The Fresh Loaf

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sourdough cultures

Nickdaugherty's picture
Nickdaugherty

sourdough cultures

Hey all

so i set out to start my very own sourdough culture 3 days ago and i have a question.  now prior to doing this i did a lot of research and guides on how to do this.  but now im concerned that its a dead starter. This is why. 

i took the advice of a guide i found here on fresh loaf and wanted to follow it to a Que so i did...but after my first 24 hours my starter was already bubbling.  i decided to wait it out and feed it every 24 hours for the first 5 or so days as per the guide. 

after the first feeding the starter doubled in size in about 5 hours...in my mind i was telling my self i needed to feed it again otherwise it would die ( this is due to the other research Ive done)...but instead i waited until today ( 3rd day) to feed it...its doing nothing...no bubbles, no rise, no nothing.  is it dead?....should i have fed it when i noticed it doubling even tho the guide said it would take at least 3 days to see any type of change?  i know that all sourdough starters are all situational and that no guide is for every location and strain of yeast out there so... im going to start another one and keep this one for the guide i was reading to see if it will come back...but my gut instinct is telling me its long dead.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

day 1-3 bubble activity looks active.  The bad wee beasties are in control but they have to be beaten in the culture by the good wee beasties.  Day 4- 5 and possibly 6 the culture will look dead but it isn't.  After day 6 or 7 the good wee beasties will starter to take over - activity again yea!  In another week it will be stronger and you can try to lift a loaf of bread with it but it won't be mature for a month.

Happy SD culturing