December 30, 2013 - 11:17pm
Inactive starter
Hello,
made a starter based of the tartine book. After about 4 days, liquid from the starter had separated. A few bubbles not much else going on. I decided to feed it anyway. Still seeing bubbles but the starter is not rising/collasping. Anythoughts suggestions are appreciated.
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It is very early days yet and if it smells okay, I would stick with it. How warm is the spot you keep your starter in? They need constant warmth to get active, even a few degrees cooler than they like can really slow them down. Books all tend to say it takes about five days to get a starter going, and it probably does in perfect conditions, with a perfect schedule and loads of wild yeast flying about from the constant bread making that has been going on. In reality, in less than perfect conditions it can take much longer.
problem with very wet starters. They are not thick enough to hold any gas. If you have been feeding it equal volumes of flour and water switch to equal weights of flour and water which is about 1/2 of flour and 1/4 c of water. This will get you to 100% hydration and the starter should be thick enough to hold the gas in and make it rise, I another week or so you should be ready to test it on a loaf of bread - just keep it warm - 72 F.