Hello,
I currently have two starters that I'm working on, they're two days apart from conception. First one is a 150g base (75g flour + 75g water) starter made with 100% whole wheat flour. The second is a 120g base (60g flour + 60g water) starter made with King Arthur unbleached all purpose flour. I started WW first. I feed on a 1:1 ratio...i.e. after dumping half I'm left with 120g base AP starter which gets 60g flour and 60g water = total 240g. Next feeding I dump 120g and feed 60g flour + 60g water. Same feeding ratio for WW starter.
With the AP flour I noticed bubbles, double rise, and sour smell within the first 24 hours. By day 3, it was mostly bubbles, very little rise for where I marked it, and a more subtle, almost fruity sour smell. In relation, the WW mix only saw bubbles the first three days, no rise from where I marked it off and a very feint sour smell. Day 4 I did two feedings 12 hours apart and let it go for 36 hours and saw some rise at the markoff point. The consistency for both before feedings resembles creamy peanut butter with a bunch of bubbles below the surface.
It's been relatively chilly by me, mid to low 60s (F) and raining this past week, and my wife like to keep the house at 70-72F. To keep the temp up, my starters are currently sitting on top of my fridge, in a banneton basket lined with a kitchen towel and are also loosely wrapped with a kitchen towel. Could it be that it's just too chilly in my kitchen for the starter to properly react? And if that's the case, my mind is telling me to go with a longer rising period to allow the starter to do its thing given the temp. Am I wrong to think that?
As of today's feeding this morning, my plan was to let both go for 36 hours (maybe 48) to see if that helps the yeast and bacteria do their thing. I was going to keep them wrapped in the towel in the basket on the fridge as it seemed to help my WW starter.
Please let me know if my mind is in the right place or if there's something I should alter to get better results.
Thank You
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