Caring for Your Ophelia Sourdough Starter

Meet your starter

Ophelia is our sourdough culture from the Aussie Acres kitchen. Flour, water, wild yeast, and helpful bacteria work together in your starter jar. With regular feeding and care, she’ll become part of your baking routine.

When Ophelia arrives

Ophelia arrives as dried starter in a pouch. Begin with the activation instructions included on the package: the dried culture needs rehydration and time to become active. The regular feeding routine below is for an established, active starter after that activation stage. If you need help with your package, contact us.

How to feed a sourdough starter

A simple feeding is equal parts starter, flour, and water by weight. For example, keep 25 grams of starter and feed it 25 grams of flour plus 25 grams of water. Stir it, scrape down the sides, mark the level, and wait. When it rises, smells pleasantly tangy, and looks bubbly, it is awake and useful.

How often to feed it

If Ophelia lives on the counter, feed her about once a day. If you only bake once in a while, keep her in the fridge and feed her weekly or a day before you plan to bake. Cold slows her down; warmth wakes her up.

Baking with starter

Use starter when it is active and bubbly, usually after it has risen well from a feeding. Bread is the classic use, but starter is also good for pancakes, waffles, biscuits, pizza dough, crackers, and any recipe where a little tang and fermentation make breakfast or supper better.

Making sourdough starter from scratch

You can make a starter from scratch by mixing flour and water, feeding it daily, and waiting for the wild yeast to settle in. It can take a week or two, and sometimes longer, before it is strong enough for reliable baking. Buying Ophelia gives you an established culture in dried form, ready to activate using the included instructions.

Changes to watch for

A little liquid on top, a slower day, or a sharper smell usually means the starter is hungry. Feed it and watch what it does. If you ever see fuzzy mold or bright pink or orange streaks, throw it out and start fresh. Contact us if you have questions about your Ophelia starter.