I started my first starter almost a week ago. Used a sf starter flakes and cultured it with organic bread flour and rye. It smells great and looks good as well. I plan on feeding it for 2 more weeks then putting it in the fridge. that means im tossing a lot of good starter away. if anyone is in the NYC/Brooklyn area hit me and and take some home.
Also the starter doesnt seem to rise as high and quick as i thought it would. Does this look heathy to you guys? Sometimes when i mix it up under the frothy layer is some liquid which i dont know is hooch or just separated water. Is this normal?
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Hi breadlovah,
Yes it looks like its going fine, congratulations!
The ratio of flour to water and how often you feed it effects the rise and hooch you see.
If you feed equal amounts of flour and water by volume, your starter will be about 166% hydration and more watery. It will not rise so much but will bubble a lot.
If you feed equal amounts of flour and water by weight, your starter will be about 100% hydration. It will be thicker and should at least double during a feeding cycle.
In case your not familiar with starter hydration, its based on flour weight. If you have 100 grams of flour and add 100 grams of water to it the hydration is 100%.
100g water / 100 g flour = 1 or 100%
If you add more or less water the numbers or percentage will change accordingly.
Hooch production to me is usually an indication that the starter needs to be fed more often. I keep my starter at 100% and it usually needs to be fed every 12 hours at room temperature. Higher hydration starters tend to need feeding more often than lower hydration starters.
The main thing I would suggest is to be consistent on your feedings and the amounts once you get it dialed in.
Good luck!
i didnt really track hydration when i started is it too late for me. i did start with over 100% bc it was very watery now i upped the flour bc i read on her you want a more firm starter. today was almost a week and it doubles in size in 5 or 6 hours and is much more bubly. so im thinking ill do one more week to strengthen it up and then off to the fridge. thanks for your comment!