Wild yeast starter confusion :(
I am a bit confused maybe a little frantic. My first starter was made with Bob's Redmill Organic Unbleached White...I did an equal water and flour mix @ 40gms each. I moved along nicely until day 6 when it was looking very good and then.....went flat :( I tried to revive it for many many days...until I gave up and threw it in the bin.
Next I tried a half and half blend of the same white flour and some organic whole wheat flour. This again seemed to be doing well and then after 5 days it looked sluggish. I read on one of the blogs to add some rye flour so I added rye to my mix....1/3 white, 1/3 whole wheat and 1/3 rye. Sounding crazy now! I mixed in this flour and my starter seemed to blossom. I then tried to start a levain (optimistic!) The leavain didn't float and looked barely bubbly.......sigh.........so not ready yet.....
So here's one of many questions....am I not giving my starter enough time...do I need to feed it more frequently? I now feed it every 24 hours (at 8am each morning)....when I do feed it should I reduce it every time or just add equal amounts of flour and water to the starter 1-1-1 and bulk it up.....
I am trying very hard to do my starter with water and flour only.....recently inspired by Michael Pollan's "Cooked" on Netflix....the "Air" segment is at fault for my obsession.
I'm probably overthinking this....but after weeks of tinkering there is still no sourdough in my oven ;)
Thanks for any help offered .... Laura
Perhaps try this rye starter? https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/rye-sourdough-starter-in-easy-steps/
It has worked wonderfully for me and it's very easy and straightforward.
Thanks so much Paradiso...this looks very straightforward :) I'll add it to my collection....starting it today ;)
what is your relative temperature? Very important. answer this first.
"then I tried to start a levain" Don't know what you mean... a sourdough starter is a levain.
until day 6 when it was looking very good and then.....went flat ... after 5 days it went sluggish.
Sounds like it needed more food, but not sure if your "very good" is the same as my "very good." Could be a little more descriptive. (aromas, color changes, texture changes, bubbles and size)
Hi Mini Oven,
My kitchen is around 70 degrees....it gets warmer in the evening for a while if the oven is on.
Levain question. In the recipe I am using it says to make a levain with the starter the night before you plan on baking. Then take the leaven and add flour and water for the actual bread. I am also confused with this step and wanted to know why I couldn't go strait from my starter to the bread step. Here's the recipe I've been trying to follow http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-sourdough-bread-224367
I tried feeding the flat starter for almost a week every day after it went flat and finally gave up....
The good news is my starter that I was worrying about now seems to be taking off...I'll post a photo later in the thread :)
I'm very new to this so I apologize for my bread making language :P
Thanks for any help you can offer .... Laura
it means you can double the time it takes to get the starter going so roughly a 4 day starter will act like a 2 day one following a recipe at 75°F. The slow down you witnessed, was the bugs sorting themselves out and yes, they are best not overfed at this time. It's a waiting game and just waiting is so much easier than throwing it out and giving up.
Glad it finally came around. Happy Baking with it! Once it is going it can tolerate and grow at the lower temps but if you see it slowing down too much, find it a little bit of warmth to regain strength. Something in the temp range of 76°.
Mini
is that they are much slower to go through the normal phases of creating one than whole grain starters and take longer to establish,
For white starters day 2-4 very vigorous action as the bad wee beasties have taken over the culture and the pH has'lt been lowered enough to kill them off so the good acid tolerant ones can take over. Day 5- 6 -7 the culture may look dead but it isn't. The acid loving wee beasties you want are gaining strength and will eventually become more vigorous but you din't want to be over feeding the culture at this time because this makes it less acidic and you need the acid. Don't feed until it shows some activity
Biggest problems folks have in getting a stable starter are:
No Patience - they don't know what is supposed to happen and they use a method that is not the best to begin with
Culture is too wet and or not warm enough.
They over feed the culture when it isn't needed or wanted.
Hi dabrowman....I hope I didn't throw out any wee beasties :( I was trying to practice the ultimate patience but after two weeks I fear I felt like I was watering a dead plant........
The good news is my starter suddenly seems very happy....it has doubled in 5 hours..lots of bubbles (this is 1/3rd white, 1/3rd whole wheat and 1/3rd rye)...day 8.....
My kitchen is around 70 degrees .....
Thanks for any thoughts.... Laura :)
After mixed feelings about my starter today it seems to have woken up :) The red mark is where the initial feed was at 8am this morning...the photo was taken at 2pm. Looks like it's doubled in 5 hours....I think it looks healthy! Yes?
This is day 8...is it ok to use?
Well done and happy baking
Fingers crossed .... thanks dabrownman :)