Hello all! I’m new here and was looking for some community help on my sourdough starter. My starter is about 3 and a half weeks old but it has not doubled while setting it out on the counter. Every day around 8:30 am, I discard half my starter and add 1/4 cup of spring water (around 40 grams) and 1/2 cup of unbleached bread flour(around 60 grams). Within 24 hours, it rises a little bit but never quite doubles. It smells florally and a little sour and usually there are bubbles on the surface when I’m getting ready to discard the next morning. The only time it doubled was when I kept it in the oven with the light on but it ended up with a crusty lair on top so I was afraid that I baked it! Safe to say I have left it on the counter ever since. It is around 70 F in the house and I think the outside winter is making it colder in the kitchen. I have added whole wheat flour to a feed once before to try and give it a jump start but nothing seems to work. Is my starter ready to use or is there something else I should try? I’m going to include a picture about 8 hours after my morning feed. Thanks so much!
Not all starters double. There’s lots of factors and variables to take into account including each starter is unique. Perhaps your starter at 100% hydration won’t double but doesn’t mean it can’t make bread. You might have another problem… if your starter doesn’t double, but is still healthy, and you’re only feeding once every 24 hours while leaving it at room temperature then it might be starving.
You say you discard 1/2 the starter and feed it 1/4 cup water (which you say is around 40g) + 60g flour.
1/2 cup flour is about 60g but 1/4 cup water is also about 60g. Making it 100% hydration. Depending on flour being used it might not double.
Do you have scales?
I do have a scale. I just haven’t been using it. And you are right I do about 60 grams flour and 60 grams water. This is a picture of it just under the 12 hour mark. Does this mean I need to discard half now and feed the 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water?
That’s 12 hours? If it was 6-8 hours i’d say it was good timing and looks ready for another feed. But on the other hand even though it’s 12 hours it still looks healthy.
I wish to advise you to split this healthy looking starter into two (you don’t need the other starter for we’ll concentrate on this one only). We’ll try two different feeds and see what happens.
Starter One: 80% hydration feed - 1:0.8:1
- 60g starter
- 48g water
- 60g flour (48g bread flour + 12g wholegrain flour)
See how quickly it doubles.
Starter Two: 100% hydration 1:2:2
- 50g starter
- 100g water
- 100g flour (80g bread flour + 20g wholegrain flour)
This is a healthier feed. See if it is hungry and if it’ll bounce back with upping the food after only feeding every 24 hours. Again, see how quickly it doubles and report back.
Just started our experiment. I’ll check in 4 hours to see if we’ve made any progress! Thanks for the help this far.
4 hours is a bit quick. 6-8 hours would be interesting to see the progress. Also at the 12 hours mark. Whatever you do don’t refeed again till we’ve evaluated.
Lets see what happens after 12 hours. How warm is it?
The house is at 73 F but it’s 46 F outside. So I think it’s making the kitchen colder
This is right under 12 hours. Should I continue with the 80% hydration feed? And I’m gonna move it some place a little warmer for the next 12 hours because it is a little chilly by the window. They are both still dome shaped on the top
They look great to me. You know it might just be cold.
Re-feed both again. Same amounts. Put the 1:2:2 starter in the oven with just the light switched on. Or alternatively if you have space on top of the fridge. The fridge will give off heat and it is about right for a starter.
I think you can try a bake soon.
Okay I’ll do that and send an update! I can’t wait to make my first loaf! Also, which starter should I keep? I don’t really need both.
Here is my 6 hr and 9hr update! Definitely ready to bake with I think! Please share any recipes you think I should try! Thank you so much for your help!
Looking good! Here is a good first recipe. This is for two loaves but I suggest you halve everything and make one loaf for now. This is a test bake.
Any questions, please ask!
P.s. if you don’t have any rye flour then you may substitute it for whole-wheat flour.
Thanks! I was also wondering which starter to keep? I don’t need both for the amount of baking I’m planning to do. Also, should I eventually move to the 100% hydration feed if I keep the 80% one?
No you dont need both. Keeping your starter at 100% hydration is easy. You always know how much flour and water is in any given starter amount. Plus its easy to mix.
What i would do is amalgamate them both into one starter and you only need to keep 50-100g at any one time. So find yourself a small jar.
Okay I’ll do that! The 100% hydration starter never fully doubled so I was worried about moving to that feeding regimen. And would I go back to feeding once every 24 hours?
Take…
- 18g of the 80% hydrated starter (8g water + 10g flour)
- 20g of the 100% hydrated starter (10g water + 10g flour)
Put them into the new jar and stir. Then add…
- 40g water
- 38g flour (30g bread flour + 8g whole wheat flour)
Stir it up well and keep it in a warm place. See what happens over 12 hours. This is 116g starter so no need to use a big jar. About a third of the size you have been using till now.
Hi. I tried the 80% hydration and my starter rises but it took almost 24 hours. Should I continue this feed @Abe
24 hours is a long time. Did it take 24 hours to peak or did rise quicker and keep its peak for 24 hours?
What water are you using? What does the starter smell like?