October 29, 2010 - 11:34am
Do I need to do anything to my starter?
I fed my starter last night (Day 3 - Pineapple Juice/WW) at 6:30, by 11:00 it was only millimeters above the line so I went to bed. At 7:00 this morning I found that it's expanded a huge amount! I had to loosen the lid a little to let some gas out so the jar wouldn't burst, I left the lid on keeping it just loose enough so that it won't explode. It's now 11:30am and it looks like it's starting to VERY slowly deflate. It smells like a strong yeasty beer, yum!
Is there anything I need to do to it before the next feeding at 6:30 tonight? Tonights feeding will be the first of UAP and water.
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You didn't mention a feeding between 6:30 last night and the 6:30 feeding tonight. As long as it smells good, it should be fed when it begins to deflate. As far as I know, the pineapple juice solution fixes the leuconostoc problem, so this is not a false rise but the real thing. The yeast will start to go into hibernation if they're not fed soon.
Yes, I've only fed once per day for the last 3 days. Last night I noticed tiny bubbles forming and found this monster in the morning.
Should I feed it another round of pineapple juice and WW or should I move on to UAP and water?
Per the instructions at Debra's post:
Nicely done - you're on your way!
I went ahead with the first UAP and water feeding 2 1/2 hours ago and it's already more than doubled and is deflating again... I guess this means I should feed it again?
Since it already has a STRONG yeasty beer smell when I'm feeding it at 2:1:1 ratio, is it ok to move to a 1:1:1 or 2:2:2 ratio?
If it is smelling yeasty and it is rising well, changing the ratio to 1:1:1 or even 1:2:2 would not be a bad idea. The stronger it is, the more you can feed it.
That said, if you like a more sour bread, there is such a thing as feeding too often.
Debra Wink says this (and a ton more) on the subject in this thread
I would DEFINITELY recommend reading it if you have a few minutes. It's very informative.
Going to a 1:1:1 ratio and feeding twice a day would be good for now?
The starter has had another rise since the second feeding and I'm not sure if feeding it a third time is a good idea. Should I wait until tomorrow to do another feeding?
In my experience at this stage, feeding twice a day for now will allow the organisms that produce the sour flavor to grow and flourish.
I feed it twice a day for about a week or perhaps longer, until the starter smells and tastes sour. To reduce the amount of flour I use, I keep only 20g of starter when I am refreshing, and I feed about 30-40g flour (I'm not terribly picky when I do mid-week feedings, I'm a bit more accurate when I am building for baking) and 20g water.
Not terribly long ago I read a thread here where one of the resident experts (I believe it was David) said that keeping a firm starter will result in a more sour bread. This has proven true for me, so if you want to build sour taste fast I would recommend reducing the hydration percentage of the starter.