Starter not rising in AC
I've been using sourdough starters on and off since 2018 and have never had this problem until now. I recently made a wild sourdough starter and all was going fine until about 2 weeks in. Now my starter is barely rising more than 10% in a 24 hour period. I've tried changing the flour (100% AP, 50% AP 50% WW, 100% WW), increasing the water temperature and feeding it different ratios (1:2:2 and 1:3:3) but still nothing is working!
Today I lost my temper and decided to feed my starter and stick it outside in the hot LA sun on a an 88 degree day. And now I am finally getting some rise! It's been 8 hours and it finally has risen about 80%.
How are people getting their sourdough to rise in air conditioned homes!? Or in the winter for that matter? Does the ambient air temperature really have to be blazing to work? I don't remember having this issue when I lived in NYC, but maybe that speaks to the very crappy air circulation and temperature control in Brooklyn apartments...
Does any one have tips to keep starter warm, especially overnight? Please don't save oven with the light on because I have already tried it.
Thank you!
I have built and used starters made with all-purpose flour in air conditioned kitchens for 20 years without a problem. The same starter has also lived for years part time in a New Mexico kitchen that was not air conditioned. This starter will develop after feeding in say six hours at 72 - 74 deg F.
In between refreshments these starters usually live in the refrigerator, since I don't bake often enough to leave them out all the time.
So I'm sure that air conditioning is not the problem, nor the ambient air temperature in your kitchen.
Yet something has obviously changed for you. The mix of organisms must have changed drastically. It sounds like you have almost all bacteria and almost no yeast. But we can't know for sure.
Starters can sometimes get sick, especially if they aren't acidic enough. I had that happen once. An episode could perhaps change the makeup of a starter like your has, I would think.
Whether or not that idea is correct, I'd build a new starter instead of trying to keep fixing up the old one. The easiest way would probably to start with whole wheat flour, or a combination of rye and WW. It would be good to start it out slightly acidified, and people have found that some pineapple juice added to the water is good for that. And try hard not to let any bit of the old starter get into the new, just in case there really is a disease organism involved.
Please let us know how it all turns out.
As suggested, starters can change. My advice for how to proceed is different, though. I would still use a teaspoon of your current starter, feed it (use the pineapple juice in water, if you want) and place it somewhere that the temp is going to be 80-84F. That could be outside or on top of the refrigerator, or on top of the hot water heater, on a heating pad set on low, on the counter with a desk lamp with an incandescent light bulb shining on it, in a cooler with a warm towel, or in the stove or microwave with the light on (if it is an incandescant bulb) etc,etc.
Stir it a few times and feed it twice a day for a few days. Smell it once in a while but watch out-don't burn your nose! SD can become quite acidic. When it becomes noticeably more active, you can start discarding before feeding. By the 3rd day,it should become very active and rise within 2-4 hrs, It should smell more yeasty, too.
You are trying to build the yeast population and balance it with the lactobacillus bacteria population. The remnants of your prior culture are there, why not utilize them. Using WW or rye mixed in with the AP flour is a good suggestion as there ae more natural yeasty-beasties as well as food in those flours.
Good luck!
I have now had 2 days where my starter was rising vigorously within 4-6 hours outside in the summer heat (mid to high 80s). Haven't added anything but the ww flour and water at my normal 1:2:2 ratio. I haven't baked with it yet but we shall see by the weekend if my bread turns out well. Wondering if I am causing a false rise of some sort with the heat?
It may be that your starter was borderline and just needed that extra warmth to boost the yeast population. Ideally, yeast promoting temp is 80F-84F (ir close to that), whereas lactobacillus promoting temp is a lower and wider range that can overlap the yeast range.So see how your starter performs for a bake and keep using the warmer temp after a feed to promote yeast growth. See if you can tell by how yeasty it smells after a few days of this as compared to before when it may have smelled more sour.
Seems like my starter seems to go through personality changes periodically. First you should know that I’m not into daily feedings. I tend to keep ~150 g of starter in the fridge and do a 3-gen build before I mix up my dough. Even if the current starter personality is a bit sluggish, by the third generation, it’s perky, bubbling and ready to go. So here’s the routine:
36 hours before I want to mix dough
gen 1: 5 g seed starter from refrigerated cache + 10 g water + 10 g flour. Mix well, cover loosely, 12 hours on counter.
gen 2: 25 g gen 1 + 25 g water + 25 g flour. Mix well, cover loosely, 12 hours on counter.
gen 3: 75 g gen 2 + 75 g water + 75 g flour. Mix well, cover loosely, 12 hours on counter.
Depending on how much starter you want for your dough, you can tweak gen 2 and 3 quantities of flour and water to yield your targeted amount. Downside is you have to remember to get started a day and a half before your going to mix dough. But after baking sourdoughs for over 20 years, this method has become my standard…and it consistently yields excellent results. I think it could help you at least bring your starter back to a more vigorous state.
Bonne chance,
Phil