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Starter acts healthy, but smells vinegar-y

Sarah LuAnn's picture
Sarah LuAnn

Starter acts healthy, but smells vinegar-y

This is sort of a non-problem, because even after my starter started smelling like vinegar, I've fed it and used it and made delicious bread with a nice texture. The reason I'm concerned is, it didn't smell like vinegar before, and its not going away even after a few feedings. It's bubbling up nicely, but smells vinegary.

It started when I accidentally underfed it over a week ago. (Maybe two weeks now... I should be better at keeping track.)

After a few feedings it looks and acts like it did before, but the smell remains.

I'm thinking that this could be because I never pour off the hooch (I rarely give the hooch much of a chance to gather on top anyway), but that doesn't explain why it didn't smell before and it does now.

Should I be concerned?

Danish Rye Bread's picture
Danish Rye Bread

As far as I understand it, it is a fermentation process and that will produce acids. My experience is that if it begins to smell like acetone then it is bad. I ones ignored that and just made my bread anyway. But it was really awful! I couldn't eat it :-) 

But vinegar smell sounds really good and natural. That's how my best starters smell as well. 

Good luck with it. 

Best Christian 

www.ryebread-recipe.com

 

WoodenSpoon's picture
WoodenSpoon

But to me it sounds like you are toeing the line of chronic under feeding. Especially if there is consistently liquid on top, even small amounts. If I were you I would discard a good portion and nurse it back to health with some good consistent feeding using some nice rye flour and keeping it at room temp until it is healthy again. After two or three days of good feeding at a nice temp I would expect it to return to how it was and you could return it to the fridge or bake with it or whatever you usually do with a well fed starter.

Sarah LuAnn's picture
Sarah LuAnn

I've rarely left it long enough to form liquid on top. I usually catch it right before it falls, and I don't let it sit in the fridge more than 2-3 days between feedings.

I can try keeping it on the counter for awhile, though.

etheil's picture
etheil

What kind and age of flour are you using to feed your starter? Any chance it's partially whole wheat and older than about six months? If you suspect you have older flour, try something newer and see if that takes care of the problem. You should notice a difference almost immediately. As woodenSpoon suggested, leave it at room temperature and feed it twice a day for a few days to bring back the health of the starter.

Eric

PetraR's picture
PetraR

mine smelled like vinegar when I had neglected it a bit, that was my rye starter , I just left it out of the fridge and fed it for 1 week every 24 hours and it was back to its good old self.

my wheat starter had the acetone smell, that is not an indication that it is bad, you just take about 3/4 of the starter out, feed it as before but regulary.

Mine is now a 50% hydration wheat starter and with that one I never had any of the above smells , much easier to work with , in my humble opinion.

jcope's picture
jcope

I would suspect that the lactobacillus is dominating the yeast.  Possibly you could try to keep it out of the fridge for a few days, give it feedings soon after it collapses, and give the yeast a chance to recover.  This is not a smell I've had with mine, but acetic acid is what the bacteria produce.  Maybe there isn't anything actually wrong with it.  If it's active and making decent bread, maybe the difference is in your nose, not in the starter.