I am in the process of making a 100% whole grain (wheat and rye) starter. So far we are at day 12 or 13 and I am getting lots of bubbles and rising in the first few hours. Like it will be doubled in 6 hours! And then.... it falls and is all hoochy and not bubbly. Should I feed it every 8ish hours instead of every 24?
Thanks so much! :)
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Hello Cleanmommy,
Unless you have a good reason for not doing so, I would be putting it in the fridge after you feed it . That will slow the activity right down. Then you can easily feed it only once a week. I have left mine in the fridge for a month while on holidays and after a couple of feeds it is back at full tilt.
The other thing is, it is not going to die. It just becomes dormant until some fresh food arrives. You could probably leave it for a couple of days or more on the bench without ill effect.
Make some Bread and enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Farinam.
. . . . Feed it, make a loaf and put some in the fridge! Nothing like giving it a go to see how the land lies!? Once it's in the fridge it will only need feeding once a week or so like Farinam says (or just before you want to make a loaf). Be sure and let us know how you go with the baking!
Last night I began the process of making sourdough buns and this morning they look wonderful! Just came out of the oven! I also made some sourdough pancakes and they were instantly devoured by my family. :)
Thanks for all the tips! I will take your advice!
Mackenzie
If you want to make sure it's as resilient as it can be, you could keep it out of the fridge for a couple more weeks... but you probably will need to feed it more often. When it starts to form hooch on top, it's starving (even if it's in the fridge). You don't say where you are, but it also depends on the ambient temperature - it will run out of more more quickly at higher temperatures. Once you're making loaves that behave reliably you can be confident of keeping it in the fridge and feeding it once a week or so.