How to tell when a starter has the 'right' yeast/bacteria?
Hi all!
New to the sourdough community and The Fresh Loaf! I was inspired to begin my own sourdough starter and have been doing so for the past week, but at this point, I can't really tell if the starter is going well, or not.
To begin the starter, I used rye flour and orange juice. I did this for about 2 days, before switching to rye flour and water. One or two small bubbles started appearing on day 1, and by day 2 i started to see a decent amount of bubbles. By day 3, the starter was doubling in size about 4 hours after feeding. Since then, I've branched off to start one bowl with APF and one bowl with rye flour, and for both, I've consistently been getting a doubling in size about 4 hours after feeding.
My concern is this: the starters seem to have a sour-ish smell even after the feeding. Now, I've never had the opportunity to see/smell a 'proper' starter, so I have no gauge whether the smell is to be expected or if it's off. I read that starters grow in stages, with an initial stage where bad bacteria grow till it's too acidic, and then the good bacteria take over. How do I know if it's currently bad bacteria, or the right bacteria/yeast in my starter?
I did not have a stage where the starter deflated at first. I suppose this could be explained by starting with orange juice and thus an acidic environment?
Your Starter sounds fine and as you have said the orange juice was to kick start the starter creating a good environment for the yeasts and good bacteria to grow. You have a starter that has gone from strength to strength without the typical slowing down many experience and it has no issue doubling. If a starter is "off" the smell would be very unpleasant (I do apologise but it'd smell something like vomit). Many starters do smell off in the initial bad bacteria stage but grows out of it with the right maintenance and care. The orange juice together with your magic touch took care of this. When your starter next peaks take a little off and carefully drop it into a glass of water. Does it float?