Sourdough Starter Feeding Ratios: 1:1:1 vs 1:5:5

Published: October 24, 2026 · 8 min read

Feed a starter you bake with twice a week at 1:1:1 by weight. Feed one that lives in the refrigerator at 1:5:5. The first is 50 g starter, 50 g flour, and 50 g water, which peaks in four to six hours at 75°F. The second is 20 g starter, 100 g flour, and 100 g water, which needs ten to fourteen hours at the same temperature.

Both jars finish at 100 percent hydration and both raise a loaf. The ratio changes two things: how fast the culture comes ripe, and how much flour disappears along the way. Pick it backwards from the hour you want to mix dough.

What the Three Numbers Measure

The ratio runs starter to flour to water, by weight. Not volume, not scoops. A cup of all-purpose flour weighs anywhere from 120 to 140 g depending on how you fill it, a 15 percent swing on every feed and enough drift to change how a starter behaves inside a week. A kitchen scale that reads to 1 g settles it for the price of two bags of flour.

The first number does the real work. It sets how much old culture lands in the refreshed jar, which is the same inoculation rate a bread formula turns when it asks for 20 percent ripe starter by flour weight.

Ratio	Carryover share	Example feed	Peak at 74°F	Feed every
1:1:1	33%	50 + 50 + 50 = 150 g	5–6 hours	24 hours
1:2:2	20%	40 + 80 + 80 = 200 g	7–8 hours	12–24 hours
1:3:3	14%	30 + 90 + 90 = 210 g	9–10 hours	24–36 hours
1:5:5	9%	20 + 100 + 100 = 220 g	10–14 hours	5–7 days, cold
1:10:10	5%	10 + 100 + 100 = 210 g	14–18 hours	Overnight build

King Arthur Baking ran the middle of that range through a side-by-side test in 2025: 1:1:1 peaked in four to six hours at 78°F, 1:2:2 at about eight, and 1:4:4 at twelve. All three raised the same loaf. Only the clock moved. A ratio is a scheduling tool before it is anything else.

Why 1:1:1 and 1:5:5 Diverge

One part food against five

At 1:1:1 the culture gets its own weight in fresh flour. Yeast and bacteria multiply until the sugars run short, the acid climbs, and the jar collapses, all inside an afternoon. At 1:5:5 the same microbes start with five times the food, sit longer at low activity, and peak while you are asleep.

The acid band

A ripe starter sits between pH 3.8 and 4.3. Low, frequent feeding keeps it pinned at the bottom of that band, which reads sharp and vinegary on the tongue. High ratios dilute the acid at every refresh, so the bread lands milder. Cooler, stiffer starters lean toward acetic acid. Warmer, wetter ones lean lactic and smell like yogurt.

Nine grams is a whole feeding

To build 100 g of ripe starter at 1:5:5 you need 9 g of carryover: 9 + 45 + 45 = 99 g. Most people keep 100 g and add 500, which builds a jar four times bigger than the loaf needs and doubles the discard. Scale the carryover, not the habit.

Peak Times by Kitchen Temperature

Ratio sets the target. The room sets the clock. Fermentation runs roughly twice as fast for every 15 to 18°F, so a 66°F kitchen in January and an 82°F kitchen in July are two different starters on paper.

Ratio	66°F	70°F	74°F	78°F	82°F
1:1:1	7 hr	6 hr	5–5½ hr	4–4½ hr	3½ hr
1:2:2	9–10 hr	8–8½ hr	7–7½ hr	6–6½ hr	5–5½ hr
1:3:3	12 hr	10½ hr	9 hr	8 hr	6½ hr
1:5:5	15 hr	13 hr	11 hr	9½ hr	8 hr

Hours to double, mature white-flour starter. Whole wheat and rye run an hour or two faster at the same ratio, because bran carries more enzymes and minerals into the mix. A starter younger than three weeks also runs slower than the table, whatever the number on the jar.

The Discard Math Nobody Runs

Here is where a ratio turns into money. Feed 1:1:1 every morning and carry 100 g forward: you add 100 g of flour, and the 200 g you discard holds another 100 g. That is 200 g of flour a day. A 5-lb bag holds 2,268 g, so the bag is gone in eleven days.

