My young starter is rising quite fast, is it normal?
Hi there!
So I've been interested in sourdough starter for quite a while, but don't have the courage to make the starter by myself since I'm an amateur home cook with zero experience in bread making.
But with this quarantine going on, I finally decided to give it a try. I used Andrew Janjigian's recipe of quarantiny starter from the website Cook's Illustrated (here's the link: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/2268-make-your-own-mini-sourdough-starter-with-the-quarantinystarter-project)
It's called for 10 grams of flour and 10 grams of distilled water (100% hydration). I used local brand all-purpose flour (protein content 11.0-12.5%) and mineral water to make mine. Oh, anyway, I live in Indonesia and the average temperature is around 30-33°C (86-91°F) in the afternoon, and the humidity is 57%.
I made my starter yesterday (May, 13th at 12PM) and this morning (May, 14th at 7.30AM) it's doubled in size, got some nice bubbles and quite funky smell (almost smelled like cheese in my opinion). I fed it at 10AM since I had exams to take in the morning. Here's the problem: I think I added too much water so my starter is quite runny (my kitchen scale probably messed up since it's the non-digital one and not very acurate). But Andrew said, the consistency of the starter should look like a muffin batter - thick, so I added little bit of flour till I got the desired consistency.
When I checked it at 3PM, it's almost doubled in size! The smell is still quite funky though, and there are tons of tiny bubbles. Is it normal? Does the addition of flour and water affect its activity? Should I feed it in 12 hr interval instead of 24 hr since it rise quite fast?
Thank you so much!
Greetings from Indonesia.
P.S. when I fed it in the morning (May, 14th at 10AM) I put some of the discard to a bowl of water, to do the float test. I didn't expect it to float since it's still way too young... but it floated! Is it normal?
What you see now is a burst of activity by bacteria that produce a lot of gas and some bad odors. The yeast isn't active yet.
In another day or two, the activity will stop as a different, non-gassy group of bacteria take over. Again, the yeast isn't active yet.
After the quiet phase, you will begin to see some new activity, starting with a change in odor (yeasty, fruity, beery) and the evidence of small bubbles. Conditions within the starter have gotten to a point that the yeast is now becoming active. And now it is a real starter, not a starter-to-be.
While you wait for your starter to go through it's different stages, I suggest that you read The Pineapple Solution here on TFL. That will give you an excellent understanding of what goes on inside a starter. You can use the Search box in the upper right-hand corner of the page to look it up.
Paul
Thank you for your help, Paul! I'd definetely check The Pineapple Solution. I'm still wondering though, should I stick to the 24hr interval feeding even though the activity is quite active, or should I feed it when it doubled in size or 'deflated' after the rise? Because when I checked it again at 6PM, my starter is deflated. I read somewhere that when the starter is deflated/fall after it rises, it means the microorganisms are hungry.
Gabriela.
feed without discarding when it begins to deflate. Once it goes quiet, don’t feed until you see activity again. You can give it a stir a couple of times each day during the quiet phase.
Paul
Once again, thank you for answering - it really helps me! I decided to feed it last night since there's a small amount of clear liquid in the middle of the starter, which I thought was the hooch. It also has a quite strong smell, almost alcoholic I'd say. But unfortunately I haven't read your comment when I fed it so I discarded it. If I feed it without discarding, I think I supposed to increase the amount of flour and water then?
Gabriela
While you are in this normal phase, all the normal rules don't apply. That is because the organisms that are most active in your starter may not even be the ones that will eventually take over in a sourdough starter. The main thing that determines when the lacto bacteria and yeasts take over seems pH. It needs to be pretty acidic, which will kill off most other organisms. That's why Paul advised you don't discard: to allow it to continue to build up more acidity. Altho in the end what really matters is the feeding ratio.
I saw you asked if you should start feeding twice a day. Not yet. Not until yeast are active. You'll go through a phase where your starter might appear dead or at least nearly so, and after that yeast will (probably fairly suddenly) get active and start making lots of bubbles. Until then, feed pretty sparingly.
If you read this article (and follow the link at the end to part 2), you'll gain a better understanding of what's going on in your starter as it gets going:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10856/pineapple-juice-solution-part-1
Thank you so much for your answer! This morning, I saw the "fall mark" and there's clear, light brown liquid on top of it (which I thought was the hooch - is it normal thouhh for the starter produces hooch after 7 hrs of feeding?) so I decided to fed it this morning without discarding it (but I poured of the liquid). I (accidentally) add more water, so I have to add more flour to keep it on the 100% hydration. I hope it's okay though since I didn't discard it, as you and Paul advised not to. And I think I'm entering the quiet phase you both mentioned before. There seems no activity there so I just leave it on the counter.
Anyway, I'm wondering... I used AP flour to make and feed the starter. Let say, my starter is done and it's full with wild yeasts and the LAB, can I feed it with bread flour instead of AP? Because I want to make doughnut from it, so I think changing it to bread flour will give it more gluten structure maybe (please correct me if I'm wrong). Or I can stick with the AP flour to feed it before using it?