Expected rise — Smithfield
rise temp
Log rise — tap a value
Next 7 days — Smithfield
Hourly from Open-Meteo for Smithfield (-16.83°, 145.69°). The rise graph and bake predictor use this same data. Refreshes when the app opens and every hour after.
Measure rise from photo
Bottom of jar
Fed level (rubber band)
Current top
Drag the three lines to mark the bottom of the jar, the rubber band fed level, and the current top of the starter.
Next feed
Rehab
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Log your first feed below
Before adding water + flour
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Tap to change batch size:
Tap to change batch size:
Starter
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Water
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Flour
—
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Your starter's peak time
Bake day readiness
Rise check
Signs it's working — day 3–4
By now you should be seeing these. Tick them as they appear.
Live monitor
Fridge mode
Next feed in 7 days instead of 12–24h
Calendar
Reminder: your last calendar export was over 2 weeks ago. Tap below to add the next 2 weeks.
Download all feed reminders for the next 2 weeks as a calendar file. Open it and tap Add to import into Apple Calendar.
I already added these
Feed history
No feeds yet
Local only
Schedule planner
Pick a bake day and recipe. The app builds your full hour-by-hour timeline.
Bake day
Recipe
Bread recipes
Tap a recipe to pick a day and time. The app schedules the prep feed automatically — your starter will be ready when you need it.
Live bake session
Log a bake
Record how the bake went — the app learns your starter's behaviour over time.
Bake history
No bakes logged yet
Starter health
Last 5 rises
None
Slight
Doubled
More than doubled
Rise log
Stats
Total feeds
0
Total bakes
0
Rehab feeds
0
of 14
Backup, account, and the Sourdough monitor controls are now in Settings (the cog icon at the top right).
Flour used
No flour data yet
Discard tracking
Discard accumulation
0g
estimated from rehab feeds
Each rehab feed produces ~135g of discard. Reset below when you use it up.
Recipes
Use your starter or discard
Five recipes that work with active starter or accumulated discard. Tap any one to see the full method and pick a day to have it ready.
Amounts
Measurements
Batch size
Volume
Starter
Water
Flour
Weight
Starter
Water
Flour
Mix should look like thick pancake batter — holds shape briefly on a spoon. If too runny, add more flour a spoonful at a time. If too stiff, add water.
Batch size
After 14 rehab feeds, or for an already-established starter. Bench every 24h or fridge once a week.
Volume
Starter
Water
Flour
Weight
Starter
Water
Flour
Tablespoons and cups are volume — close enough for a starter. Grams is most precise if you have scales.
Rehab protocol
Rehabilitation protocol
- 1Keep only 20g from the freshest middle section — discard the rest.
- 2Feed 1:5:5 ratio every 12h for 14 feeds. Add a pinch of rye or wholemeal each feed.
- 3Warm spot ~27°C. Oven with just the light on works well.
- 4Your schedule: 6:30am and 6:30pm every day.
- 5After 14 feeds the app switches to maintenance automatically. Already-established starters can skip rehab via Settings › Starters › Mark as established.
Ongoing maintenance (quick view)
Fridge: Feed once a week. Pull out the night before baking.
Bench: Feed every 24h.
Rehab phase: 14 feeds at 12h intervals — 6:30am and 6:30pm.
Maintenance protocol
- 1Pick a batch size on the Feed tab. 200g for day-to-day, 500g if you want a bigger backup or are stepping up for a recipe.
- 2Steady state: every 24h, discard down to the seed amount, then add water + flour at 1:2:2. Bench at room temp, lid loose.
- 3Fridge mode: feed normally then put in the fridge. Once a week, pull out, discard, feed. Pull out the night before a bake and let it peak.
- 4Build up for a big bake: instead of discarding, do 2–3 no-discard feeds in a row — keep the whole jar and add water + flour equal to its current weight (or scaled to a target size). The starter doubles each feed. Once you have enough, bake what you need, keep a seed, and resume normal maintenance.
- 5Backup jar: consider keeping a small sealed backup in the fridge that you feed monthly. Insurance against fridge accidents.
Reading the starter
- •Doubles within 4–6h of feeding at room temp — healthy.
