ready to give up
like many, I am taking my first stab at sourdough starter during this COVID crisis. (but was particularly prompted when our grocery store shelves were absolutely bare of dried yeast.)
but dried yeast is back on the shelves and I am getting fed up (no starter pun intended) staring at my pot of sourdough goo everyday wondering what's happening, where it's at, is it progressing...
I am on about... Day 6 (I think. I've lost count) and while there are some bubbles happening it doesn't rise and fall. and it appears to be quite soupy, liquidy in consistency. (though I must admit I neglected it yesterday. I guess I was getting tired of feeding it twice a day and seeing no obvious progress.)
maybe you all can advise me where to go from this point.
I guess my basic question is
A) what consistency should a starter be?
B) how do I get to that consistency?
C) if it is not rising and falling, how to I salvage this effort?
Peter
If you don't have a scale to measure equal parts water and flour then try making a thick paste. Any bubbles will escape if it is too runny. Whole grain flour has more life in it and is better to start with and water without chlorine is vital at first.
You don't mention what ratio of new flour and water you are adding to your starter to refresh it. Too soupy sounds like you have too much water. Are you using a scale?
A good rule of thumb is 1:2:2 or 1:3:3 where the first number is the starter, the second the water, and the third the flour. For example, I refresh my starter on a 1:2:2 basis, and this morning it was 30 grams of starter and 60 grams of water and 60 grams of flour. Stir it up to blend completely, cover, and set aside. (My flour is 50/50 all-purpose and whole wheat.)
Before you abandon ship, consider whether your starter is out of balance in its components.
Keep asking questions too. That's good.
Realizing that not everyone has a scale...
In my house, 1 cup of flour = 140g and 1 cup of water = 242g
So If you’re feeding by volume, use about 60% water volume as you used for flour. So if you use 1/4 cup of flour, use about 7 tsp (2 Tbsp + 1 tsp) of water.
Yous starter should be about the consistency of thick pancake batter.
Hope this helps.
There have been many posts about starting a starter and everything that is encountered along the way. The problem is that there are SO many ways to be successful that it is hard to figure out a system for yourself. I have curated some of the posts that I thought meet your needs. The most important thing is to try and develop an understanding of what a sourdough culture is. I try to equate it to my common experience so try going through and reading my contributions FIRST. Then start wading through the "how-to's".
Remember to have fun!
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/60197/first-sourdough-starter-nourishing-traditions-cookbook
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10251/starting-starter-sourdough-101-tutorial
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/61186/new-starter-7-days-do-i-still-feed-if-no-activity
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/57321/sourdough-starter-impossibility-prove-me-wrong
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/39299/totally-overwhelmed-noob
I fed it with whole wheat flour (about 100g) and no water (which thickened it up) and it sprang back to life (to that point I had been cuting the base to about 75g and then "feeding" it with 100g of white flour + 100g of tepid water)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3bEd9CxjCdjfpS737
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7nT6WYhb7JjPnKfm9