HELP! After following the instructions in Sourdough Cookbook for Beginners to a T, my starter failed to rise on days 5 and 6, plus was covered in grayish “hooch.” The ambient temp is 69, so on the 6th day, I poured off most of the “hooch,” used warm water (90 degrees F), and decreased the water to flour ratio (40 g water to 50 g flour). Here I am on day 7 with more hooch and no rise! Any suggestions as to what has gone wrong? Should I try feeding it again or dump it and start over?
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Stir and let it sit for a day-plus. Don’t dump and don’t feed at this point. It should ramp up in the next day or two.
Thank you! I’ll let you know what happens!
What’s a typical feed? And can you give a brief outline of the story so far including feeds and activity seen (if any)?
Days 1-5, 60g King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour and 60g room-temp filtered water in a glass jar. Stirred and scraped down, covered loosely, and left on counter with ambient temp of 69 F. Rubber band set at top level of starter each day. Days 1 & 2, bubbles and about 40-50% expansion. Days 3 & 4, bubbles but very little expansion. Day 5, bubbles but no expansion. Day 6, no expansion and grayish hooch developed on top, so I added 40 g warm water and 50 g flour. Day 7, no expansion and a little more grayish hooch on top.
Not warm enough! Agree with @Fermentada, take a break and just stir every now and again. Should it get too watery then add in a little flour to thicken it up otherwise don’t feed untill you begin to see more bubbles. And try to find a warm place around 75-78°F.
Can you send a pic of your starter. Side and top view!
Can I set the jar in a bowl of warm water for a while or will that be too much? I really don’t have a place that is consistently 75-78 degrees, so I’m not sure how to proceed.
I can see fermentation from on top. If I were you I’d add a little whole wheat or whole rye to thicken it up and give it a good stir. Then no more feeds till you see more activity.
On top of the fridge tends to be about the right temperature. Or in the microwave with a bowl of water water next to it. Just don’t cook it.
In the oven with just the light switched on.
Ok–I added 40g King Arthur whole wheat flour, stirred, and set it on top my fridge. Ambient temp there is 73 F. I hope that’s warm enough!
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Sounds good! The wholegrain will add more nutrients and now it’s warmer. Just stir twice a a day for now and what happens in the next few days. Best of luck.
Thank you so much! I’ll post the results!
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Just realized I never posted the results of my attempts to get my starter going. I’m sorry to say it never revived, even though I put it on top of my refrigerator (ambient temp 73F). I tried again the next week but forgot to feed it two days in a row (because it was on top of the fridge and not on the counter where I could see it). I need to put a reminder on my phone! Anyway, I’ve read comments about using Breadtopia’s robust live sourdough starter to get one’s own starter going, so I think I may go that route.