When I first began working with my sourdough starter, I never imagined that one day I would master such a mysterious process. From my years of teaching people to bake sourdough, I have heard so much confusion about the starter. Some people have asked me about using potato flakes in their starter, some have insisted it needs to be fed every day, and others assume each feeding needs to be precisely weighed. All of these concerns are valid, but one of the most common questions I hear is: why is my sourdough starter not rising?
There can be many reasons why a sourdough starter isn’t rising. Almost every factor you can imagine affects your starter: temperature, volume of ingredients, time, choice of ingredients, and consistency. This is why it is so helpful to understand all of these factors in detail as you troubleshoot your sourdough starter. For more help with your starter and tips for success, check out my other blog on this topic.
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Why is my sourdough starter not rising?
Problem: Temperature
If your starter is too cold, it will rise very slowly, or not at all. Because the cold slows fermentation, this is why I place mine in the fridge when I want to wait a few days before feeding it. Ideally, your starter will be over 70 degrees when you feed it. If your starter is on your counter, it may not be rising because it is cold in your kitchen, it is resting beside a drafty window, etc. I would take a look at your fermentation location to gauge temps.
Solution:
If you think temperature is your issue, try moving your starter away from windows and drafty parts of the house. This can be challenging in the winter especially, but placing your jar near the stove top/oven or near your fireplace or wood burning stove is a great solution. Just be careful to keep your starter from getting too warm!
Problem: Too much starter
For a high rise in your starter you will need a high ratio of flour and water to starter. If you have too much starter in your jar to begin with, you cannot achieve this ratio.
Solution:
Try discarding most of your starter and leaving just a tablespoon or so left, give it a really big feeding and wait for the rise.
Problem: Time
Time can be tricky with starter. There are a number of factors at play here: time since your last feeding, time the starter has been out of the fridge, and age of your starter. Learning the timing of sourdough starter comes with lots of experience, mistakes, and practice.
Solution:
Remember, any time you’re actively working with your starter, it can live in the refrigerator. If you accidentally leave it out for a few days, just discard most of it, give it a big feeding, wait for it to become active, and bake or place it back in the fridge.
Problem: Ingredients
The ingredients you use to feed your starter are essential to understanding why your sourdough starter is not rising. If you are using low-quality ingredients, this will be reflected in the performance of your starter. If your starter is needing a little pick me up, try feeding it with organic rye flour.
Solution: Learn Sourdough Starter Ingredients
Organic, unbleached bread flour
Organic, unbleached all-purpose Flour
These are the only ingredients you should be using for an active, bubbly result.
Hi! I got my starter from a friend and have been fighting with the humidity. I finally got it to a point where it doubled but it did not pass the float test. I baked with it anyway and I got a decent loaf. Howe er, it did not rise as much as it should have! Any advice?
The float test is not the end all be all for starter, even if it is a helpful indicator. If your starter doubled in size and has lots of bubbles and activity, that is a very good sign that it will bake up well. I always give it a few large feedings if it’s not as happy as I would like and it helps a lot. You can also try adding a little bit of Rye flour to your starter as well.
xo,
R
Hi! My active starter has worked and been rising after feeding for weeks and now i fed it and it wont rise. It still bubbles and smells as usual but it wont rise and I am so stressed because I have had this starter for so long and got it from my grandfather! Help please!
Hey Cari,
Have you tried discarding almost all of it and giving it a really big feeding?
Are you using filtered water and organic unbleached flour? (AP or bread flour works best)
Try these out and let me know how you go!
Regina
Hi Cari,
I am so worried, my sourdough starter came from a local bakery and I was following all the instructions (except I realized I was supposed to discard every day after the 4th day as per their instructions). My starter overflowed one day, was bubbling and falling beautifully, smelled like I was baking bread, etc. Then it kept getting runnier and wasn’t thickening up. I would put less water to make sure the consistency remained a paste. I then discarded and fed it, (by mistake I put a silverware spoon in it and later read that metal shouldn’t touch it ♀️), but still nothing.
I read all of your suggestions here and discarded everything except a tablespoon and fed it one cup unbleached AP flour and one cup filtered water. My fingers are crossed. How long should it take for the fermentation to happen after this large feed? And do you have any other recommendations? Will Doug(h) (as I have lovingly named my starter) be okay???
Everything is going to be okay, I promise ❤️
You should see fermentation within 12 hours of a big feeding. If metal touches your starter, it’s fine. I’ve never had any issues with this. If your starter is from a bakery then it should be pretty active and happy, you should not need to discard every day unless you’re using it every day to bake. After this big feeding if things are going well, use it to bake or store in the fridge until you’re ready to bake!
You got this!!
R
Hi Regina,
Thank you soooo much!!! It worked! I actually did two separate jars with a big fed for each and then once they both rose I discarded and fed them both and then combined them. Doug(h) is alive and well!
Thank you again!
Yayyy!! I’m so happy for you! Good luck with all your future sourdough endeavors!
