I attempt my first starter, i began with 1 cup roganic unbleached flour and 1 cup of warm water. The next day i removed i cup and put half cup flour and half cup water back in.
Now the problem i found is that it wasnt reacting at all it remained like batter.
Im think, and this is my question , by removing 1 cup am i really removing half or more than half, should i weight the starter and them remove half, what i was finding is that when i removed a cup there was very little starter left in the jar
Hope this makes sense
Craig
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[quote="Craig"]
Now the problem i found is that it wasnt reacting at all it remained like batter.
. . . by removing 1 cup am i really removing half or more than half, . . .
[/quote]
Several points:
You don't need to use that much if you don't want to.
Usually the starter won't start bubbling significantly until about a week after you start it.
And yes, the total volume from a cup of each will be less than two cups. You can take out less at first, then later, taking more will be better.
Craig, don't know where you are but I'm on the Central Coast NSW Australia.
My first two starters were all started in a large glass jar on 32 -34 degree days, within 6-7 hours they were frothing all over the place and they were junk, threw them away.
My succesful starter that I am using now I started on a 27 degree day, 1 cup water (only just warm), 1 1/2 cups unbleached bakers flour, mixed together with an electric beater. Placed in a wide mouthed mixing bowl near an open window (With a fly screen on it).
By the end of the first day I think I had one small bubble, stirred gently and left it out overnight. By the next day there was a reasonable amount of activity so that night I mixed one cup of brew and one cup of just warm water and 1 1/2 cups of flour and mate, the rest is history
I think you just have to keep trying until you catch a great sourdough yeast. I have tried several times in my life, but nothing compares to the one I found last Summer. I read the La Brea Bakery book by Nancy Silverton and I followed her directions for feeding and caring for a new starter to get it going really well. I think newbies often just forget to feed their sourdough starter enough and it just dies or starts to smell rotten.
So they give up too soon. Good luck,
Teresa
www.northwestsourdough.com