Lets Make a Gluten Free Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Start making a brown rice flour gluten free sourdough starter with me!
Does the idea of making your own Sourdough Starter overwhelm you? 🥺 Are you Gluten-Free and miss baking Sourdough Bread? 😩 Did you know you can make a gluten free sourdough starter? 🤩 Knowledge is POWER! Let’s take the mystery out of baking sourdough whether is gluten free or not! 💪🏻
This daily video series will take you through all you need to know to make a gluten free sourdough starter from scratch!
Contents - brown rice starter
Click on the below buttons to jump to the day of your sourdough journey!
In this series I hope to impart the knowledge necessary to give you all the tools you’ll ever need to make incredible sourdough intuitively! Whether your gluten-free or not!
No time to start with us right now? Don’t worry, I’ll keep these daily videos posted here for you to join me later! Happy creating!
MATERIALS - BROWN RICE SOURDOUGH STARTER
I’ve prepared a materials list with everything you will need to start making your sourdough starter with me! The video in the pop up below explains all of the details for the materials you’ll need in order to join me! I have also included the above printable copy of the materials list just in case you’d like to print it off.
The video explains in more detail absolutely everything you’ll need to start your sourdough journey!
BROWN RICE SOURDOUGH STARTER – MATERIALS LIST
GLASS JARS – I recommend 750mL Bernardin Glass Mason Jars that I buy at Canadian Tire. They have thick glass, straight sides (easy to scrape down) and are a nice tall shape so you can easily see the height your starter has risen! You can also find them on Amazon here.
GLASS JAR LIDS – I love the mason jar lids that Ball makes! You can find the at Canadian Tire or on Amazon here.
KITCHEN SCALE – A kitchen scale is SO very helpful and for me it’s a must! You can find the great, inexpensive one that I use at Lee Valley Tools.
FLOUR – Gluten Free Starter: I recommend starting with either Organic Brown Rice Flour (this is the one I used, but superfine is best if you can find it) or Sorghum Flour. You can also MAKE YOUR OWN flours! See my How to Make your own Gluten Free Flours to learn how!
– Wheat Sourdough Starter: Unbleached Organic All-Purpose Flour.
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If you’re already on Pinterest, please feel free to PIN the picture below for future reference & so others can find it too 🙏🏻
INSTRUCTIONS
BROWN RICE SOURDOUGH STARTER
Below are the full daily instructional video guides (morning & evening). Running short on time, no worries, I’ve got your back! I’ve created a “Quickie Version” (60-90 seconds) of some of the daily videos which you’ll find in the pop up video playlist, but please ensure you watch the full video later to make sure we’re on the same page!
Day 1
MORNING - DAY 1
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Creating
N/A
N/A
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
30g
30g
LIQUID (L)
15g Juice
15g Water
30g
RATIO (TOTAL)
0 : 1 : 1
S : F : L
60g
EVENING - DAY 1
Starter (S)
Keep all
60g
N/A
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
30g
30g
LIQUID (L)
15g Juice
15g Water
30g
RATIO (TOTAL)
2 : 1 : 1
S : F : L
120g
I know you’ll just love this easy to follow daily video series to help you make your own sourdough starter from scratch! If you try it, please add a rating onto the recipe above or at the top of the post as it helps Google recognize the recipe & my website which will help show it to more people. In turn, this will help me create more videos like these! I’d love to see our community grow! ♡
How to make a Sourdough Starter Gluten Free (Brown Rice Flour)
Equipment
- 2 Glass Jars (I use Bernardin 750mL Mason Jars)
- 2 Lids for Glass Jars (I use Ball spill proof lids)
- 1 Piece of cloth
- 2 Elastic bands (or can use tape)
- 1 Kitchen Scale (I love my mini digital scale from Lee Valley)
- 1 Wooden spoon or Chopstick (or non-reactive metal spoon)
Materials
- 600-1000 g Brown Rice Flour (total amount depends on how quickly your starter grows)
- Water (either filtered or rested on countertop)
- 120 mL Pineapple Juice (make sure it's pure with no additives)
- 1 Glass writing pen (optional - can use tape with regular pen)
- 1 Notebook
Instructions
DAY 1 - AM
- Mix 30g brown rice flour + 15g pineapple juice + 15g water
DAY 1 - PM
- Mix. Add 30g brown rice flour + 15g pineapple juice + 15g water
DAY 2 - AM
- Give your starter a good mix! Do not feed.
