How to Fix Your Sourdough Starter When It WON'T RISE

“My starter won’t rise…HELP!” (Said everyone who bakes sourdough at one point or another 😊)

There are two fixes you can try if your sourdough starter just won’t rise. In the video I’ll explain which fix is right for you.

[ginarichi]

I can’t freaking believe it!! 4 months I tried to get that thing to grow!! I tried everything!! I almost gave up. Yesterday I found your video. I gave one last ditch effort. I woke up this morning and BAM!! There it was!! DOUBLE AND THEN SOME!! I was so excited and happy I had to wake my husband up to tell him!! lol. Thank you so I’m so grateful!!

[sellersdozen]

After watching this, I fed the heck out of mine last night after 2 WEEKS of no activity but it smelled amazing(ly sour). IT MORE THAN DOUBLED OVER NIGHT I WAS STARVING IT 😭😭 Anyway, that was the first time it ever doubled! ‘Preciate you!! 🙌🙌

[trudareynolds]

You really made me feel more confident I could actually tell when my starter was ready. Thanks!

[eleanorbalsiger]

I have read so much on this and your video explained and helped me so much that I am going to start all over again for the 3rd time. Your instructions were different than everybody else’s. Thank you.

[sharonmcmichael]

Perfect help I needed as a newbie gifted with SOURDOUGH STARTER! First week was fun then caput, so thank you for timely help!

[krazmokramer]

Yeah...I'm there. I just did my first divide and discard on your Sourdough Starter Guide. Day 3 looked active SOMEWHAT. Day 4 nada. Four hours after 50g/50g/50g and still nada. I have been very precise with the measurements and clean utensils. I'm being patient but...I WANT TO BAKE!!!

[basbleupeaunoire]

This helped a lot. More than some other guides, you're advising us to go by what the starter looks like, not just when the next feeding is supposed to happen. You also cut the feeding amounts by half. Thank you! I was hating to 'waste' all that discard when my starter was just getting started again.

[toilettduckk]

Thank you! I have wasted so much time and flour trying to get the starter going. I finally found your Youtube videos, took my unsuccessful starter and followed your instructions. In less than a week, it was rising perfectly. :)

[ThatGuy-djqr]

I struggled for a loooong time with my starter going "off" while being stored in the fridge. I found very little for my issue online and had to sort it out on my own. Basically my starter was becoming very acidic, making a toxic environment for the yeast (meanwhile the bacteria were thriving). One big reason for this is that I don't bake regularly, so the starter was in the fridge for long periods of time. I would end up with a watery slurry, and even after adding flour to stiffen the starter, it would go watery again without rising. On mutiple occasions I found it faster to create a new starter from scratch than to revive the old one. Are you ready for the fix?
Solution: If you have this issue, abandon the 1:1 (water:flour) guideline and switch to a stiffer starter. A stiff starter can have up to two times as much flour by weight compared to water (2:1 ratio of flour:water). A stiff starter (drier environment) is less hospitable for bacteria, so it gives yeast a natural edge. A stiff starter stores much longer in the fridge and it will more than double when you let it rise because it has more food per volume than a 1:1 starter.
Hope this tip helps someone out there.

[nyckudt]

This video is so helpful thank you so much, I am staring at my starter without any hope it seems dead because I had to freeze it 😬 now I am trying to make it alive again

[koreancookie]

Thank you! 1st week newbie here 🙋🏻‍♀️.

Watching your video helped me realize I had too much starter.


I was following someone else’s recipe of 1 cup flour : 1 cup water and storing in my oven with the light on. Every 24hrs, discarding 1/2, and repeating.

It was starving! Not rising/falling and a layer of hooch.

When I reduced and used your proportions. Also, placing in my microwave with door open. It really came alive visually!

You saved me on expensive flour $ being wasted! And I learned 😁!

[nitashah]

Super helpful. I use your SD bagel recipe and it is fantastic but it's been very sluggish and not rising. Will try this method

[mirian]

It really works, can’t thank you enough. Forever grateful ❤

[kathyschultz]

Oh man! I'm going to try this. I just started my SDS about five days ago and I noted on some days it will rise and on other days it will not. I'm going to try your method, thinking that I'm leaving too much started in the jar before feeding. Thanks Grant!

[linacoy]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!! This videos was so helpful, 5 days later and I have a very active starter and is on the rise 😅 thank you again

[BreannBenson]

Thank you this helped reset my starter! It was so hard to just lift the top off to smell

[BiancaICMarques]

Thank you for this video!! This happened with my starter and I was soo sad. I will try this!

[Gregasaurus]

thanks so much, great tip. This tip is a cornerstone in my sourdough shrine.

[Arika_VR]

You are amazing. I was struggling to revive my 3yr old starter. I usually keep my starter in fridge and feed it once a month, never had any issues. But this time My starter was bubbling but not rising, I followed your tip and fed 50g flour and only 40ml water to 25g starter. Kept the jar in oven with light on. It doubled within 12hrs. Thank you so much.

[charlesdarnay]

GREAT TIP. It never would have occurred to me that I was keeping too much of it previously. Tip #1, resetting the starter with a small amount and keeping only 25g until feeding it the night before using it, fixed my sourdough problems completely. FWIW, I started out with a mix of rye and whole wheat to get my starter going, it only took 3 or 4 days, and ever since, it doesn't seem to matter what flour I use for the overnight feeding: it always rises overnight. And no more discards either.

Two other tricks I've learned is to use slightly warm water for the overnight feeding, just a little warmer than lukewarm, and to add the 50g water to the 25g first, stir it in, and then add the 50g flour. It works every time, even when my kitchen is cold. Simple fixes for predictable and consistent results. THANK YOU, Grant.