Took a rather hap-hazard approach to starting my starter. Used 50g organic wholewheat flour and 50ml water, stirred in well and sat with clingfilm for 24 hours. After this time I looked at it and although it hadnt risen at all there were definite bubbles both on the surface and within the mixture. I couldnt remember the next step (woops) so put in 2 tablespoons of cooled boiled water and 2 more tablespoons of flour.
24 hours later it smelt pretty nice and was bubbling away but still not rising...? It smelt sort of bananas with a very sour taste when I had a taste of the spoon after stirring.
Saw a post on here about feeding it and went with 100g flour, 100ml cooled boiled water and 40/50g of starter. 24 hours later it's got bubbles, big and small, on the surface and underneath but no rise at all!
I reckon the temperature has been 21-23*C fairly constantly. I know its not dead as its making bubbles but what is it doing?! Or more likely what have I done wrong? (Apart from invent some strange way of getting flour and water to bubble that doesn't seem to be a well recognised starter method)
Any help would be useful!
Thanks
Replies
Sounds like yer doing OK so far. A banana-ry, yoghurt-y smell is good. Puke smells are bad.
Mix 1 part (by weight) your existing starter with 1 part water and 1 part flour (I'd strongly recommend using organic, whole rye flour for all starters- it's the most consistant).
Put it in a sterilised (pour boiling waater in for 10 mins) jar, draw a felt-tip mark on the level, and leave it.
When it's doubled in volume, do the same again.
Carry on until it doubles in no more than 12 hours- that's at UK winter kitchen, c.20c - if yer OZ/CA/Warm place in the world, it'll take less.
Then yer good to go.
It takes at least a week and preferably two to build a good, usable, stable starter. Don't try to rush things
Just baked my first loaf with this starter although probably not up to full strength yet I didnt want to chuck away some of the starter without at least experimenting!
I used the recipe/guide here: bakesourdough.blogspot.com/2010/08/sourdough-loaf.html
I used a bit more flour than it stated as I thought it was far too sticky to start with. (I used organic malted flour instead of the white in the recipe). I think I ended up with a lower hydration dough which may have resulted in the smaller air bubbles in my finished bread.
Anyways, it tastes great and any feedback is greatly recieved :)
Looks great!
SourDom's guide right here on sourdough.com is well worth looking at.