Starting yet again :)
Hello, I am starting a starter again, attempt #6... I have read the forums, gotten help from the experts in the past (dabrownman, minioven, lechem, and more). My last starter seemed to be going fine until it made bread that smelled very strongly of cheese, yuck! I had given up because a friend said that's what it's supposed to smell like with an all rye starter. Last time I listen to them about baking. So now I am in Day 5, and it's doing better than it did last time (year). I got the Day 4 bubble foam and was thinking how I was going to have a few days of quietness (per past experience), but nope! Today, Day 5 I have some nice bubbles going on! So I'm in high spirits that this one might just work!
Edit: At about 4.5 hours, it's doubled in size (not pictured). Lots of small bubbles, no foam. Is this guy just active?
Sounds like you've hit the jackpot and just going from strength to strength. Nice!
Young starters can go through a series of smells, some of which are funky, but a mature starter should smell good. Never had a bread made from a rye starter smell like cheese but I have had a young starter while maturing have a cheesy smell.
Keep up the good work. Keep it warm, feed and stir. Another smell to look out for is an acrylic smell. Do not panic as some young starters do go through this. Just give it a better feed and it'll balance itself out.
Looking forward!
Yeah, my last one made cheese bread, despite it being two weeks old. Keeping it warm won't be a problem here, highs in the 80s-90sF (26.6-32.2C). Should I feed it again since it's doubled in 4.5 hours? I'm unfamiliar with it growing so fast so soon.
You've got a feisty one there. Never been my problem when creating a starter in the UK. I could happily feed my young starter once a day. My educated guess would be to wait until it peaks then feed again. Might be wise to you ice water due to the heat where you are. If you're worried about it through the night then you can use the fridge if it peaks again too early then take it out and feed again before bed.
Another idea might be to thicken it up so it's like a dough to further slow it down. You can make it 60% hydration and feed it 1:3:5.
So 10g starter + 30g water + 50g flour (40g bread flour + 10g whole wheat or whole rye).
Mix the starter and water till fully combined then add the flour. Form the dough and knead a little. That will be a very good feed. It'll mature slower and if using cold water it'll last the night if done just before bed.
I will try that, don't want it going hungry overnight. I'll stick it in the fridge too. My water isn't cold, I was afraid that would slow it down too much, I guess not!
To help you time your starter so you don't miss a feed. Don't keep it in the fridge like a viable starter just yet.
Eg it's 9pm and if you feed it now it might peak at 2am. Your starter is fast. But it needs feeding now..
So you can either feed, refrigerate then take out before bed.
Refrigerate then take out to feed before bed.
Just use the fridge and / or cold water and / or hydration to help you time well.
Bigger feeds will help too.
I did a 1:3:5 feeding ration like Lechem suggested and it took 6.5 hours to double. Yay! I was trying to keep it 100% rye, but did a 3:2 ratio of rye to whole wheat. I don't think I'll go past a 50% rye ratio, not sure why. I read that an all rye starter was a good thing since you can just build it with whatever the recipe calls for instead of keeping several different kinds of starters.
How long should I wait until I bake with it? 2 weeks?
and it smells good then no reason why you shouldn't try your first bake over the weekend.
I suggest Hamleman's Vermont Sourdough http://www.homecookingadventure.com/recipes/easy-sourdough-bread-vermont-bread
But carry on feeding your starter for as long as possible before refrigerating. Even if you have a successful bake your starter will continue to improve and gain in strength (plus obtain a more balanced flavour) over the next few weeks.
Sorry for the late reply, I did try to bake with it, but I got no real rise except for oven spring. I did not use the one you suggested as my scale doesn't do precise grams (it's not digital). I did the 1-2-3 sourdough. I figure it's because it was too early, but only 1 day left until I build and try again! It's almost 30 days old and I've been doing the 1:3:5 ratio you suggested. I'll try a 1:1:1 starting tomorrow to see if it doubles in 2 hours (and to build it up for another test bake).
I've been looking at digital scales, so will order one soon. The ones at the store show grams, but the box says ounces and no indication of whether it switches between grams and ounces (which is what I would need since I use ounces).
Then how did you do the 1:2:3 sourdough if the 1:2:3 recipe is all by weight? Actually, if you can't weigh at all then how are you doing these feeds if it's all given by weight?
If your starter rises then your bread will rise. So if the problem is not in the starter then I'm thinking it's a technical issue rather than anything else.
One final thing... You say you got no rise except in oven spring. Well that is the most important rise of all! So what was the final result?
I have a scale, just not digital. This one:https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/13560443?wid=520&hei=520&fmt=pjpeg It only does grams in 50, 100, 150 and so on. I usually just use ounces.
I am using a teaspoon for my feeds. Less waste that way. When I go to build it up, I will probably use ounces again until I get a digital scale. I'm getting this one on sale: https://www.amazon.com/Ozeri-Digital-Multifunction-Kitchen-Elegant/dp/B004164SRA/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1500129951&sr=1-1&keywords=ozeri+scale
For the 1:2:3 sourdough, I used the ounces on my scale. The result of my bread was fine overall, I guess I just expected the rises you normally get with a yeast loaf. The bread did smell faintly of cheese, but I covered it up with a cinnamon sugar and butter spread. I smelled the starter and it didn't smell like cheese at all, maybe I just didn't detect it. I also may not have kneaded the dough enough. I did the slap and folds like in the challenge thread with a few more in there. My kid thought it was funny so I put in a few extra for him.
The dough kept seeming like it was good, until it sat there and then it just turned into a blob as if I had never done the folds. I had to bake it in a pan just to get a shape out of it. So maybe too much liquid since it is hot and humid? I have to cut back on liquid with icing, so maybe bread is picky too? It was more fluid than the no-knead bread (~13.75oz to 1.5 cups of water).
Either way, I'll try again soon!