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Submitted by sybram on June 5, 2009 - 12:42pm sourdough starter ?I began two sourdough starters about 6 weeks ago. One was Debra Wink's pineapple one and I forgot where I saw how to do the other one. Anyway, they've both done great, and I've enjoyed using and playing with them. Until the last week or so, they've had a nice clean, tart smell. Now no smell at all. I keep them in the fridge after feeding, and they bubble up, but there's absolutely no smell. Also, there's hooch. I've heard different ones talking about hooch, but my starters never separated like that. Now they are. I last fed them about five days ago, and I want to feed again today, so I can give my sister-in-law a start. I wanted to give it to her tonight at her retirement party, but not if it's sick or if I've ruined it. What have I done? What must I do? Syb
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Try feeding
I would discasrd all but about 2T and start feeding it twice a day for a few days and see if they come back. It may be that they have been in the fridge too long and just need to wake up a bit. I would give your sister in law some anyway. Give her 2 T feed and tell her how to feed it and tell her to feed it like 3-5 days before using. There are others more knowledgable about this but that is what I would try.
I second that. Thanks to
I second that. Thanks to ehanner on the boards who gave me similar advice my starter has never been better. I was doing something similar... Large weekly feedings then refrigerate. There was an abundance of hooch and my sourdoughs were just not that tasty or sour. So here is the advice eric gave me:
"I dump the hooch. I've heard some say mix it in but I don't get that. Start by planning on keeping your starter container on the counter top at room temp. Think of it like a house pet. Twice a day at first, feed a small amount by the following schedule. I generally try to feed after dinner and at breakfast. The idea is to start with a heaping Tablespoon of starter which is about 50 grams. To this you add 50 grams of water, mix with a spoon until you have a well diffused slurry, add 50 grams of AP flour and mix well. Now you have a 100% hydration mix. Cover and set it on the counter. I use the Glad 3 Cup food containers from the grocery store. I poke a small slit in the center of the plastic cover to let the gas out so the lid stays on. 12 hours later give or take, take a spoon and scoop out all but about 50 grams, dump it out or use it for bread and feed as above.
For me this is when I start the next days bread. After dinner I take 100 g of starter out of the tub and mix the preferment and set it aside on the counter. Then I feed the balance remaining which should be about 50 grams and start over. In the morning if I'm not planning on baking soon, I just remove 1/3 of the starter and feed the remainder quickly.
Once you do this a few times it's like feeding the dog. After a week or so you can switch to a firm starter and pull back to a once daily schedule. I feed in the evening due to my schedule and make the next days batch preferment so I'm ahead of the game when I mix the dough.
The additional firmness of a firm starter is from feeding 50 g water and 70 or 80 grams flour. That provides more energy food for the beastys so they won't be hungry the last half of the day.
If you keep up the countertop daily feeding for a couple weeks, you will have a healthy vigerous starter the likes of which you haven't seen. If you need to leave the house for a week, just feed it firm and put it in the fridge. It will be fine and ready to bake with during the next 2 weeks. After that time you will need to refresh it with a couple feeding cycles and it will bounce right back."
I made my first true sourdough the other day and it was incredible! Trying SD cinnamon rolls now. Good luck.
They are probably fine
You probably can't smell them because 1) they are cold and 2) the hooch on top.
Take them out of the fridge, stir in the hooch, and let them come to room temperature. If you feed immediately before refridgerating, you will want to let them wake up and start doubling. Then put the discard in a new container and feed it for your SIL, feed yours too.
You might want to feed them twice daily on the counter for the weekend, just to be sure they are OK, but my guess is that they will be fine. There are directions on TFL for rescuing a starter that isn't doing too well, but yours are probably fine.
That's a neat retirement present--along with some recipes for using it, I hope.
Thanks to you both. My SIL
Thanks to you both. My SIL has already ordered PR's BBA, and she's going to do the "challenge" with us. I'll look up the tutorials for starter rescue. Thanks again.
Syb
I had the same thing happen.
I had the same thing happen. I only had about 1/2 cup of starter, though, so I'd always have to take it out, leave it on the ocunter and feed it a few days to build up the amount before I use it in a dough, so they probably "woke up" by then. I mixed the hooch in, and the bread still came out delicious and sour.
My starter was already
My starter was already neglected when we left for vacation over a week ago. I was going to fed it before we left but I ran out of time, so it got stashed in the refrigerator in an already starved state for a week. When we got home I feared the worst and was sure I would have a difficult time getting it reactivated. I took it out and fed it yesterday morning, and it took almost 20 hours to triple. I fed it again this morning and am delighted to report that it has already doubled after only 2 hours. I think it is pretty hard to kill these things once they get established. At any rate, they seem a lot more hardly than my house plants which I kill off at an alarming rate.
--Pamela
Thank you all for your
Thank you all for your comments. I've been feeding twice per day as you all suggested. They're doubling and more. I've got bread fermenting now, made out of my sd discard. That just tickles me that you can make something out of the "waste." I love it. I tried it once before, and it came out really good. This time I used a lot more barm with more of this and less of that--just playing with it. We'll see how it comes out. But, why, oh why do I start so late! It's 9:30 pm here, and I'm about to sf for the last time, and shape and put in pans. Guess I'll put them in the fridge overnight, and see what happens. My granddaughter is spending the night, so we can ride the horses tomorrow. Baking has to fit in there somewhere.
Syb
Just wanted to report that I
Just wanted to report that I did this bake after leaving the loaves in the fridge about twenty hours (The ride was great, with cool breezes, lots of shade and a precious granddaughter). I had used a greater amount of barm than PR gives in his formula for sourdough, because since I used discard, I wasn't sure how strong it would be. Oh, and I used the slap and fold method--no kneading (I love doing that). The dough was pretty wet, but came together and shaped up beautifully. Well, I don't know if it was the extra sourdough or the long preferment and rise time in the fridge, but the taste is amazing. The crust was a little too chewy just after cooling, but was less so later on.
Oh, this is fun. I'm going to try to duplicate this experience today. Understand, I do respect the precision of bread baking--the weighing and such. I'm doing that in other breads, but I really like this going by look and feel way. Can you tell I'm a "fly by the seat of my pants" gal sometimes? We'll see how this effort turns out. I hope the other one wasn't just a fluke.
Syb
PS I know someone is going to ask for pics, but I still can't do it. Sorry.