DAY 2 - PM
- Mix. Then discard 1/2, keep 60g of starter. feed 40g flour, 20g pineapple juice, 20g water. Then Mix.
DAY 3 -AM
- Give your starter a good mix! Do not feed.
DAY 3 - PM
- Discard most & keep only 30g. Feed 50g flour, 25g pineapple juice, 25g water. Then mix.
DAY 4 - AM
- Give your starter a good mix! Do not feed.
DAY 4 - PM
- Discard most & keep only 60g. Feed 60g flour, 10g pineapple juice, 40g water. Then mix. If your starter is the correct consistency of a thick paste, then add 50g Flour instead. Mix.
DAY 5 - AM
- Discard about 1/2 & keep only 60g. Feed 60g flour, 60g water. Then mix.
DAY 5 - PM
- Discard about 1/2 & keep only 60g. Feed 60g flour, 60g water. Then mix. You can now bake with your discard! See above post for some ideas!
DAY 6 - AM
- Discard about 1/2 & keep only 55g. Feed 60g flour, 60g water. Then mix. Try baking with your discard! See above post for some ideas!
DAY 6 - PM
- Discard all but 40g. Feed 50g flour, 50g water. Mix.
DAY 7 - AM
- Discard all but 30g. Feed 50g flour, 50g water. Mix.
DAY 7 - PM
- Discard all but 30g. Feed 50g flour, 50g water. Mix.
DAY 8 - 14
- Discard all but 30g. Feed 50g flour, 50g water. Mix. See my videos for how to adapt if your starter has trouble.
IN A HURRY DAY (see Day 10 evening video)
- If you are having a crazy day & can't find the time to feed your starter, follow these instructions. Discard all but 30g. Feed 100g flour, 100g water. Mix. No need to feed for 24 hours or until reaches peak rise again.
Video
Notes
- This is a video series. These written instructions are meant only to be an adjunct to the daily videos.
- On Day 4-5 you can start to bake with your discard! I've posted a bunch of ideas in the post above. If your starter is very active, you can try baking a loaf of sourdough at this point, but I find the starter just doesn't quite have the strength to give a good rise until the full 2 weeks. However, it still tastes great when used to bake a loaf after DAY 6. So the choice is yours!
PLEASE SHARE THIS BROWN RICE SOURDOUGH STARTER GUIDE 🙏🏻
Day 2: Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Day 2 on our journey where we hope to see some signs of activity occurring!
MORNING - Day 2
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Just Mix
120g
120g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
0g
0g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
0g Water
0g
RATIO (TOTAL)
No Feed
S : F : L
120g
EVENING - Day 2
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard 1/2
Keep 60g
60g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
40g
40g
LIQUID (L)
20g Juice
20g Water
40g
RATIO (TOTAL)
3 : 2 : 2
S : F : L
140g
PLEASE SHARE THIS BROWN RICE SOURDOUGH STARTER GUIDE 🙏🏻
WHICH TYPE OF SOURDOUGH STARTER WILL YOU MAKE?
Day 3: Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Day 3 on our Brown Rice Sourdough Starter journey where we hope to see some signs of activity!
MORNING - Day 3
If your starter is more active than mine, please skip ahead to the next video to decide what to do!
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Just mix
Keep all
140g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
0g
0g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
0g Water
0g
RATIO (TOTAL)
No Feed
S : F : L
140g
AFTERNOON UPDATE - Day 3
See my video here for a quick afternoon update.
EVENING - Day 3
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
Feed 50g
50g
LIQUID (L)
25g Juice
25g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
3 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
130g
I know you’ll just love this easy to follow daily video series to help you make your own sourdough starter from scratch! If you try it, please add a rating onto the recipe above or at the bottom of the post as it helps Google recognize the recipe & my website which will help show it to more people. In turn, this will help me create more videos like these! I’d love to see our community grow! ♡
Day 4: Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Day 4 on our Brown Rice Sourdough Starter journey where we hope to see some signs of activity!
