Please help! Is my starter dead??
I started my starter last Wednesday using this recipe:
I pre-portioned my little baggies of flour so I wouldn't have to dirty my measuring cups every morning and put my starter on top of the fridge with the lid over the dish but not secured. I have fed it every morning and every day it has gotten more sour smelling and had a ton of bubbles in it. I have been so excited for today - the 5th day when I can finally use my starter!! Yay! But when I woke up and looked at my starter it has very few bubbles and hasn't gotten any bigger... I will upload a photo for reference
Now I am afraid all my yeast is dead! It started getting too big for my bowl so I started taking spoonfuls out when I fed it in the morning so it wouldn't get to big (I read online that was the best way to keep it in the container it was started in) so maybe I threw away too much?? I only threw out about a cup at a time from my 2 quart dish so I have kept most of it!
Also, every morning I have been putting the flour and water in the container and mixing it all together. Yesterday I was a bit distracted and I put the flour in and started mixing it in with the starter before realizing I forgot the water. Adding the water after some of the flour was already integrated made the consistency a little weird so maybe this killed it?
Did I kill my sourdough baby somehow? I am not all that familiar with the science of yeast so please help! :(
Judging by the picture, it doesn't look like your starter is "dead" . . . in fact, it's pretty difficult to "kill" a starter. What it looks like has happened is that it rose nice and high (judging by the residue left on the side of the bowl) before reaching its peak and collapsing, likely because its very thin texture (again, judging by the photos) didn't give it much in the way of support. It could also be that, after 5 days, the yeast is not quite yet sufficiently built up. It may take more time, especially if you're working with regular old AP flour (as opposed to organic rye or organic whole wheat, which will give faster results).
If I were you, I would keep feeding the little bugger, but pull back a little bit on the water for the feedings. Maybe even start feeding every 12 hours. Good luck !
Thank you for your comment! I have been feeding it Red Barn Mill brand non-bleached white flour. I will try feeding it a little more flour and a little less water for a few days.
Thanks again!
by weight which means you need a scale. If you don't have a scale, feed it 2 parts flour, one part water by volume. And you are right to throw away at least half while getting it going. Someone else can explain the science behind that.
Your starter looks very liquid which is why I am wondering what ratio of flour to water you are using.
what it should Days 1-3 the starter will be active for all the wrong reasons the bad LAB as=nd Yeast are at work but the culture is getting more acidic if you don't feed it too much and too often Days 4-5 the culture will look dead compared to before it isn't dead. Dont feed it till it perks up and keep it a bit thicker no ore than 100% hydration - equal weights of flour and water the good Wee Beasties are starting to take over but this takes time and the culture to become more acidic. Days 6-7 the culture will come back to life. But hold your horses. Let the culture get stronger no sense in trying to make bread with it.
When 30 g of starter is fed 30 g of flour and 20 g of water can double in 8-12 hours then it is ready to use at about 14 days.
You can make a whole rye starter in bake with it in 5 days though
Happy SD baking
When I first tried to make a sourdough starter a couple years ago I used cups of flour and, after the initial bubbles, it went flat and I thought the same and threw it away.
My 2nd attempt, about a month ago, followed the pineapple method detailed in this post http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2 which I loved for all the geeky explanations and because it uses just tablespoons of flour instead of cups. Much more frugal!
And I also realised that my previous starter was too liquid, and it was thrown away right at the time when a plain water starter seems to go quiet - it's the quiet before the storm... This blog post compares a plain water starter to a pineapple juice starter side-by-side and is very interesting. http://yumarama.com/1124/starter-day-one/ Both methods work by the way, so persevere! The next challenge will be baking bread with it! :)
I've had several failures with starters over the last 2 years. I felt I had it down last summer when I got what looked and smelled beautiful to me. I've been using it on and off for the last year. Bottom line my bread rises but its still heavy. I think it's the starter. Following any recipe to build the levain it seems great. Just got autolyzing down and Thea looks great. Kneading? Picked up the French slap method, great. First rise, good, if a little soft. Shaping and putting in banneton's. good, but the rise isnt. They get an override in less than an hour, or at least look overrissen. I slash and bake. Slashes don't hold and sort of dissappear. Bread is misshappen, and heavy. Can the starter be active but not active enough? Thanks in advance for any wisdom
What volume increase are you looking for
It doubles or more in 2 hours. The second rise, after shaping is seemingly the problem. Sorry I don't have photos. After speaking yesterday, I took my starter out of the frig and started dividing it into portions and feeding those to see the result. The results are pretty dim, however the house is cold at night and now at noon, just 65. I could put them on the heating pad to see what happens.
The site will not connect with my Mac/apple photos....difficult.
Thanks for your time and help.
bev
It doubles or more in 2 hours. The second rise, after shaping is seemingly the problem. Sorry I don't have photos. After speaking yesterday, I took my starter out of the frig and started dividing it into portions and feeding those to see the result. The results are pretty dim, however the house is cold at night and now at noon, just 65. I could put them on the heating pad to see what happens.
The site will not connect with my Mac/apple photos....difficult.
Thanks for your time and help.
bev
using a large amount of prefermented flour in the levain at 65 F. I like to use15-20% prefermented flour in the levain in the winter and when it rise 50%, not 100%, then shape it and let it rise 90% proof, not 100% before getting it in the heat.
What is your recipe? I think that is where the problem lies....