Finally got my starter strong

Hey all.

I posted a while ago about my flat bread, and most of the feedback pointed toward a weak starter. I spent quite a while trying to strengthen it, but everything I tried failed, and I was ready to throw it away.

Even though my starter could double, it would only do so at 28 °C, and it took 14–15 hours at a 1:5:5 feeding ratio. The real problem was that it was far too acidic. The pH would drop quickly, and the yeast never had a chance to build density.

I tried everything I could think of—higher feeding ratios (which just diluted the yeast), stiffer feeds, you name it. But no matter what I did, the pH would crash into the 3.8 range, and even at a 1:2:2 feed, the starter smelled sour right from the refresh.

Eventually, I came across a video about “dough washing.” It showed a stiff dough cut into pieces, soaked in water for 20–30 minutes to reduce acidity for a milder flavor. Out of desperation, I tried it on my starter. I made it stiff, cut it up, soaked it, then put the pieces back into the jar, combined them into one dough, and let it rise to peak.

Then, instead of avoiding 1:1:1 feedings (as a lot of sources recommend), I tried exactly that. To my surprise, things quickly turned around. Within a week of doing peak-to-peak feedings every 4–5 hours at 24 °C, the starter gained momentum. It began peaking faster and faster until I was feeding four times a day. Eventually, I had to move back to 1:5:5 for my own sanity.

Looking back, the “dough wash” was probably unnecessary, and the simple switch to 1:1:1 peak-to-peak feedings was the real breakthrough. But whatever the case, it worked.

Now, my starter is thriving:
• At 1:2:2, it peaks in around 5 hours.
• At 1:5:5, it peaks in 9–12 hours, even using cool water (15–17 °C) since I can’t be bothered to heat it.
• And at every feeding, it triples reliably.

I had actually brought another starter but i got a pit in my gut that just wouldn’t let me use someone else’s starter for my own sourdough bread so I just stuck with it and eventually it got to this point.