MORNING - Day 4
If your starter is more active than mine, please skip ahead to the next video to decide what to do!
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Just mix
Keep all
130g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
0g
0g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
0g Water
0g
RATIO (TOTAL)
No Feed
S : F : L
130g
evening - Day 4
If you’re having trouble like I am with my brown rice gluten free sourdough starter, watch the below video👇🏻 for tips on what to do to remedy it!
Take a step back & leave more starter (more microorganisms) in comparison to food. So take your ratio back to closer to 1 : 1 : 1 (Starter : Flour : Liquid).
My starter was to “runny” in its consistency so I added 10g more flour than liquid! Do this if your starter is to not thick enough! It will pass the “jiggle test”.
If you’re not having activity yet, please watch the below video for more tips! 👇🏻
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 60g
60g
FLOUR (F)
Feed
60g
60g
LIQUID (L)
10g Juice
40g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
6 : 6 : 5
S : F : L
170g
Day 5: Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Day 5 on our Brown Rice Sourdough Starter journey where we hope to see some signs of activity! My Brown Rice Sourdough Starter is responding finally! Being adaptable is SO very important when making a sourdough starter, whether it is gluten free or not!
No time - no worries!
If you feel like you just don’t have time to feed 2x/day that’s ok! You can feed it 1x/day. I’ve found that feeding twice a day is more effective, which is why I recommend it. But your starter will be ok with 1x/day.
I think of it like us humans, we can survive on one big meal/day, even a small meal, or even no meals for a few days…but we won’t be very happy! I think the microorganisms are the same, they are living organisms after all!
HOW TO FEED YOUR BROWN RICE SOURDOUGH STARTER 1X / DAY:
Simply double the ratio of Feed : Starter
e.g. If you’re planning to feed 30g of starter, 50g flour, 50g water 2x/day. Then to feed 1x/day, keep 30g of starter & feed it 100g flour, 100g water. This is while we are creating our starters at room temperature. Later on when we store our starters in the refrigerator, they become much less demanding! They kind of “chill out” 🤪!
MORNING - Day 5
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 60g
60g
FLOUR (F)
Feed
60g
60g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
60g Water
60g
RATIO (TOTAL)
1 : 1 : 1
S : F : L
180g
EVENING - Day 5
If you’re having trouble (like I was yesterday with my brown rice gluten free sourdough starter) watch the below video👇🏻 for tips on what to do to remedy it!
Take a step back & leave more starter (more microorganisms) in comparison to food. So take your ratio back to closer to 1 : 1 : 1 (Starter : Flour : Liquid).
My starter was to “runny” in its consistency yesterday so I added 10g more flour than liquid! Do this if your starter is to not thick enough! It will pass the “jiggle test”.
If you’re not having activity yet, please watch the below video for more tips! 👇🏻
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 60g
60g
FLOUR (F)
Feed
60g
60g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
60g Water
60g
RATIO (TOTAL)
1 : 1 : 1
S : F : L
180g
You can find TONS of ideas online for what to do with your sourdough discard! I believe in having as little waste as possible, so once we are done creating our starters I’ll show you my zero waste method that will allow you to have NO waste at all! Below are some of my favs as well as links to recipes I’ve created (more coming soon).
I have worked hard to bring you my recipes as they are all gluten, egg, corn free with dairy & nut free options, with many being vegan as well! I have found this combination of dietary needs particularly difficult to find recipes to make! I will continue to add new recipes as I can ♡.
MY FAVOURITE DISCARD RECIPES (GLUTEN FREE)
- Banana Chocolate Chip Discard Muffins
- Fry up your discard = quick & easy flat bread
- Sourdough Discard Pancakes
- Gluten Free Sourdough Pizza Crust
- Sourdough Discard Healthy Breakfast Cereal (my recipe coming soon)
- Discard Crackers (my recipe coming soon)
DISCARD RECIPES (WHEAT STARTER)
- Waffles by my favourite teacher Teresa Greenway!
- Sourdough Tortillas – these are incredible!
- Pizza Crust – a sure to be family fav!
CLICK the above link for more information about your gluten free sourdough starter discard & how you can use it to have zero waste!
Day 6: Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Day 6 on our Brown Rice Sourdough Starter journey, we should be seeing some signs of activity in our starter at this point. Bubbles, rise, smell & taste!
