September 17, 2022 - 12:23am
Sourdough starter newbie question
Hello, this is my first attempt at a sourdough starter and I have this question: today is the third day, which means introduction of twice daily feeds, but my second day 24 rest period will only be up at 16.00 this afternoon. Could I leave it for today and begin the twice daily feed tomorrow, starting at 8.00 AM? will this do harm?
(It seems to be coming along nicely and at this moment, roughly 16 hours in since it's second feed, it's doubled in volume. I used a brown wheat flour initially and have since been feeding will all purpose, and I started the this starter on the 15th of this month, at 16.00 PM)
Many thanks!
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Welcome to TFL!
Yes, you can delay. Your starter is still very young, but if it doubled in volume, it is alive and active! It may be a little sluggish with the delayed feeding, but that’s okay. If you do delay, feed it and then wait for the doubling. Don’t feed twice a day based on the clock. Feed it after it has peaked and is just starting to fall. That way you know it has fully ripened and is ready to eat again. You may also want to mix in just a little bit of whole wheat flour to add a few more microbes. Maybe 80% All Purpose and 20% Whole Wheat just to make sure you have good activity.
I struggled with feeding my starter too early when I first started. This video helped me a lot. Understanding the chart he presents starting at about 7:20 into the video will help you understand feeding your starter when it needs it versus feeding your starter because the clock says you should.
https://youtu.be/KgsPwwBMqYY
Good luck!
Thank you very much! And I will check out the video, definitely 😊👍
just checked the video, I'm actually very glad I didn't manage to feed it twice. at least today!
Hi all. I hope you don't mind me piggy backing on this thread, but I'm also a newbie and the subject header was already here.
So how do I tell when my starter is ripe? I've used the Kind Arthur starter which is just amazing, and I have it in one of their glass crocks. This is day seven of having activated the starter once I received it in the mail. I've used the discard for crumpets and those came out well, and yesterday I made two loaves of bread, which sadly I over hydrated by mistake so the loaves came out flatter in shape than I'd have liked, but still edible. It also didn't have the characteristic tang I expect from sourdough. Today I fed it this morning, and this is what it looks like after about six hours. It started out at about 1 inch in height, and as you can see it's up to 3 inches.
Day seven 6 hours after morning feeding.
Thanks for the advice. I probably won't make more bread till I've finished the current loaf, so maybe two or three more days from now. The recipe I used makes two loaves and I gave one away because I simply can't eat two loaves before one turns into a science project.
Regards,
Craig
Craig, your starter looks great. Ask 100 bakers that question, and you can expect probably 50-75 different answers. The short of it is SD starters are very forgiving and hearty once they’re established. There are many ways to maintain it.
For my 100% hydration white starter, I feed it and let it rise until it has peaked. I don’t feed it again until it has just started coming back down the side. In your photo, If we assume that it was at peak, I would let it come back down to maybe 2.5”. That way you know it has fully ripened, but is still very active.
Thanks. I did give it a sniff test and it seems to have a stronger aroma now. So hopefully it's getting tangier. Tomorrow morning I'll be having sourdough buttermilk pancakes made from discard for breakfast. The sponge is aging on the counter now.