See how it reacts. Before picture. Tie a rubber band round the jar. In the next 24 hours see how much it rises and bubbles. Then take an after picture. If within 24 hours it’s bubbly on top like today then repeat the feed. If it’s quieter then skip a feed. If it’s stronger then we’ll increase the feed. It’s all about reading the starter.
Take notes on how quickly you see activity. If it bubbles within 12 hours then we’ll do a feed sooner. Let the starter dictate.
hey abe. im back. as you said i fed my starter yesterday. here are the pics before and after.
the last two are before and after feeding showing the level.
and the first 3 photos are tken today . as you said i took note of the time it takes. it rised really well right abt 6 - 8 hrs after feeding it. but it fell down this morning. it rose by 1/4th of the starter level. its not doubling in size tho whatever i may do. i tried keeping it inside a vessel of warm water as the air here is kinda chilled in the recent days. i tried keeping it near my stove for warmth but itsjust not rising. i fed 50g of wheat and 50g of all purpose flour and 100ml of water. so hows it coming? the smell is kinda near to the smell of yeast but is mostly tangy.
It looks good though. Got some nice fermentation and bubbles going on. When it’s time for the next feed how about…
This is a healthier feed with more fresh flour it’s also now 80% hydration. Perhaps the flour you’re using needs less hydration. Store the discard in the fridge as backup until you see your starter is reacting well.
i didnt feed it today . i just stirred it up twice. im going to feed it tom morning. ill surely try this out and will update you of the status. thanks. 
Your starter is showing promise and it’s quite active. If it’s ready for another feed then try not to skip a whole day. Atleast feed it tonight and see how it is in the morning. If it needs more time you can see how it progresses through the day.
hey abe. sorry for reaching you late. but this after 2 days. i fed my starter yesterday morning around 11. the first two photos are taken after 12 hrs , there was no enough bubbles but there was a reasonable rise in the starter. but i put the starter in a vessel of warm water and the last 2 photos were taken this morning. hows it. i am going to feed it today. so whats the inference from these photos
Not bad. Getting there slowly but surely. How about we increase the feed slightly and see how it reacts…
Store the discard in the fridge as backup in case it shouldn’t react well. If it bubbles up then you can use up the discard in other recipes.
thank you abe will surely do that. and yes i did use the last batch of discard to make a chocolate cake. so yeah, thanks
hey abe, im back. i wanna know the state of the starter now. I’m attaching 3 pics. now it is doubling in size it did as of today. i could see a lot of bubbles on the sides and on top. is that fine ? is it ready for use? now how will I know if its ready for use ?
It’s ready; now go make a lot of bread with all that starter!
hi is it necessary that it must float on water ? is it still ready if it doesn’t float ? surely its got the smell of yeast.
hey abe. thanks for your guidance. no as im a fresher to this. i dont have any recipe in my mind. plus could you tell me the measurement for making one bread and how much of the starter to utilize . (ps. i dont have a cast iron so im going to use the bread tray to bake the dough. )
Ideally you should only be building and maintaining very little starter. Find yourself a small jam jar and give it one last feed…
Wait for it to bubble up and peak then refrigerate. That will last a while. For nor now feed it once a week but eventually it’ll be fine until it runs low then you’ll re-feed it, allow it to double then back into the fridge it goes.
Here is a good first recipe. What you’ll do is take a little of your mature starter from the fridge the night before and build the poolish (it’s actually a levain, a bit if a misnomer there) and allow it to mature overnight. Then go onto the main dough the next morning.
Do your best and let us know how it goes. It’s 100% bread flour by the way.
oh. im planning to start today. so can I just transfer 3/4th of the starter to another jar and feed it , let it bubble and store it inside my refrigerator ? and use the 1/4 th of the starter remaining to make the bread today ?
Try this recipe.
Use 105g of your starter and go straight onto the main dough skipping the build from the night before.
With the remaining starter feed as above and once doubled refrigerate.
ahhhh. thanks abe. i owe this attempt to you abe. thanks a lot. will let you know how it comes
If you have any questions please ask. To truly test your starter make the non hybrid version and miss out the added yeast. The 105g starter you will use replaces the poolish build in the recipe.
got it. ill try it out for sure today. and is there any way I can contact you separately abe if you don’t mind. only if u don’t mind
Use the starter after its been fed and matured. This way you can use your starter in place of the levain build. Sure you can PM me through this site. I’ll send you a message now.
