Sourdough Day 12: Willynilly Gets Reset and Ready to Bake

Sourdough Day 12 is here and I have good news and a confession.

The good news? Willynilly did great — he doubled beautifully. I am so proud of him. The confession? I messed up my measurements. I forgot to clear my scale and got everything completely out of whack. So I did what any reasonable sourdough beginner would do — I took it back to basics and started fresh.

Here is where we landed on Sourdough Day 12 — I reset both starters to 100 grams and fed each one 200 grams of water and 200 grams of flour. Back to the 1:2:2 ratio that I know and trust. And here is the exciting part — I now have TWO starters going. One whole wheat and one regular. Which means if everything goes according to plan, tomorrow I bake BOTH. 🍞

I will be honest with you — the ratios have felt a little nerve racking at this stage. Not so much the flour and water themselves, but just the weight of all the days and all the work that has gone into getting Willynilly here. I do not want to mess it up now. I think the more I do this the more I will just know how it looks without stressing about the measuring. But this first time through? I am watching that jar very closely.

The plan from here is simple. If Willynilly doubles tonight I will feed him again without discard — and then tomorrow we bake. I really, really want that bake day. We have been working toward this for twelve days and I am ready.

Come on, Willynilly. You’ve got this. 🤞 See you on Day 13!

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.

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

Sourdough Day 12 — 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!