Hello, im hoping to get some help and guidance. Day 3 like everyone else my sourdough starter doubled. After this it looked like it should with bubbles.it got stinky and started smelling better. I was feeding every 24hours a 1:1:1 ratio. Around day 7 i had a small rise and then basically nothing since. Maybe 5 bubbles everytimw i go to feed. And its usually pretty watery but smells good. I stir every 12 hours. I was using AP unbleached flour and filtered warm water. The first few days i kept it at atemp i learned was to low. Its winter here so its hard to get it in a warm spot but its usually between 74-76° now. I fed it lastnight at 8:30pm with whole wheat at a 2:1:1 ratio. After reading some of the other questions on here. I stired it this morning. I just looked at it and its literally doing nothing but its very runny now
It is strange that you’re not getting bubbles. I’ve created starters in winter kitchens low 60s at night, high 60s during the day. And desem/Belgian starter has 55F as the target temp when creating it.
But I’ll ask anyway, what temp is the starter being kept at?
We are on a well and have a special system to clean it but i still boil and cool it. I just gave 2tsp of ww flour and gave a good stir. Ill check on it in 12 hours
For the first 8 days 71°. Maybe i was over feeding i was doing a 1:1:1 ratio but maybe it wasnt ready for a feed day 6&7 i did feeds every 12 hours as per someone recommendation else where. Day 8 i stopped and went back to 24hour feeds
I think I’d discard some and feed again with a ratio of 1 : a little more than 1 for flour : 1
Assuming that doubles, I’d probably do 2 more room temp feeds with doubling before refrigerating/baking with it. Adjust the ratio as needed for its vigor and your schedule. Try not to let it double and deflate and sit around at room temp unfed.
Okay so dont wait for it to fall ? Should i wait till its not puffy at the top ? Or feed it at the 24 hour mark ? Also do you mean 1:1:1 ratio ? Or should i do 2:1:1 ?
Can i keep the discard now?
I don’t recommend waiting for it to fall. Feed at peak. Definitely not on any clock time.
Of course, peak is hard to know without going past it, but anything bigger than double is peak-enough.
I’ve noticed a lot of talk on the sourdough FB groups about discard of immature starters being toxic. I don’t know the microbiology of this, but I certainly make this fermented buckwheat bread and Indian dosas with young, spontaneous fermentation and have no ill effects. To be safe because who knows, maybe wait two more doublings.
1 starter : 1.3 flour : 1 water e.g. 40:52:40 grams
I’m thinking the thickness may be helping show the expansion.
discard/feed when you get home
let it double
discard/feed
let it double
bake with it and immediately feed the remnants, let that double, refrigerate OR immediately refrigerate after it doubles
If any of those “let it doubles” take a really long time / more than 12 hours or don’t even get to double, then don’t discard, just add the Tbsp flour and stir – like you did last night.
Increase the ratio. Now that it’s maturing faster, and you aren’t refrigerating, you’ll wish to do this anyway. 1:5:5 would be a good ratio for a strong starter to be fed every 12 hours.
Yes. It’s a starter now. If it looks like a starter, behaves like a starter and smells like a starter… it’s a starter. Perfectly safe to keep the discard to use in other recipes.
Yes you can bake with it, especially because, if I recall correctly, you said you’re keeping it at 71F approximately? If it was 9 hours at 80F, that would be a pretty inactive starter.
Just give your dough more time to rise also. Ignore the time frames given by the recipe.
