March 12, 2011 - 5:07am
Day two of Bread Builder's beginner starter and bubbles and expansion.
I've done this before, but never seen activity this fast before. Should I refresh on day two or wait till tomorrow morning, day three. I'd hate to kill it by waiting too long.
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If the starter is ready, then feed it. This may be a false start, though. Did you use the pineapple juice solution? What is the odoe of the starter?
Ford
No pineapple juice used. Just two different wheats and a rye. I doubled in size in twelve hours. I just refreshed it again. Very pleased.
You certainly won't kill it by waiting 24-48 hours at this point.
I think the "Bread Builders" technique is 50/50 WW and rye flour @ 100% hydration just water, total amount of 240g for starter, first refresh at Day 3. You can read the Bread Builders book section here. Flipping thru the book, it seems like a very good read.
There is an interesting part where the author writes about L. sanfranciscensis and dental plaque!
I need to read it again.
oops, double post, sorry.
But don't be surprised if it subsequently seems to go dormant. Like Ford said, it could be a false start.
You could always split the starter in two and feed one half now and wait to feed the other half tomorrow.
Never read up on that. It may be, but it's growing at the moment. If it dies, I'll just start over again. I've got to start baking again. I used commercial yeast this morning just to get by.
It just goes dormant. It can take awhile to get going again, so people think they killed the starter and toss it unnecessarily.
The common explanation is that the first few rises are caused, not by yeast, but by bacteria. When they die off, the starter appears to go dormant until the yeast finally kick in.
I'll keep it going for awhile to see what happens.
Resist the urge to toss it. You've reached a stage that most starters go through. Starting over won't change the fact your next starter will also go through this stage. Unless you use the pineapple juice method (here and here) which bypasses the 'false start' part. Or you just lcuk out and bypass this stage through sheer chance.
But you're here now, keep following the instructions even if it "looks dead". It's not, stuff is happening you're just not seeing. There are microsopic yet epic battles going on in there and this is slowly causing the pH levels in your flour soup to lower until eventually, it's at the perfect pH level the yeasties we want prefer and they suddenly wake up and take over their little pasty world.
Let it take it's time and eventually it will perk up again and you'll have your own starter that you made yourself.
In that second link, you can follow along as two starters are built and one of them, Wally, gets that burst of activity yet goes back to sleep for a few days. This is not bad nor anything unusual.
Tossing it out, though, would be wasting all the effort and flour you've put into it up to now. Be patient, it will get there.
Patience is the ingredient you most need when dealing with sourdough.
I'll try. It's not my best trait. Thanks for the info.