Morning - Day 6
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 55
55g
FLOUR (F)
Feed
60g
60g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
60g Water
60g
RATIO (TOTAL)
1 : 1 : 1
S : F : L
175g
evening - Day 6
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 40g
40g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
Feed 50g
50g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
50g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
4 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
140g
Day 7: Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Day 7 on our Brown Rice Sourdough Starter journey, we should be seeing lots of positive signs of activity in our starter at this point. Bubbles, rise, smell & taste!
morning - Day 7
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
50g
50g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
50g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
3 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
130g
evening - Day 7
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
50g
50g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
50g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
3 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
130g
Day 8: Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Day 8 on our Brown Rice Sourdough Starter journey, we should be seeing some signs of activity in our starter at this point. Bubbles, rise, smell & taste!
Mornning - Day 8
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
50g
50g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
50g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
3 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
130g
evening - Day 8
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
50g
50g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
50g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
3 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
130g
Day 9: Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Day 9 on our Brown Rice Sourdough Starter journey, we should be seeing lots of positive signs of activity in our starter at this point. Bubbles, rise, smell & taste!
morning - Day 9
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
50g
50g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
50g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
3 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
130g
evening - Day 9
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
50g
50g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
50g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
3 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
130g
Day 10: Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Day 10 on our Brown Rice Sourdough Starter journey, we should be seeing lots of positive signs of activity in our starter at this point. Bubbles, rise, smell & taste!
morning - Day 10
This mornings video includes some information that will give us a better understanding of the “WHY” things happen as they do with our sourdough starter! I believe that KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, and we will build on this knowledge in the next few days as we prepare to make our 1st gluten free sourdough loaf!
Please watch the whole video (about 10 mins of education, with feeding at the end), you won’t regret it I promise! It’s only 10 mins of your time which will give you a lifetime of better sourdough! I will share with you what I know and we will gain some education from another home baker whom I admire, Hendrik, from “The Bread Code“. He is a self proclaimed science geek (like I am) so I think we are kindred spirits 🙂
On Day 11, we only have to feed our starters 1 x and we have no educational material, so its a quickie! So think of it as using your time from tomorrow, today! Enjoy!
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
50g
50g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
50g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
3 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
130g
evening - Day 10
You should be getting excellent activity with your starter now! If you are not, please watch the below video👇🏻 for tips on what to do to remedy it! If you are still having problems, please feel free to comment below and we can try to figure it out together as a community 🙂
Take a step back & leave more starter (more microorganisms) in comparison to food. So take your ratio back to closer to 1 : 1 : 1 (Starter : Flour : Liquid)
If you’re not having activity yet, please watch the below video for more tips! 👇🏻
I am travelling home tomorrow morning, bright & early, from my families cottage, so I needed to feed my starter 1x/day so I wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with it early in the morning. If this is ever the case for you, please follow the directions in my Day 10 evening video.
I’d like you to try doing this 1 FEED / DAY tonight so that you can practice & see what happens to your starter! YAY right? Only 1 feed in 24 hours! YIPPEE!!! We will learn in the next few days how to increase the ratio of feed to starter even more!
We will feed our starters again Day 11, in the evening! Remember though to check on your starter in the morning to see what happens, make observations, & learn more about your starter! After all, you’re now committed to loving it, and taking care of it like you would a child right? ♥︎
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
100g
100g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
100g Water
100g
RATIO (TOTAL)
3 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
230g
Day 11: Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Day 11 on our Brown Rice Sourdough Starter journey, we should be seeing lots of positive signs of activity in our starter at this point. Bubbles, rise, smell & taste!
morning - Day 11
I am travelling home this morning, bright & early, from my families cottage, which is why we practiced feeding 1x/day last night so I wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with until the evening today. If this is ever the case for you, please follow the directions in my Day 10 evening video!
No feed this morning! YAY right? Only 1 feed in 24 hours! YIPPEE!!!
We will feed our starters again in the evening! Remember though to check on your starter this morning to see how it looks, make observations, & learn more about your starter!
