Sourdough starter help please!
I've been following thekitchn's sourdough starter recipe - 4 oz ap flour + 4 oz water daily for 4 days, and should be ready to use on day 5. Day 2 it smelt like vomit, but I forged ahead, and day 3 it smelt like nail varnish, so I thought I was getting somewhere. Day 4 it had a layer of water on top, not sure if it was hooch, but I drained it off and added more flour and slightly less water. Day 5, it started to smell like parmesan, so day 6, I dumped half out and added the same 4 oz flour and 4 oz water, but today it still smells like parmesan, very few bubbles, hardly any rise, compared to the lovely frothy bubbling I had on days 2 and 3. I live in a pretty hot and humid climate, we usually average about 32C. I keep it in a porcelain mixing bowl with some clingwrap and a tea towel over the top. I just stirred it and it smelt like yoghurt, and tasted like it too. I'm not really sure where to go from here, do I just leave it, or keep feeding it, or should I start over?
You're doing fine. What a recipe cannot tell you is a definite time your starter will mature. Your starter has gone from a normal, but not so nice, leuconostoc stage and has gone through the usual changes. It's now beginning by to smell like yoghurt which is certainly an improvement from day 2. And since yoghurt has a fermented smell coming from lactic acid producing bacteria I'd say that is a good thing.
Keep warm and carry on. It might take anything from 1 week to 2. But if you keep it around 78°F it should be ready sooner.
You don't have to keep such a lot though. How about finding a jar and transferring 120g of the starter. Each day take off 80g (leaving you with 40g) and topping backup with 40g water + 40g flour.
It's a good idea to weigh the jar first so you know how much is left in it as a starter does lose weight when it ferments. So taking off 80g by weighing the jar and using the difference for the starter weight might be better than just taking off 80g.
Once your starter gets stronger and bubbles up quicker then you'll need bigger feeds and more often. But for now you're doing just fine.
Thank you so much! I guessed that the smell was a good sign, but I wasn't sure what to do next. Storing less sounds like a great idea, initially 8oz a day didn't sound like much but now that I've gone into day 5 and beyond it is getting a bit out of hand. I shall persevere, and hope for the best.