i started a sourdough starter months ago (6?) and had wonderful results. after Thanksgiving when i finally got it just right, of course, it got dumped over in fridge. sooo. i had just made some sourdough pancakes, so i took that plus the little i saved in the container...ok, so i probably shouldn't have mixed in the pancake stuff...eggs, little milk etc. , but... so, i did. now, i'm wondering... i used it once for a cracked idea on a pumkin bread thingy. didn't add enough flour i guess..but i digress...it had a clearish liquid on the starter and i poured it off. i fed it and let it sit out.

the problem is that it now smells a bit..off. not OMG but hmm. its a little off. how do you know when its too bad to continue? what does it mean to use it if its 'bad'?

it made me sad. i'd Just figured the whole thing::pout:::

thanks

newbie crazy lady for sourdough things now!

Rebecca

Hi, newbie here :)

I started my first ever starter three days ago. I've been keeping it in my room and its been bubbling away since. I've been feeding it once a day. It looks fine, doesn't seem to have any mold and quite wet. I was wondering about the smell though. Yesterday it was a pleasant sort of bready smell but today it smells more like cheese or spoiled milk. It's kind of a sickening sort of smell. I was wondering if it was normal for it to be unpleasant at this stage. I tossed about half of it today and fed it as the instructions I'm following say to do.

What should I expect from now on?

I have never had good luck with sourdough starters. When I lived in "Nearly Canada, North Dakota" my starters never developed any sour taste. I think it was just too cold in our home, even when I placed on our hot water heater. Then again, I only tried them in the winter.

Now I live in "Nearly Mexico, Arizona". Our home is a constant 74 degrees. This time I'm trying a rye and water starter with the 3 step method of 2 oz rye/2 oz spring water for 48 hours, 2 oz rye 4 oz spring water 18 hours, 4 ounces wheat flour, 4 ounces spring water.

I just started stage two. At the end of stage one, I've got great bubbling, but little volume growth (was supposed to double, I gained about 25% volume). The smell is very tangy, but very unpleasant tasting. Not to be gross, it tastes like barf. It is not the definite musty taste. No sign of mold. Is this the normal taste for rye starter?

Thanks, and 17 1/2 hours to go until stage three!

I know this is a rather common question around these parts, but I'm very new to sourdough, and my seed culture that I've been working on just doesn't seem to be turning into a healthy starter.  I started off from the BBA formula to grow a seed culture, but by day 3, when the culture was supposed to have doubled in bulk, it had not, and but had grown by about half instead.  As instructed, I discarded half and mixed with the prescribed flour and water and fermented for 24 hours.  It again failed to double in bulk, at which point it says to leave it out for another 12 to 24.  I

I smelled my starter before I baked today. It was trying to tell me something.

In the begining, this starter was never very sour, but now at one month old it has changed and can be where ever I steer it. This one had been mildly neglected this week and got pretty powerful.

It told me it was going to be very sour and I don't like "very sour." I should have waited a day or two and washed the starter until it smelled like what I like to eat. 

Next time I crank up a starter to cook with in a day or two, I'll not only shoot for volume but also taste.