July 12, 2020 - 3:23am
Need advice - My starter doubled on day 2!
I too am a quarantine baker and this is only the second time I started my sourdough starter. And to my surprise, after 24 hours my Miss Bubbles was actually all bubbled up and when I put her to a float test, she was floating! Pinched myself and found I actually wasn't dreaming?
Now I need advice on the below points;
1) can I use this starter, right on day 2 to fold in my sourdough?
2) will it taste as good as it should?
The first time it took me about 11 days to see my starter rise and I almost gave up but tried it and got a decent sourdough bread. This encouraged me to try it again and here I land!
Please guide me to my ultimate sourdough bread??
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Most likely this is the stage where where al kind of wrong bacteria are developing.
Wrong for baking but good for getting the ph right for the next step.
Just go on feeding it.
It wil proberly stop doubling tomorrow first and then start rising again after a fee days.
iI would not try baking with until at least a week.
This is a common observation and dbazuin distills the prevailing wisdom. Contrary to what the below poster says, I would not recommend experimenting with it at this stage. There are some funky bacteria in there that haven't been booted out yet, and they might taste nasty or even cause digestive upset. I agree with dbazuin: give it at least a week of regular feeding before you try baking!
The best guide at this stage is smell. If it has the characteristic sour smell, you've got a starter, although I would give it a little more time to mature. If it has a bad smell (bad as in anything but sour smelling), it's not ready regardless of float test. A viable starter in a few days is definitely doable depending on flour used, but it can be considered the exception rather than the rule.
Can you use it, try it in a small batch and see what happens.
Will it taste as good as it should be - probably not. Even though there is good activity in a 2 day old starter, I can't imagine there is a good balance between the labs and yeast, and that is the key.
Might be interesting to try it now, and again in about a week and see if you notice differences. The experimentation is half the fun. Enjoy!
What you're seeing there is likely a rise caused by gasses created by bacteria.
It ordinarily would take about 5+ days to get a yeast based rise. I would just keep feeding.
Thank you ?
If you are interested in a more in-depth explanation of what was happening with your starter on Day 2, I highly suggest Debra Wink’s amazing article, “The Pineapple Juice Solution, pts. 1&2”
http://www.thefreshloaf.com//node/10856/pineapple-juice-solution-part-1
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2
Great link, thank you.