R
I have a starter that’s 13 days old. It won’t rise at all. I’ve tried discarding most and doing a really big feed. That didn’t help either. My house stays between 72 and 74 degrees. I use unbleached bread flour and filtered water. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. It won’t do anything.
You might need to start again with this starter. I always recommend getting starter from a friend or bakery so it is already active and happy.
xo,
Regina
I have a mature starter that usually lives in the fridge until I take it out, feed it, and bake with it. Today is the first time that hasn’t worked! I fed it this morning, left it in a warm place, and it seems as if it went straight to discard – it made happy little bubbles, but never rose and created hooch after only a couple hours. Can I revive this in time for use tomorrow, perhaps with the large feeding you mentioned?
Yes definitely do a large feeding if this happens! Sometimes my starter is a bit sluggish when I pull it from the fridge…it happens to the best of us!
xo,
Regina
When starter won’t rise at the feeding stage you menti9n giving it a really big feed. What amount is that? Currently I’ve done 1:2:2
Thank you
By big I mean really big. A tablespoon of starter to a cup of flour and water should do the trick. Place in a sunny window and wait a while as sometimes it can take a while for an inactive starter to eat up this much food.
Help!!! I have tried so many times to make a starter. Failed everytime! Day one, two and three work great. After I feed on day four, it doesn’t rise!! I’ve tried every trick I can find and now I’m just disappointed and frustrated. I really want to conquer this! Please help.
If you have tried ~every~ trick then you might need to start again or source an existing starter. Try asking at your local bakery, talking to any friends who bake, or buying one online. This is the one I highly recommend: https://sovrn.co/3taewan
Good Luck,
Regina
Hoping for some guidance. I’ve been working on a starter for 5 weeks now and I’m wondering if I need to scrap it and start over. It has some bubbles and will give a small 1/2 inch rise in 24-48 hours but has never once doubled in size. The smell is pungent and tangy. I don’t see signs of mold but I’m concerned about the safety of it. I’ve used unbleached enriched artisan bread flour and filtered water for each feeding.
Hey Ashley,
It sounds like you’re doing a lot of things right, but if they starter has a very strong smell it probably isn’t as active as you need it to be for baking. I would discard most of it (especially the top) and give it a large feeding before placing in a sunny window. If this doesn’t help, you may need to start over.
xo,
Regina
Hi. I have read and followed so much information everywhere, even books.. I have two starters ,One I started with a mixture of whole wheat flour. Its been 5 weeks it rises some days and it bubbles. ( Ido use a scale)I recently changed my ratio to 1:2:2. It did great. So I fed it thinking I would have a starter to use the next day…woke up and hardly any rise, I really want to make my own starter. However when do I stop trying?I have to say I live in north Fl and in the beginning I left it in a cabinet where it was 66F. Now I leave in oven with door open and its definitely responding. But not ready to use.
Any suggestions?
Yes heat is definitely a major factor, so getting your starter between 70-75 degrees F is great. Keep trying this, large feedings, and switch to organic bread flour before you give up!
xo,
Regina
When I feed my starter, can I add the feeder back to the container with the extra or must it remain in a new container to bloom, bubble etc?
Great question, Kim! I usually add my filtered water and flour directly to the jar or croc the starter is already in and that works great. Sometimes my croc is ready for a wash so I will to transfer the starter…it really just depends.
xo,
Regina
Day 6 of my starter. Has lots of bubbles but did not rise. It was on my counter all night. Could it have risen and fallen during the night and I missed it? I’m not sure what to do next. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Kathleen,
Usually the starter will leave streaks on the side of the bowl when it has risen and fallen. I would give it another really big feeding and wait to see what happens.
xo,
Regina
Hello there!
I just found this page and maybe you will be able to help me with my starter. This is my second attempt to grow the starter and I’m now on Day 6. Unfortunately as of right now, it just looks like a paste. I’ve been using Dark Rye Flour, tap water and I’ve been measuring all the ingredients with a scale. I had a problem with the temperature of the house (in my my first try) so now I use my oven (door partially open) with a heating pad inside to keep the starter at 75F. The jar that I use is not fully shut and I keep a thermometer inside of it to check the temperature.
Q1. Do I need to use filter water? I’m not using filtered water. The town that I live in does have clean waster from the tap that we are allowed to drink. Could that be the reason why my starter is not rising?
Q2. Does the starter need light to grow? Since mine is kept in the oven for warmth could it be that the darker oven area affect the growth?
Thanks!
I am attempting my first very own sourdough starter; I have great bubbles but it won’t rise! I have it in a warm place and I’m feeding it regularly. I made the most amazing discard muffins with it but my bread never rose.
Hey, Amanda! I always recommend discarding most of the starter and giving it a really big feeding. That cures almost any starter issue! Also be sure you are using organic bread or all purpose flour and clean filtered water to feed your starter.
Thanks for the tips. I have work to do following your advice. I was turning out some pretty good bread until my starter stoped moving.
I hope my advice helps, you can do this!