Starter question
Hi,
I'm new to attempting sourdough, and I have a question I'm sure has been asked quite a lot.I think I've found answers that address what I'm wondering, but I thought maybe if I give a few more details, I can get a better idea if I should continue to proceed, or simply start over.
I'm in the early stages of creating a starter. I mixed equal weight flour (70% bread flour, 30% rye) and water. After after first 24 hours it had really taken off, and nearly tripled in size. I stirred it and then gave it another 12 hours, and it doubled. At that point I gave it it's first feeding (1:1:1 ratio), and 12 hours later it had good rise. I fed it again at this point, but 12 hours later I didn't really see much of any activity. I thought I'd give it just a little more time while I stopped into work quickly. Well, work unexpectedly ended up turning into a full day. I got home tonight and I still didn't see any rise. I fed it, but it was 20 hours, instead of 12 since the last feeding.
From what I've read this shouldn't be an issue normally, but I've read starters are more fragile in the early stages of creating them, until they've had a chance to develop a large healthy colony of yeast and bacteria. So I'm just wondering if there is anything I should be concerned about. The fact that I didn't really see noticable activity after the second feeding (even though I'd seen quite a bit of activity before that) concerns me a bit. As well as the fact that I then was 8 hours late with the feeding schedule so early in the process of creating the starter.
I guess I should probably know by tomorrow if the starter is still healthy and picks up activity, but any insight would be appreciated.
Thank You
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Well, 6 hours since the last feeding and I'm still not seeing any activity, but I'll give it another 6 hours and another feeding. If I still don't see activity, I think I'll start over. I'm not too far into the process, so it won't be to big of a loss.
I'm wondering if the sanitizing process I used for my jars might have interfered with fermentation. Before the second feeding I pressure steamed them in my instant pot, but I added a splash of vinegar to the water to help keep the glass looking nice. I rinsed them out afterwards, but maybe there was still residual vinegar on the glass. I wouldn't have thought there would be enough residual vinegar left on the glass after rinsing them to have any effect, but I suppose it's possible.
Some residual vinegar on the glass wouldn't affect it (some people even make starters with acid to speed it up, and vinegar is naturally present in working starters). I also wouldn't worry too much about being late with the feed and the slow rise. There is often a period where the starter's microbe population is changing due to the changing pH and it gets sluggish.
I'm not an expert and like you said, it's not a big deal to start over, but I also think there's no reason to believe your starter-in-progress is full-dead. As long as there is still food to digest and you don't feed it way too much or way too little, it's hard to kill them all off.
After all, a sufficiently large feeding is like starting over, hehe...
Thank you for the response. I'm still feeding the starter, I'm not seeing the level of activity and rise that I was expecting, but there does seem to be a little bit of activity. I went ahead and started another batch to see if it follows the same progression. I have noticed that the first batch no longer has the less pleasant smell that it had in the beginning (and that the newer batch still has), so I'm guessing that the more desirable bacteria are starting to take over. I'll keep following the feeding schedule, and have some patience, and hopefully I'll get the desired result.
Thanks again.
Don’t throw it out, Diffley. It is not uncommon to have a new starter soar initially, only to slow greatly after a short time. The bad bacteria go crazy in the beginning, but as the good bacteria starts to take over, the starter tends to slow down. Keep the faith and keep feeding. You are off to a great start.
Danny
Thanks for the encouragement. I know from other fermentation projects (like sauerkraut), that wild fermentations like this don't always follow exactly the same progression, but anytime I'm trying a new fermentation that I don't have experience with, I get a little paranoid about whether everything is going the way it should. Thanks for the reminder to relax and be patient.