A 1:5:5 feeding keeps a small amount of starter and gives it a big meal — 10 g of starter fed 50 g flour and 50 g water. With so much food to work through, it peaks slowly, which is exactly what you want for an overnight build: feed before bed, bake in the morning.
What 1:5:5 means
Starter : flour : water, by weight — one part starter to five parts each of flour and water. Keep 10 g of starter, add 50 g flour and 50 g water for 110 g total. Like 1:1:1, equal flour and water means it's a 100% hydration starter; the difference is purely how much you feed it.
Why it peaks slowly
More food per unit of starter means it takes longer to consume — at a warm room temperature a 1:5:5 feed peaks in roughly 8–12 hours, versus 4–6 for 1:1:1. That long window is the whole point: it lines up with a night's sleep, so you can feed at 10 PM and have a ripe levain by morning.
When to use 1:5:5
- Overnight builds. Feed before bed; it peaks while you sleep.
- Once-daily maintenance. The slow peak means you don't have to feed multiple times a day.
- Milder flavour. More dilution means less accumulated acidity, so a gentler tang than a 1:1:1 starter.
- Less discard over time. A small seed means you build up to the amount you need rather than discarding large quantities.
The one requirement
A 1:5:5 feed only works from a healthy, active starter. A sluggish or weak culture can't survive the high dilution — there simply aren't enough yeast and bacteria to work through five times their weight in food, and it'll never peak. If yours is struggling, rebuild it with a few 1:1:1 feeds first, then switch to 1:5:5 once it's doubling reliably.
Sources and method: see our methodology and references.