Please let me know in the comments below how your starter did with the double feed! ♡
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Keep all
130g
130g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
0g
0g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
0g Water
0g
RATIO (TOTAL)
no feed
S : F : L
130g
evening - Day 11
You should be getting excellent activity with your starter now! If you are not, please watch the below video👇🏻 for tips on what to do to remedy it! If you are still having problems, please feel free to comment below and we can try to figure it out together as a community 🙂
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
50g
50g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
50g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
3 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
130g
Day 12: Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Day 12 on our Brown Rice Sourdough Starter journey, we should be seeing lots of positive signs of activity in our starter at this point. Bubbles, rise, smell & taste!
MORNING - Day 12
This morning I want you to try & figure out what ratio you need to feed your starter based on how it is responding! Don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it, you’ve got this!
Below is a complete materials list of absolutely everything that you’ll need to bake your 1st loaf of Gluten Free Sourdough with me on Day 14-15! 👇🏻
SUMMARY
Remember, it was EXTREMELY COLD for me on Day 12! I couldn’t very easily keep my starters at the optimal temperature, so I decided to change the feed decrease the Feed : Starter Ratio! Use what you’ve learn’t so far and do the same! You’ve got this! Your starter is resilient so have no fear, it’ll bounce back if you make a mistake!
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
Feed 30g
30g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
30g Water
30g
RATIO (TOTAL)
1 : 1 : 1
S : F : L
90g
EVENING - Day 12
Due to the extreme cold we experienced on Day 12, I decided to decrease the ratio of FEED : STARTER for the evening feed. Think about the questions we discussed this morning to decide what to feed your starter!
- What is the temperature of your starters environment?
- How has your starter been responding to the previous feeds?
- What is your starters appearance? Hooch present? Rise? Surface appearance? Bubbles?
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
Feed 30g
30g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
30g Water
30g
RATIO (TOTAL)
1 : 1 : 1
S : F : L
90g
Materials you'll need to bake gluten free sourdough bread!
Day 13: Brown Rice Sourdough Starter
Day 13 on our Brown Rice Sourdough Starter journey, we should be seeing lots of positive signs of activity in our starter at this point. Today we prep our starter to make our 1st loaf of Gluten Free Sourdough Bread!
MORNING - Day 13
STARTER READINESS CHECKLIST
Follow this checklist to make sure your starter is in good shape to make your 1st leaven tomorrow! See the video below for all of the details! 👇🏻
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard
Keep 30g
30g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
Feed 50g
50g
LIQUID (L)
0g Juice
50g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
3 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
130g
EVENING - Day 13
Tonight we will feed our starters to prepare it to make a leaven on Day 14! If you don’t quite want to bake yet with your starter…no problem. Just feed as we do, and tomorrow I’ll show you exactly what to do to maintain your starter in the refrigerator.
HOW MUCH SHOULD I FEED MY SOURDOUGH STARTER?
- What is the temperature of your starters environment?
- How has your starter been responding to the previous feeds & ratios?
- What is your starters appearance? Hooch present? Rise? Surface appearance? Bubbles?
SUMMARY
Starter (S)
Discard most
Keep 20g
20g
FLOUR (F)
Brown Rice
Feed 100g
100g
LIQUID (L)
Feed
100g Water
50g
RATIO (TOTAL)
1 : 5 : 5
S : F : L
220g
Materials you'll need to bake gluten free sourdough bread!
If you’re already on Pinterest, please feel free to PIN the picture below for future reference & so others can find it too 
Brown Rice Starter: Day 14 will walk you through baking your very 1st gluten free sourdough loaf with your new brown rice sourdough starter!
Click here for Day 14 contents
I sure do hope you’ve loved this easy to follow daily video series to help you make your own sourdough starter from scratch! If you enjoyed it and feel you learnt something, please add a rating onto the recipe above or at the top of the post as it helps Google recognize the recipe & my website which will help show it to more people. In turn, this will help me create more videos like these! A positive comment & 5 star review are truly the best thanks you can give me! ♡ Thanks in advance for your kind comments & 5 
reviews!
6 Responses
Thank you for this recipe.
You are most welcome Carol 🥰
Love this gluten free option.
Thank you Bev. It is fantastic as brown rice flour is so versatile!
I’m so excited to start this journey to make a sourdough starter!
I’m so glad you can join me!