New to sourdough starter please help
Hello everyone, I need help. I've been trying to make my own sourdough starter from scratch following this guide (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10251/starting-starter-sourdough-101-tutorial) from gaaarp. I followed the instructions and tried with 2 more experiments.
• Rye flour base (day 1) and bread flour on succeeding feedings
-- The smell coming from the jar isn't so bad. Only problem is I should've used a transparent container. Haven't seen it rise but this is what it looks like from the top:
• 100% Bread flour used (Probably not unbleached)
-- I threw away the ALL bread flour experiment because it smelled like nailpolish/paint and I was not sure if that was okay. But this was rose the most and bubbled the most. Haven't got a photo of it though because I threw it away before I thought about asking for help. Ha
• 100% Rye used
-- Smelled the least bad for me but I have a few questions about it. I know it's supposed to be bubbly and should rise but in 5 days (fed every 24 hours) I've never seen it with many bubbles from the top. I wonder if this is a failed experiment? I only checked every 24 hours so I'm not sure if it rose and bubbled or it didn't happen at all.
On the side, though, it has some bubbles so I'm guessing it's not dead? My problem is getting this ALL rye experiment to rise and bubble like the other 2 jars.
So on to my questions (or plea for help): Am I doing the right thing? Did I kill my starters? Any tips/suggestions to a beginner like me? What should I do to make the Rye+Bread flour starter rise? And what should I do to make the all-Rye starter rise and have more bubbles?
Cheers!
Fvsion
Just means its very young and hungry. With better feedings and some TLC it'll grow out of that.
As a rule, in this very early stage, it does help to feed when it needs feeding and not by the clock. So if it bubbles up then feed. If all goes quiet then skip a feed.
Other then that... warmth and patience.
It can take up to two weeks to create a viable starter depending on conditions. Most people quit and throw away starter which is perfectly ok.
How much would you like to know?
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2
activity then you need to thicken it up with a bit of extra flour and stop feeding it until it does show activity. Only feed it when it need it. All you are doing is diluting the wee beasties and keeping the culture from getting acidic like it should so the good wee beasties can thrive and the bad ones die off. Keep it at 78 F and all will be well.