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My first starter - has it stopped?

cjwynne's picture
cjwynne

My first starter - has it stopped?

Hello all

My first (and probably not my last post) on this forum!

I have been adding to my sourdough starter for the last few weeks. In the early days, it seemed to be bubbling nicely and I've always stuck to feeding it every other day (or sometimes three days) with 50 g of Doves Farm wholemeal rye flour and 50 g of water from the tap (perhaps this is the problem - not spring water...). It lives on the kitchen counter, so its always around 16-20 degrees C and I close it up immediately after feeding.

Having read various articles on sourdough, I'm not sure if the sour smell that I'm smelling is good or bad plus the fact that there doesn't seem to be many if any bubbles. I did place a paper towel over the top after feeding it last night and used an elastic band to keep it tight and fairly sealed (to promote airflow into the starter mix) and left it overnight like that. I've now sealed it up again.

Bottom line, it just looks like there isn't much action although one positive sign is that the consistency seems pretty bang on, based on what I've read.

Any assistance would be appreciated. I do have several images, but they only seems to be one photo upload per post.

Thanks

Christian

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

is it sour?

how much starter is inthe jar when you feed it? 

16 -20° C is rather cool, try doubling the water amount and using more starter and less water in the recipe.

(starter, water, flour)  100g starter (plus 50g warm water to make 150g 200% hydration starter, this time only) add 200g warm water, and 100g flour.  That would be 200% hydration.  It will hopefully ferment faster in the cold.  For any amount of starter you use in a recipe, divide the amount by 3 to figure how much water and flour is in the starter.  One third is flour and two thirds is water.  It will also stay active longer.  The feed ratio is  parts starter to one part flour to two parts warm water by weight (1.5:2:1) (s:w:f) )and you can replace or increase the amounts when feeding to match your schedule.

Say you take a recipe that calls for 150g 100% hydration starter.  The starter contains 75g each flour and water.  To convert. You would take 75g multiply by 2 and get 150g water..  150g+75g=225g so you need 225g of 200% hydration starter.  Then subtract the extra 75g water from the recipe water.  Wait until the fed starter is breaking bubbles on the surface and smelling great to use into bread dough.  It may not rise when it is so liquid. Get a bigger jar, like gallon size if you bake a lot. The mass will also help fermentation. Stir occasionally but not religiously.

If you remove 225g you will have roughly 200g left over to feed (some gets lost on sides, spoons and evaporation.). Feed it about 200g water and 100g flour and see how it fairs over the next few days. This would be a 2:2:1 ratio. Still at 200% hydration. What you're looking for is a starter that stays a long time effervescent, perking away in the corner.

oh, you can take the rubber seal off the lid and close without the seal. That will let excess gasses escape.

liamfnb's picture
liamfnb

Hi Christian,

Are you discarding any starter when you feed it? When I first tried a starter I discovered that I wasn't feeding the yeast enough and it was starving. I simply discarded an amount of starter before feeding each day (reduce to 50g of starter and then add 50g flour and 50g water for 1:1:1 or whatever you need it to be to fit your lifestyle) and within 3 days it was up and running. I have a cool kitchen (about 18-20C) so sat the starter under the boiler where the temperature is a couple of degrees higher.

I then decreased to 25g starter to 50g water and 50g flour (1:2:2) which gave me a 12 hour bloom and I now keep that ratio.

I was ready to give up but now seem to have a happy starter that I use every weekend.

Liam

liamfnb's picture
liamfnb

Early Days