need help with... that's right! my starter!

bsmith01
Hi all, i'm new to the baker's world, and the forum and i just wanted some input on if my starter is acting normal.

i made my starter with a cup of bread flour, and a cup of warm water, not hot, and i mixed it all together and let it sit out on my counter with a papertowel covering it.  24 hours later it doubled in size, GREAT, this is my like, 3rd starter and this is the only one that has done that.  i beat it down and dumped half out and fed it with 1/2 cup of bread flour, and 1/2 cup of water. i come back the next day and i see tiny bubbles in groups, and some larger bubbles, and it did not really rise, i beat it down and fed it again the same way i described above, i come back 24 hours later and i see the larger bubbles but no tiny bubbles, and it didn't rise.

is this normal? from what i've read on this marvelous forum i've learned that i should just keep feeding it and it will develop. but i need some expert help ;)

THANKS GUYS!!!
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Millciti's picture
Millciti 2008 December 11
Hi Bsmith01,

Your first abundance of co2 comes from an overgrowth of bacteria in your starter probably both good and bad.  Be patient and the LAB bacteria and yeast will eventually win and you will have a sourdough starter.  There will be some possibly unpleasant days ahead though so don't give up yet.  Check out the following starter experiment forum done here it may help you understand what is going on and the timeframe to expect. 

http://sourdough.com/forum/topic/54

Also check out sourdom's Begginer's blog it is full of great info..

http://sourdough.com/blog/sourdom


One thing that I noticed is that you are using cups so you aren't actually using equal amounts of flour and water to refresh your starter... water being heavier.  If you don't have a scale try using 1/2 cup water to 3/4- 1 cup of flour.  You can see bubbles better in a thicker starter and you will more likely be able to tell when it starts to double.


Terri




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