Why wont my starter pass the float test?
Oh goodness! The problems I have run into with my sourdough starter! I am new to this site (hi!) as well as sourdough and will try to be clear and concise.
My starter is about a month old, King Arthur whole wheat w/occasional King Arthur A.P. unbleached. I weigh out 4 oz and put my discard in a separate jar then weigh out 4 oz of flour and cool, purified water each. Sometimes a couple points of an ounce more or less of each depending on consistency. Well, long story short I heated my starter too hot in an attempt to force it to rise quickly and killed it. So I had to move to the discard jar. Fed it every day for a week. I fed it yesterday, and checked it after 7 hours. It was big and beautiful so I did a float test, and it failed. When I checked on it an hr later it was beginning to fall and there were a couple tiny pools of hooch on top! I tried another float test and it failed. I need to feed it again today. But I am getting frustrated and discouraged.
What am I doing wrong?
Also, that started I "killed"? I put it on the counter in a mason jar, in a very sunny kitchen, if that matters, so I can compost it when the jar gets full of discard and noticed today a large pool of hooch on top. Is dead starter supposed to make hooch? Is it actually dead?
Some body help this discouraged baker. :(
Have you tried to make bread with it yet?
Yeast dies at 140°F. I highly doubt your starter reached that temperature just by placing in the sun in the kitchen.
I'm pretty sure it's dead. I had preheated the oven to 450 degrees, then turned it off and let it cool for about 10 minutes then put my starter jar in it for an hour. Surprisingly it didn't bake into bread but the starter didn't look right after. I swear I'm a smart person I just wasn't thinking. I put the ruined starter on the counter next to my compost bowl. I didn't know if sunshine mattered or not. But there is hooch on top now and I didn't know dead starter could do that or if that is a sign that it's actually alive.
I have tried to bake with it once. It never rose. It was small and flat but it tasted good.
If your oven reached 450F and the was turned off for 10 minutes before putting the starter in, it was way too hot. It should look cooked.
Next time to build a viable starter, it would be good to dehydrate some and keep for a backup. If someone gives me a starter that I like, the first thing I do is make a backup.
Dan
I figured it was dead. I had asked about it on a cooking site. Since I was told it was dead I put it on the counter next to my compost bowl and a week later there is a dark hooch on it. Is this normal? I didn't know dead starter could produce Hooch.
However that was not the main topic of my post. I was asking why my other starter (a ww one) never passes the float test. I will check on it every hour on the hour and when I see it gets to its peak I will test it, sometimes if I test one spoonful it will float for about 5 seconds and then sink so I'll try another Spoonful and it just sinks like a rock. Or in the case of the other day I checked it at its peak and it didn't bother floating at all and one hour later I checked it again and it was deflating and would not float at all again and there were pools of Hooch on top. I did not know that appear that suddenly and that it would deflate that quickly. Why did the hooch appear so suddenly and why didn't it pass a float test at its peak. And why will it only sometimes, kind of float for a moment then sink instead of just floating?
Sorry to hear about your troubles. If you want to make your own starter we can work on that. But if you want, I can send you some of mine. It is vibrant and very active.
If you decide to work with yours, let me know. I have a few questions.
If you opt to use mine, send me a PM. You can click my profile icon on this post and send me a private message. Make sure to include your mailing address and I get some headed your way.
Dan
That is so sweet of You! I think I might take you up on your offer later. For now I would like to work on mine if that is okay. Go ahead and ask away! I have a lot of questions too!
get an oven thermometer so you can tell what temp the oven is rather than guessing. my large oven is warm enough for starter (around 90 f) at 350f in less than a minute after the flames start - 450 at ten minutes and it reaches at least 300, so way too hot for starter to survive. my kitchen window reaches 140 degrees on hot summer days. and maybe instead of trying to heat your starter to get it to rise, you should let nature get its course or get something like this to wrap around the jar
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E9IO87O/
btw, i feed my starter twice a day - i get much better results so far that way.
Thanks that sort of thing would be perfect. But can you answer my other questions? My other starter, a wheat one, won't float. No matter what. Peaking, before it's peak, after. Sometimes it might bob for a second before sinking. And I don't know why. And hooch appears so fast on it. Like within an hour of peaking. Why?
