Sudden Starter Death?
Greetings,
It has been a while since I've done any serious baking, and a couple of years since I've experimented with wild yeast breads. I decided to give it another go, and to try a firm starter this time, using the method described in Peter Reinhart's Artisan Bread Every Day. I thought I had succeeded. My seed culture showed good activity, and when I built the mother starter it rose well. I then put it in the refrigerator.
Now, three days later, I'm trying to make the San Francisco Sourdough recipe from the same book. Last night I made the starter, to the book's directions, from two ounces of the mother starter in the fridge. It seemed to rise well enough. I made the dough, let it sit out for a couple of hours, saw what I thought were the beginnings of a rise, then put it in the fridge overnight (all according to directions).
Today... nothing. I took the dough out, let it warm up, divided it, shaped it, and waited. And waited. And I am still waiting. It's even in a warm oven, in case the cool day is at fault for the slow rise. But absolutely nothing is happening, except perhaps that the round things that I wanted to become rolls have become more splat-like over time.
What might I have done wrong? I was hoping to provide the family with fresh sourdough hamburger buns, but it seems all I've done is to make some very unappetizing pancakes and a banneton full of something best not mentioned.