Hi I made a potato starter two days ago using a recipe from the Ballymaloe bread book, it says it should take 5-6 days before it is ready, but when i stirred it today it's already double in volume is frothy and smell sour. I live in the north west of Australia where we have a tropical climate and it is summer. would the climate accelerate the starter? what happens if i let it go any further?
Category:
Replies
Hi Ruth,
Times given in instructions and recipes are often only guide-lines and the rate at which things happen is certainly dependant on the temperature. Depending on what your instructions say you might have to feed more frequently or find a cooler place to store it.
Starters will also often go through phases when they are first being established and seem to be really active and then slow right down for a time. Occasionally they can develop rather nasty odours that might make you think that things have gone really bad. However if you keep on, things suddenly come good and the nasty smells have gone away.
These sorts of things happen as the balance of yeasts and bacteria change and are the reason that establishing a starter is rather drawn out so that a good balanced micro-flora can develop and establish itself. Once the starter is mature it is usually remarkably stable and will take a lot of 'neglect' and still come back as strong as ever after a couple of feeds.
If you read through SourDoms beginners blogs on this site you will find a lot of useful information that will help you along the way, both in preparing and maintaining your starter and making those all important loaves of bread.
Good luck with your projects.
Farinam
Although I agree with Farinham about timelines being a guideline, I would suggest you wait the 5-6 days, and then use it to make you bread and see how it performs. Keep feeding the starter as you have been until that time.
Take care
Hope