Hey, @Abe (you seem to have so much knowledge) I am currently on day 13 of a new starter from scratch and have had no rise since day 3. I have bubbles but no rise. I started with a 50g bread flour and 50g water and I was feeding 1 day for the first 3 days then went to 2 feedings and have had no activity since apart from bubbles. Saturday (day 10) I decided to go to a 1:2:2 (25g starter, 50g Bread flour, 50g water) ratio to see if that helped still feeding twice day. no luck. no rise just bubbles.
Monday I decided to do a 1:2:2 feeding at 8am and try and leave it alone. ive read so many things feed it. Don’t feed it. do a different ratio. Im so confused by now and honestly frustrated I want to give up.
with the 1:2:2 ratio and leaving it for 24 hr I got more bubbles still no rise but it seemed a little more active it did thin out quite a bit kind of like a runny marshmellow. im so scared I did something wrong I went back to the 1:1:1 ratio 50g os starter, flour and water this morning at 8am. It’s got some bubbles. I just don’t know what else to do. House temperature it between 68-70F I do have my starter wrapped in a tea towel.
Any help would be appreciated. I don’t have a lot of photos because I just keep forgetting to take them.
For now try a 2:1:1 feed every 24 hours till it perks up. Feed again 24 hours after the last feed and take some before and after photos. A small feed every 24 hours is fine even when it does seem a bit quiet. The problem is going into a feeding frenzy when trying to “wake it up” like giving it huge feeds every 12 hours when it’s not doing much.
Flour used?
Water used?
68-70F is a tad too cool. 75-78F would be much better. Have you got any space on top of your fridge?
Ok I shall try that. My next feeding isn’t ment to be until 8am and it’s 7:15pm here. So I shall wait and do a 2:1:1 feeding.
I’m currently using King Arther bread flour and filtered room temp water. I can defo make room on top of the fridge to keep it warm. I’ve been wrapping it in a tea towel and placing it in the microwave (I’m less likely to bake it in there)
This was an 8am so almost 12hrs ago and a feed of 1:1:1 (50g starter 50g water 50g flour) ratio.
When I took it out to take the pictures I was actually a little surprised to see a small rise on it. I’ve had little to non activity since day 3-4.
I read some where to stir it every 12 hours so I started doing that yesterday. I just don’t know if it’s going in the right direction, how to or what to do to help it double so i can start baking
If you have no activity and now you have some activity then I think you’re going in the right direction.
Since 12 hours has passed and you are seeing some activity but nothing spectacular then you can do another small feed tonight of 2:1:1 but keep it in a warm place. See how it is by morning.
Don’t discard and add in the same amount you fed last night. So it’ll be another small feed.
So last night’s feed was 2:1:1…
E.g. 50g starter + 25g water + 25g flour = 100g starter
Then this feed will be 100g starter + 25g water + 25g flour.
It’s not very active at all but there is some bubbles so this small feed should be ok. I’d normally say skip a feed but I think it’ll be fine. Give it a very good stir and keep warm.
Ok I just fed it with what you recommended, no discard 100g starter, 50g flour and 50g water. Gave it a really good stir and put it on top of the fridge.
I’m guessing check at 12hrs and see the progress?
You have not messed it up. These feedings are not written in stone. We’re just playing it by ear. Now just wait till you see activity before feeding again.
Ok I just finished feeding I did 2:1:1. I did discard down to 50g starter due to honestly not wanting to keep all of that as starter.
So I did 50g starter 25g water 25g flour.
I also found that my oven has a proof setting so I have been putting it in the oven on proof for a couple of hours. Its seemed to help there was so many bubbles when I took it out to feed.
So this this morning not quite 12 hrs since its last feed. 9am should be its next feed it’s currently 7am.
This was the 2:1:1 ratio. 50:25:25.
Maybe I shouldn’t have discarded down to 50g starter.