Feed 1:5:5 once a week from 20 g: 100 g of flour in the feed, 100 g in the 200 g of discard, 200 g a week. The same bag now lasts eleven weeks.

Seven times the life out of the same four-dollar bag, and the bread is identical. If your starter is a weekend habit, the high ratio is the one that costs you least. If the discard is the point, because you make pancakes and crackers from it, then a daily 1:1:1 is producing something you actually use.

Matching the Ratio to Your Week

Baking three or more times a week

1:1:1 with 50 g of carryover. Feed at breakfast, mix at dinner, and the jar runs on your schedule instead of the other way around.

Baking Saturday morning

Take the jar out Friday morning and feed 1:5:5. It peaks Friday evening. Feed 1:2:2 at bedtime and it is ripe somewhere between 6 and 8 a.m. Saturday, which is the hour most people actually want to start.

Baking once a month

1:10:10 to wake the culture, then a 1:5:5 build the day before you mix. A refrigerator at 38°F slows a starter to roughly a tenth of room-temperature speed, which is why one 1:5:5 feed holds five to seven days cold. A month in the back of the fridge is survivable, but plan on two feeds before it will raise anything.

Reading the Jar, Not the Clock

The clock is a guess. The jar is not.

• At peak: the dome has just started to flatten, bubbles climb the sides, and the smell is yogurt or cider.
• Past peak: a sunken center, streaks on the glass marking how high it climbed, and acetone on the nose. Still usable, but slower and sourer.
• Hooch: the dark liquid on top is alcohol and acid from hunger, not spoilage. Pour it off, or stir it back in, then feed.
• Throw it out: pink or orange streaks, or fuzz on the surface. That is not a hungry starter.

The float test is the one signal to distrust. In King Arthur's 2019 trial a starter floated at four hours while it was still two to four hours from ripe. Floating proves the culture holds gas. It does not prove the acid has dropped far enough to carry a loaf on schedule.

From Ripe Starter to Dough

Most formulas call for 15 to 25 percent ripe starter against total flour weight. The Bread Baking Calculator builds its sourdough profile at 20 percent starter, 2 percent salt, and 70 percent hydration, and returns four hours of bulk, four of proof, and 45 minutes in the oven for a 750-g loaf.

That schedule only holds if the starter is at peak when it hits the flour, which is the whole reason to care about the ratio. A jar 90 minutes past peak will still leaven a loaf. The bulk just runs long and the crumb comes out tighter than the formula promised.

Cultured butter is the other half of the loaf. The butter making calculator works yield out from cream fat percentage, and a gallon of cream goes further than most people expect.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best feeding ratio for sourdough starter?

1:1:1 by weight if you bake twice a week or more, which peaks in four to six hours at 75°F. Use 1:5:5 for a starter that lives in the refrigerator and gets fed weekly, since it holds five to seven days cold and takes ten to fourteen hours to peak at room temperature. The right ratio is the one that peaks when you want to mix dough.

How much starter do I need to keep?

Twenty to fifty grams covers every home schedule. A 1:5:5 feeding builds 100 grams of ripe starter from 9 grams of carryover, so a large jar of starter is a choice, not a requirement. Keeping 100 grams and feeding 100 plus 100 adds 200 grams of flour a day once you count the discard.

Can I feed my starter 1:5:5 every day?

Yes, and it will peak twice as slowly as 1:1:1, which usually puts the peak overnight or while you are at work. If you bake daily, 1:1:1 or 1:2:2 keeps the jar on your schedule. The culture is the same either way.

What does the liquid on top of my starter mean?

That is hooch, a mix of alcohol and acid the culture produces when it runs out of food. It is not spoilage. Pour it off for a milder loaf or stir it back in for a sharper one, then feed at your usual ratio. Discard the starter only if you see pink or orange streaks or fuzz on the surface.

Fifty Grams, One Bag of Flour

Two numbers cover almost every home kitchen. 1:1:1 with 50 g of carryover for a starter you feed twice a week, which costs 200 g of flour a day. 1:5:5 with 20 g for one that lives in the fridge, which costs 200 g a week and peaks on a predictable overnight schedule.

The exception is a culture under three weeks old. It cannot hold a five-to-one feed reliably, so keep it at 1:1:1 twice a day until it doubles within six hours of feeding. Then move it to whichever ratio matches the days you actually bake.