From Mother Dough to Slurry — A Simple Conversion

Let’s make some dough.

There comes a point where your mother dough is strong, consistent, and doing exactly what it should—quietly building great bread in the background. But sometimes, you don’t mind converting your starter to the slurry/slop-and-feed system for use in other popular sourdough recipes.

This isn’t a replacement for your mother dough. It’s a way to have the same culture in a format that is easily integrated into the same old recipes that you know and love—recipes that call for a liquid starter.

Why This Matters

Mother dough is:

• Stable
• Reliable
• Trusted

Slurry is:

• Common
• Familiar
• Used in many popular sourdough recipes

That’s it. No magic—just a different format.

The Conversion — Turning Dough into Slurry

Your mother dough is roughly:

• ~75% hydration

To convert it into a 1:1 slurry (100% hydration):

Add ~45 g water to 100 g mother dough

Example

• 100 g mother dough
• 45 g water

Mix well.

That’s it.

Use (and slop and feed) according to your normal slurry protocol.

Feed and Slop — The Same Old System

Once converted, nothing changes.

• Feed as you normally would
• Slop (discard/use) as needed
• Maintain your usual rhythm

You’re not learning something new—you’re just using a different format.

When to Use This

Use slurry when:

• A recipe calls for liquid starter
• You want to follow a familiar sourdough formula
• You’re working from a book or method built around slurry

Stay with mother dough when:

• You want simplicity
• You trust your system
• You don’t want extra steps

Extra Credit

Convert a small portion of your mother dough to slurry and run it through a familiar recipe you’ve made before.

Compare:

• Handling
• Timing
• Results

Ask:

Did the format change the outcome—or just the process?

Conclusion

Your sourdough mastery continues here.
Master this conversion, understand the format, and use the system that best fits the bread you want to make.

Until next time, let’s give thanks for our daily bread…