Hello - just wondering if anyone can offer any advice - I created a batch of starter on Sunday using equal quantities of organic wheat flour and filtered water - within 24 hours it was activated - I fed it and 24 hours later it had doubled - I fed it again and it has stopped all activity - no bubbles - smells OK - slightly tangy - just lifeless. Have I done something wrong - I live in Brisbane and it has been quite warm but I would not think hot enough to kill it. Any comments most welcome. Cheers Jean
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no activity on day 3 of your starter? This is something that seems to happen a lot to new starters. Just keep at it. It will come back! Starter should be mature after about 2 weeks or so.
Also in Brisbane. I think the 35 degree days we've been having have made life difficult for us!
I'm on my second attempt at a starter. The first one went gangbusters for a couple of days, going close to doubling in volume on the second day, then it just stopped. I did the "throw out most & add fresh flour & water" thing, and it didn't start bubbling at all over the next two days, so I binned it (it was starting to smell bad).
The second one was nice & bubbly when I got home yesterday at the end of day 2 (it had even popped the lid off the moccona jar it was in!), so I gave it the Day 3 feed (extra 50g flour & 50g water), but this morning it looks pretty lifeless - no significant bubbles, definitely no froth, and it's separated with the flour sitting on the bottom and a thin layer of brownish-coloured water on top.
I'm thinking that, with the rather warm weather we've been having, maybe we should work on a 12-hour cycle rather than a 24-hour one, so maybe I should have done the day 4 refresh last night. I'll give it a refresh this morning anyway, and will see how it goes.
After throwing out most of it, and giving the rest 100g of flour & 100g of water about 10am this morning, I'm seeing some nice bubble action happening this afternoon! Not as hyperactive as the first one I mixed up, but still looking good!
I was on my day 5 and there was not much movement or bubbles but it did smell good. Last night I was almost giving up on it but I decided to go one more day, guess what I got up in the morning and it doubled in size overnight. I think the problem might be that it was cold for a week and dry in our house, my humidity level was at 25 inside and last night it started raining outside, the humidity in the house jumped to 40, that might have played a role. But I'm on my way to baking in my new wood oven that I just finished in my back yard. You can go and see it on my blog. http://www.ourwholesomehomes.com/search/label/Bread%20and%20Pizza%20oven
Hello Bern,
Many thanks for the detailed reporting on your sourdough starter attempts - I too was at wits end and was about to ditch it but then had second thoughts as the aroma was quite pleasant. I threw most out and refreshed with more organic wheat flour and filtered rain water - I also started another one - the first one is now day 6 (I think) and although it hasn't "grown" it has lots of lovely bubbles throughout. I am anticipating that it should start growing soon!! I have successfully created a starter in the past - it was so exciting to get up one morning and find that it done a text book expansion to the top of the jar - so I am not without hope. The loaf that it produced was a little mishapen but texture and taste was good - baking will be another trial as I have a gas oven. I read an interesting tip somewhere - use volcanic rocks (similar to those used in a sauna) in the oven when preheating - when ready to bake loaf throw water on the rocks. Haven't tried this yet but hope to soon!!!! All the best - hope you produce a lovely loaf or 10 soon too.
...starter is now on day 6 and has lots of bubbles but still no growth. Smells good so will keep perservering - I actually thought that humidity might be the problem - it has been very warm with high humidity - your oven looks fantastic - all the best and happy baking.