I decided I wanted to start my sourdough journey on 2.13 it’s 2.15 and I woke up to this 😂
Everything I’ve read says it’s a multiple day process but is this thing alive now? Do I need to discard half of it and feed again? I am lost.
Originally I did
1 cup bread flour
1/2 cup water
To feed on 2/14 I did
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
by kittykat282828
18 Comments
Probably a false rise. Keep feeding on schedule it and if it’s still doing that in a few days you’re good to use it. The wiki has more info
This is the volatile stage where it’ll look like a lot is going on but it’s really all the organisms fighting for dominance. Keep feeding it but I would absolutely bring down the volume. I would also to 1 to 1 to 1 of starter to flour to water. I keep mine around 150g total (so 50g starter, 50g water, 50g flour but that’s just my preference and there is less waste)
Did you start from scratch, or did you get another starter or dehydrated starter and feed that? If you started from scratch, this is a false rise and the bacteria are still trying to balance themselves out. You need to wait probably a couple weeks.
I bought mine already established so idk about making it. Mine doubles or triples when I feed it. But I know you are supposed to take out some of it and “discard” that part to leave the same amount by weight in the jar before feeding it again. Is the rubber band where it was after feeding, or the blue tape? If it’s the rubber band it looks like it doubled but there wasn’t enough room in your jar. You don’t actually have to put the discard in the trash, you can pt it in a separate jar and make pancakes or something with it.
If you’re feeding it those amounts you’re going to need a bigger jar
It’s not the Swamp Thing, just pick a way smaller sample of sourdough and feed it accordingly. The rest should be discarded, or used for cooking.
I recently read a book where they had a starter named Bob. It was a serial killer and guard dog all in one, this brought it to mind 🤣
Yep, not a starter yet. Just a bacterial battle for supremacy. Soon it will enter the I think it’s dead stage. And then hopefully emerge victorious in a few weeks.
Hm my book says to do
– day 1: 50g whole grain (AP unbleached is fine) with 80g water at 30°C, sit 24 hours
– day 2/3: add 50g wholegrain and 80g water at 30°C, sir 24h
– day 4: add 50g starter to new jar with 50g flour, 80 g water (see above)
– day 5: 30g starter to new jar, 50 g whole grain, 50 g strong bread flour, 130g water, sit 12 hours
After that I’ve been doing 1:2:2 (50:100:100)g and my flour mixture is 10% whole grain spelt, 90% unbleached to feed weekly from the fridge, and it sits on the counter 6-8 hours or until doubled before putting it back in the fridge.
What does it smell like when it’s hungry?
You have on your hands a levain that likes to show off 😂 wish mine was like this.
When you fed on 2/14 how much levain did you keep?
Did you feed it baking soda?
Wheat starters can triple in volume. When you feed it, make sure the combined mixture is one-third up the glass or lower.
Where did you get your instructions that they didn’t cover anything past day one?
https://thesourdoughjourney.com/faq-starter-creation/
Please get it away from the Clorox wipes
Smaller amounts will reduce waste. Throw out 2/3 of that and keep it small until it’s mature
It not ready yet this is normal continue ur journey lol I know it easy to get excited
1. Get a scale
2. Use only 10g of each (starter, flour and water)
3. Keep going for at least a week, and it could be two or three.
During the first couple weeks of trying to get it going you don’t need that much at all. You can feed it so you have like half an inch at the bottom of the jar. Otherwise you’re wasting a lot of flour. Once it’s established and you’re baking regularly, it’s fine to keep more starter around, but bigger feedings early on have no benefit.