- •Smells yeasty, sweet, or mildly alcoholic — good.
- •Sharp vinegar smell or grey liquid (hooch) on top — overdue for a feed. Stir hooch in, discard, feed normally.
- •Acetone / nail polish smell — starving. Reduce feed interval or warmer spot.
Recipes
Choose a recipe
Your current recipe. Dense, tasty, easy. Mix and bake same day. No folds, no shaping.
Ingredients
Bakers flour7 cups
Water (warm)3 cups
Salt3 tsp
Active starter½ cup
Method
- 1Mix all ingredients until no dry flour remains. Dough will be shaggy. Cover with a damp cloth.
- 2Leave at room temp to rise until roughly doubled — 4–8h at Cairns temps. No need to touch it.
- 3Tip into crockpot lined with baking paper. No need to shape.
- 4Bake at 200°C for 1 hour with the lid on. Remove lid for the last 10–15 min for colour.
- 5Cool on a rack for at least 30 min before cutting — the crumb is still setting inside.
Why it's dense — and how to loosen it up
💧Add ½ cup more water (3½ cups total). Wetter dough = more open crumb. It'll be stickier but worth it.
⏱Let it rise longer. At 22°C it may need 8h+. It should look visibly puffy with bubbles on top before you bake.
🌾Swap 1 cup of flour for wholemeal or rye. More flavour and better rise.
Open crumb, chewy crust, proper bakery-style sourdough. Requires 2 hours at home for folding. Best baked on Wednesday or Friday.
Ingredients
Bakers flour4 cups
Water (warm, 30°C)1½ cups + 2 tbsp
Salt1½ tsp
Active starter½ cup
Starter must be fed 4–6h before mixing — it should be bubbly and have visibly risen. This is why you feed Tuesday 6:30pm before a Wednesday bake.
Method
- 1Mix — 9:00am
Combine flour and water, mix until no dry flour. Cover, rest 30 min. This rest is called autolyse — the flour absorbs the water and gluten starts forming on its own. - 2Add starter and salt — 9:30am
Add starter and salt, squish and fold through the dough with your hands for 2–3 min until fully mixed. Dough will feel sticky — that's correct. - 3Stretch and fold — 10:00am, 10:30am, 11:00am, 11:30am
4 rounds, one every 30 min. Each round: wet your hand, grab one side of the dough, stretch it up as high as it'll go without tearing, fold it over the centre. Rotate the bowl 90° and repeat 4 times total. Cover between rounds. The dough gets smoother and stronger each time. - 4Bulk ferment continues — 11:30am to ~2:00pm
Leave it alone, covered. It should look puffier, feel lighter, and have bubbles visible on the sides. At 22°C Cairns winter this takes about 2.5h after the last fold. - 5Shape — ~2:00pm
Tip onto a lightly floured bench. Fold the edges in toward the centre all the way around, then flip seam-side down. Cup your hands behind it and drag it toward you to build surface tension. It should feel like a tight ball. Place seam-side down in a floured bowl or seam-side up in a well-floured colander lined with a cloth. - 6Cold proof — fridge 2:00pm to next morning (or bake same day)
Cover and put in fridge. Overnight cold proof gives more flavour and better oven spring. Or bake same day after 1–2h bench rest if you want it tonight. - 7Bake — from cold, 200°C, 50 min
Preheat crockpot with lid on for 30 min. Tip the cold dough straight into the hot crockpot (seam up is fine — it'll open naturally as a score). Lid on for 35 min, lid off for 15 min for colour. The steam trapped by the lid is what gives the open crumb and crackly crust. - 8Cool — at least 1 hour
Seriously. The crumb is still setting and cutting it early makes it gummy. Leave it on a rack until you can comfortably hold the bottom.
Key differences from your simple loaf
💧Higher hydration (75%) — wetter dough means bigger gas bubbles and more open crumb.
🤲Stretch and fold builds gluten without degassing — it's why the bread can hold the bubbles the starter creates.
🌡Cold proof slows fermentation overnight and develops more complex flavour. Not essential but noticeably better.
🔥Your crockpot is ideal — the lid traps steam for the first 35 min which is exactly what a Dutch oven does. You already have the right equipment.