Slow, runny starter--advice?
Hello everyone! I'm a novice, relatively, with a scientific mind who has been baking with sourdough and generally pursuing the subject of fermentation as a hobby (is that a thing?) for about a year and a half. I "captured" my starter from "wild yeast," and have always had great success with it.
However, as I'm sure is a common tale, my starter (90% hydration rye) was relatively dormant this summer and neglected in the refrigerator, and when I attempted to revive it I was not terribly pleased with the results--the loaves that I made with it (Wild Yeast's norwich sourdough and Silverton's walnut sourdough) rose well, but the flavor wasn't all there and the starter's activity was rather sluggish).
I'm trying to troubleshoot this, and my first attempt has been to remove some starter and try feeding it 100% white flour at 100% hydration to see if I can nurse it back to life. However, even in my warm kitchen, I'm now getting practically no activity--even 24 hours after feeding, it simply has some small bubbles at the top, a ripe aroma, and has not risen at all (in fact, it's rather runny and slack.) I'm looking for some advice--should I start persistently feeding at 12 hours (regardless of its activity level) until it starts showing signs of life? Switch flours or hydrations? I'm willing to experiment--I have backup starter in the fridge just in case.
My first post! I'm so excited to be part of this community--I've been reading forums and posts for months (I suppose the proper term is "lurking") and I'm thrilled to have the chance to solicit some input. Many thanks in advance.
and do a 3 stage levain build of 4 hours each with equal amounts of flour and water each time without throwing anything away. First feeding 10 g each whole rye and water, 2nd feeding 20 g each whole rye and water, 3rd feeding 40 g each flour and water. IF it can't double 4 hours after the 3rd feeding then it is week. What to do then? Let the mix sit and see if it can double in 2 more hours. If not, then let it sit 2 more hours If it can double in 16 hours total then remove 80 g (use it to make a loaf of bread) and feed it 40 g each of rye and water and see if it can double in 4 hours. If it can then you have a new starter and you can toss the old one. Now you need to thicken it up for fridge storage. You have 160 g of 100% hydration starter that has 80 g each of flour and water in it. Take 40 g away and save for the next bake in the fridge and feed the remaining 120 g of starter 30 g of rye flour and no water . This will give you 150 g of 66% hydration starter. Once this mi rises 25% then you can refrigerate it for 12 weeks with no maintenance using 10 g of it to make a levain for a loaf of bread when you need it . Refresh it when you get down to 20 g using 10 to make a loaf of bread and 10 to make 150 g of new starter to refrigerate for the next 12 weeks - per this post.
and do a 3 stage levain build of 4 hours each with equal amounts of flour and water each time without throwing anything away. First feeding 10 g each whole rye and water, 2nd feeding 20 g each whole rye and water, 3rd feeding 40 g each flour and water. IF it can't double 4 hours after the 3rd feeding then it is week. What to do then?
Let the mix sit and see if it can double in 2 more hours. If not, then let it sit 2 more hours If it can double in 16 hours total then remove 80 g (use it to make a loaf of bread) and feed it 40 g each of rye and water and see if it can double in 4 hours. If it can then you have a new starter and you can toss the old one.
Now you need to thicken it up for fridge storage. You have 160 g of 100% hydration starter that has 80 g each of flour and water in it. Take 40 g away and save for the next bake in the fridge and feed the remaining 120 g of starter 30 g of rye flour and no water . This will give you 150 g of 66% hydration starter. Once this mi rises 25% then you can refrigerate it for 12 weeks with no maintenance using 10 g of it to make a levain for a loaf of bread when you need it . Refresh it when you get down to 20 g using 10 to make a loaf of bread and 10 to make 150 g of new starter to refrigerate for the next 12 weeks. per this post
No Muss No Fuss StarterHappy baking
Thanks very much for the advice! The starter finally doubled at about the 20 hour mark, so I'm testing it now (just fed it) to see how much activity I can get in another 4 hours.
I've read about your "no muss no fuss" method before, and had been coincidentally planning on trying it once my starter had exhibited more signs of health! Out of curiosity, have you experimented with maintaining this 66% "stock" starter on mixes of different flours?
Again, thank you very much for your prompt and useful advice!
Yeah, this happens to me too sometimes after I've neglected my starter for a while in the fridge. Just be patient. Feed daily for a few days and it will be back growing like it's usual self very soon, usually 2-3 days. Flavor will return as well.
Rye is better at jump starting a starter. So why feed a rye starter white flour unless you are converting it. But it sounds like you are just reviving a rye starter. So feed it rye. Otherwise, you have to give it time to adjust. Don't go by the clock, but by how the starter acts. Be sure to give it a stir every so often as this really helps get things going.
is not to discard right away and let if build until it shows more signs of life. Dabrownman is right on with his advice. I agree with the others to just be patient with the starter.
You should take a good look at my fridge starters. I forgot to label one and wondering if it is Canadian or Chilean or Austrian! It is a firm dark grey ball and smells like yeast extract. (Marmite)
Thank you for the reassurance! That starter does sound fascinating, and quite delicious--I'm one of those strange Americans that happen to love yeasty extracts like marmite!