Is my starter dead?

Hello Rachel,

I would think that you need more time to get a starter going than just a couple of days.  I would suggest that you follow the method that SourDom gives on this site on his beginners blog.  You can build on what you have or start from scratch but I have found that the blended flours of wheat and rye is a good reliable source of the yeasts and bacteria that you need.  It will go through stages as the balance of the creatures change as the acidity of the sourdough develops but press on regardless for the week to ten days that it can sometimes take to get a good mature starter.

Good luck with your projects.

Farinam

Hi Rachel,

How are you getting on with your bread making. Like you I started recently because of Paul Hollywood and have been enjoying it. I bake bread most days. I have struggled with sourdough but seem to have resolved some of my problems. Having read your post about your starter I was left wondering if you had resolved it ? Chris

I started with Paul Hollywood's recipe (my first attempt).  Mine started bubbling from time to time but in the end I threw it, as it looked lifeless.  I started my next one using equal amounts of stoneground, unbleached white flour and bottled water.  On about the 4th day I introduce some wholemeal flour.  It has now started bubbling well.  I am hoping I will be able to bake this weekend.  I also used 'Kilner' jars, as Paul Hollywood suggested, and 2 of them have cracked - possibly due to the build up of gas!  I am now leaving them slightly ajar.

I started two sourdough starters at the same time to see which would be better, Paul Hollywood's and Hugh Fernley Whitingstsll's.  Initially,  Hugh's bubbled away and grew tremendously.  I fed it and it turned to sludge exactly like your picture.  BUT - Paul's started bubbling away so I fed them both......and now I have two jars of sludge! WHAT'S GOING ON and how can I fix it!!

Hi guys,

I have been down this road of sludgy starters and I only get it with white wheat flour- I have been told that it happens because white flour is too low in nutrients to keep the beasts fully fed and active. The outer coat of the grains holds the nutrients and is not there in white flour. That liquid hooch on top is a sign of starvation too. Try taking a tablespoon of the mix at the bottom and add to 50:50 by weight wholemeal rye flour/water. You will probably need to feed at least once per day to keep up the nutrients and hopefully it will come good after a few days of care.  Rye based starters are really mousse-like and seem to be OK in the fridge for a week or more without feeding once they settle down. Just use 20 g rye starter to kick off a white wheat starter mix (same 50:50 by weight). You might need to feed a second time before baking. Use all the wheat starter in the bake as they don't hold over and just go to sludge if kept in my kitchen, no matter what I have tried.

Farinam has good success with blended wheat & rye but I have never tried this myself.

I keep my starters in straight sided plastic storage containers so if there is a bit of extra gas it just lifts the lid with no damage.

Cheers