Sourdough Day 11: Willynilly is Hungry and We’re Doing Math Again 🍞😄

Sourdough Day 11 is here and Willynilly has news — good news and hungry news.

The good news: he doubled in size. Willynilly is growing and that is exactly what we want to see.

The hungry news: he is still smelling strongly of acetone. If you have been following along you know that an acetone smell means the starter is hungry and needs to be fed. So today we skipped the discard entirely and went straight to feeding.

Now here is where the math comes in. Willynilly weighs 125 grams. Keeping our 1:2:2 ratio — 1 part starter to 2 parts flour to 2 parts water — that means 250 grams of flour and 250 grams of water. I will be honest with you. The math was a struggle. Again. Willynilly is very patient with me.

He also outgrew his jar today so we transferred him to a glass bowl. The kitchen was a mess. The video is not what you would call aesthetic. And I have absolutely no idea if I am doing everything right.

But here is what I do know: we are learning. We are trying. And we are going to bake this bread.

If Willynilly doubles fast enough today we may be able to discard, feed again, and bake TOMORROW. If not — one more day. On Day 11 we are so close I can almost smell the bread. Fingers crossed y’all. If anyone can do this — Willynilly can. 🍞 See you on Day 12!

More From the Sourdough Journey

• Sourdough Starter Maintenance — Feed and Fridge — How I keep a starter alive and happy with a busy family schedule.
• Day 21 — Goodbye Willy & Nilly, Hello Free Willy 2 — The dramatic turn Willynilly’s story eventually takes.
• Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe — The loaf this whole journey is building toward, with a full printable recipe card.

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🌱 New to sourdough? Start with my Sourdough for Beginners guide — how to make a starter from scratch and bake your first loaf.

Sourdough Day 11 — About the Sourdough Journey

The Sourdough Journey is Stephanie’s series documenting her very first attempt at making sourdough bread from scratch — something she had never done before. She started this journey to make fresh homemade bread for her husband Jason, who is on a Mediterranean diet. Along the way her community helped name her whole wheat starter “Willynilly” — and together they cheered him on toward his first bake. What started as one starter became two, then took a dramatic turn — and now a whole new chapter of baking is underway. Start here at Day 1 and follow the whole story at stephaniecooksforacrowd.com!