February 17, 2019 - 2:33am
Really stiff inactive sourdough starter
Hi. I have started a sourdough culture for the last few weeks but my sourdough starter is stiff and not bubbly from the top. Everyday with 50ml starter I add 50gm flour and 50ml water but it is super stiff but DOUBLES within 10 to 12 hours. I have seen other videos of sourdough starters and their starters are nice bubbly and runny. I live in India and I don't have access to all purpose or bread flour here. Only wholewheat and cake flour. I buy my flour from a mill so the wheat is unbleached but the granular size of the flour may be more(coarser grind) so it may suck a lot of water. It didn't pass the float test too. I'm confused. Should I give up? Start a new one?
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... that it doubles in size.
When the "patient" (starter) is obviously alive, and has no fatal diseases (no mold, no terrible smells), it would be a shame to give up. This "patient" should be saved! ?
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with a stiff starter - in fact it takes longer to rise which can be a really good thing in a hotter climate because it stops the starter running out of food too fast.
If it is doubling in size then that is very encouraging; but without a bit more information it is hard to know whether that is being driven by yeast or bacteria activity... so please can you say how long this starter has been going for; and also does it smell wholesome or slightly disgusting? How has it evolved since you began it? If you take a tiny bit and touch it on your tongue, does it taste sour?
If you want to try it out for flavour, just take a teaspoon of it and fry it in a pan like a flatbread - it's OK to eat it like that.
Incidentally I recommend using the wholewheat flour for the starter. It sounds like you might have trouble making bread from what is available locally, depending on the protein content of the flour; but all bread is good bread! perhaps you could investigate getting some bread flour by mail order (amazon, eBay?)
Thanks all for the encouraging replies. It was smelling a little like alcohol yesterday but today its smelling slighltly better like yoghurt due to lactobacilli I guess. Its also tasting less sour than yesterday. My house temperature should be around 23 Celsius. All I wanted to ask was does the starter need to pass the float test? The starter also has big and many holes from the side. I have decided to buy some unbleached bread flour once I have success with wholewheat sourdough bread?
Hi Tom - I've never used the float test, so I wouldn't worry about it, if I were you. The only think that really matters is its ability to produce and trap gas bubbles (thereby increasing in size).
Concerning its consistency, why not experiment a little with increasing the hydration? Take a teaspoon of your discard and mix it up in a cup with a teaspoon of flour and enough water to make it like a loose porridge or daal - if you're feeling super-adventurous make up another cup with a bit more water too - and leave it overnight to see what it does. You should definitely see bubbles on the surface after 4 or 5 hours (less, if it's warm).
Remember that sourdough starters are less delicate than you think - they can tolerate a lot of different handling and treatment.