Chandler, images could be helpful. Are you marking the starter container at the just fed level and also at the peak level? That would make a good picture. Is it kept in a clear container? That will make it easier to see the gas bubbles. Have you ever been able to bake bread with this starter? How much does it rise from just fed to the highest point? How does it smell?
Very important. What is the temperature of your starter.
We’d really like to see you up and running. Lechem is very knowledgeable and his advice is always great.
Dan
I have a tan rubber band at the fed level, and a red one to track how much it rises. It's kept in a large, clear, half gallon mason jar. Yes, I've baked with it. My first loaf didn't rise at all. No matter how long I let it sit. I made two loaves that time and although it was flat, it tasted good. My second loaf, which I prepared night before last (night of 4/27) and baked yesterday, doubled in size over night and made amazing bread yesterday. So last night I did almost exactly what I did the night before and just checked my dough and it didn't rise at all.
Day before yesterday, (again 4/27) I tracked it every hour on the hour and it rose about 1 and a half inches at its peak.
I was born without a sense of smell but my boyfriend says it smells like yeast and sour but very pleasant. And the temp? The house stays around 68-75 but I get the starter in a cabinet pushed towards the back and the cabinets are wood so it's in the dark.
I am trying to add pictures but it's tricky. As soon as I figure it out I will put them on here.
So today is Sunday the 29th. On Friday the 27th I fed my starter and tracked the progress of it every hour on the hour. At its peak it was 1 and a half inches. I at hour 6, hour 7, and hour 8 I did a float test and it failed. It would bob in the water for a moment but then just sink. At hour 8 it peaked then started to fall within half an hour (at this point I was looking at it obsessively.) And by hour 9 it had sunk down to little over inch. I went ahead and made dough with it and went to bed, and by the next morning (Saturday, yesterday) it doubled in size and made awesome Bread!
So yesterday I fed my starter and repeated the whole process. Last night I made dough with it, just like I did the night before, there was only one thing that I changed. I just checked on it and it didn't rise at all it's just sitting there. Mocking me. I am trying to post pictures but it's tricky. I will as soon as I can. And if you want me to tell you exactly what I did to make the bread I can. Why didn't it rise last night?!
Chandler, if you are having trouble posting images with an iPad, this may help. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/55352/photos-do-not-download#comment-400389
The fact that you were able to successfully make bread with your starter is a good thing. It tells me that your starter is working at some level.
Dan
The yeasts are too low. I would refrigerate your starter for now and take a little off to work with.
Try a feed of...
1:5:5 using water which has boiled and cooled! Also include some wholegrain. Ferment at room temperature. Not too warm and not too cold. 21°C is about right.
Don't feed again till it has peaked. Then repeat the process a few times.
I didn't realise you put your starter in an oven which hadn't cooled properly.
No, I thought I explained it well but my boyfriend said I brought up too many things at once. The starter I killed is now in a jar about to be used as compost. The only thing I wanted to know about that was why there was Hooch on top when the starter is dead. I didn't know dead yeast could make Hooch, it was more of a interesting thing then an actual concern about my sourdough. I had another jar of sourdough that has never been destroyed and that's what I'm using now. That' the one I'm having all these problems with.
So today is Sunday the 29th. On Friday the 27th I fed my starter and tracked the progress of it every hour on the hour. At its peak it was 1 and a half inches. I at hour 6, hour 7, and hour 8 I did a float test and it failed. It would bob in the water for a moment but then just sink. At hour 8 it peaked then started to fall within half an hour (at this point I was looking at it obsessively.) And by hour 9 it had sunk down to little over inch. I went ahead and made dough with it and went to bed, and by the next morning (Saturday, yesterday) it doubled in size and made awesome Bread!
So yesterday I fed my starter and repeated the whole process. Last night I made dough with it, just like I did the night before, there was only one thing that I changed. I just checked on it and it didn't rise at all it's just sitting there. Mocking me. I am trying to post pictures but it's tricky. I will as soon as I can. And if you want me to tell you what I did to make the bread I can. Why didn't it rise last night?!
Oh, also I am using whole grain. King Arthur whole wheat. I've only used king Arthur All Purpose three times. And what is a 1:5:5 mean in meaurments, I do have a digital scale I'm using if that matters.