 corners and leave 1 corner of lid off to allow gases to escape. Allow to rest in warm spot for another 24 hours.

How your starter should look and smell- your starter might start to smell more and more yeasty and you may or may not see lot of bubbles. If you don't see a ton of bubbles, don't worry! Even a few shows your starter is fermenting.

Remove roughly half (this doesn't have to be exact) of the starter mixture from your jar and discard it.

Add ½ cup (60 grams) of bread flour and ¼ cup (60 grams) of room temperature water to the remaining starter. Stir well.

We want to start marking the volume of the starter in the jar before we let it ferment to see if our starter is beginning to rise. You can do this with a piece of clear tape over the volume line and mark it with a sharpie, or a rubber band is also a great alternative.

Loosely cover the jar with fitted lid by resting lid on top of jar to allow gases to escape during fermentation while preventing contaminants from entering. If you use Tupperware, press down 3 corners and leave 1 corner of lid off to allow gases to escape. Allow to rest in warm spot for another 24 hours.

How your starter should look and smell- your starter should be smelling less acidic and sweeter as you continue to ferment it. You may notice a slight rise or none at all. Don't worry if you don't observe a rise, this process can take time. The key is to keep going- you're so close!

Without discarding starter, add ½ cup (60 grams) of bread flour and ¼ cup (60 grams) of room temperature water to the starter. Stir until smooth.

We want to start marking the volume of the starter in the jar before we let it ferment overnight to see if our starter is beginning to rise. You can do this with a piece of clear tape over the volume line and mark it with a sharpie, or a rubber band around the jar is also a great alternative.

Loosely cover the jar with fitted lid by resting lid on top of jar to allow gases to escape during fermentation while preventing contaminants from entering. If you use Tupperware, press down 3 corners and leave 1 corner of lid off to allow gases to escape. Allow to rest in warm spot for another 24 hours.

How your starter should look and smell- your starter should be showing more signs of active fermentation with a slight rise and bubbling. It should continue to smell less "funky" and more sweet.

Remove roughly half (this doesn't have to be exact) of the starter mixture from your jar and discard it.

Add ½ cup (60 grams) of bread flour and ¼ cup (60 grams) of room temperature water to the remaining starter. Stir well.

We want to start marking the volume of the starter in the jar before we let it ferment to see if our starter is beginning to rise. You can do this with a piece of clear tape over the volume line and mark it with a sharpie, or a rubber band is also a great alternative.

Loosely cover the jar with fitted lid by resting lid on top of jar to allow gases to escape during fermentation while preventing contaminants from entering. If you use Tupperware, press down 3 corners and leave 1 corner of lid off to allow gases to escape. Allow to rest in warm spot for another 24 hours.

A mature starter will consistently double in size after feeding. This rise indicates strong yeast activity.

Smell: Your starter should smell yeasty and sweeter, like beer or fresh bread. If it smells acidic, it may need an additional feeding.