Pineapple juice for revival of slow starter

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Vtg79 on 19 Feb 2017 at 09:27

So, after refrigerating and reducing feeds, my starter totally lost its previous strength even though it does rise a little. I was going to throw it away to restart, but just as a last resort I fed pineapple juice and wwf to a batch I removed from refrigerator and it rose beautifully, after second day feed it looks even better. Tried googling but can’t figure out.

Need some guidance now ... how long should I really continue feeding it just wwf and pj? Is it the yeast that woke up or has the cycle restarted?

And no need for pineapple juice - it is plenty acidic.  It is just cold and needs to warmed up and fed 3 times over a 12 hour period.  White flour wet starters stored in the fridge go through their food fast compared to stiff whole rye ones.  I keep my NMNF starter in the fridge for up to half a year with no maintenance and it perked up with warmth and 3 feeding over 12 hours to make a perfect levain.

INow if rye can work better, should I add rye + warm water as the next feed instead of wwf + white + rt water? How easy is it to convert a starter?

Do you suggest I feed it 3 times even if theres no activity?

That's about all there is for converting a starter. And personally, i would not feed it if there is no activity. Just give it a good stir and wait for signs of activity. Please note that with rye, you don't get a lot of rise but you do get lots of bubbles/holes throughout the starter. That shows it is active.

10 g of starter and feed it 10g of flour and 10 g of water.  4 hours later feed it 20 g of flour and water and then 4 hours later feed it 40 g each of flour and water  it should double in 4 hours if you have it at 76-78 F.  If it doesn't double but does rise 50% just stir it down and it should double in 4 more hours and your levain is ready.  You can the take some of it and make a new storage starter but do it 70% hydration instead of 100% like the levain 

If the starter still doesn't make it to double in volume (but is rising) after 8 hours, would you keep repeating discard+feed until it does manage to double in 4 (or 8?) hours?

I am trying to address the same problem. Another question I have is about the best time to do the discard+feed when trying to speed up a sluggish starter. It's been out of the fridge a few days. First I did a build with 6g each starter, rye, water. After 4 hours I added 12g each rye and water. Since then it's been rising and eventually doubling. It takes about 12 hours to fully double. I have been regularly discarding 24g and repeating the second build (12g rye, 12g warm water). I'm keeping it in a makeshift proofing box at 30 Celsius. Is it best to do this discard+feed at the 4 hour mark regardless of how much it's doubled or wait as long as it takes until it doubles?

 

The reason I was doing a discard is because you say this in your post about building a NMNF starter: "The first two feedings are 4 hours each at 100% hydration and the starter should double 4 hours after the 2nd feeding. If it doesn’t then toss the 2nd feeding total amount in weight and redo it."

Are you saying that instead, I stir and wait, then when it finally doubles, do the 3rd feeding (24g flour + 10g water)? 

 that doesn't double after the 2nd feeding in 4 hours.  If it rises 50% just stir it down and do the 3rd feeding - it should dlouble easily in 4 more hours or less.  I hate throwing away food and this will keep it to a minimum while still getting a NMNF levain  or starter.  I should go back and change the post to reflect another couple years of working with NMNF starters and levain.

 

starters is that is contains all the minerals and vitamins the we beasties need to perform their best.  They are just like us if we don't get our minerals and vitamins - also why mineral water is better than RO water for feeding as well.

I  empty out all of  the starter  into the mixing bowl   ,  add flour and water  and mix up a batter   .  While that  is fermenting away overnight  ,  I take the opportunity to  clean and re-sterilize  the jar .  The next day , I  toss another cup or two of flour and some water  into the mix  , leave it again over night  .   By now the rather stiff  batter is all  bubble and rising sponge .....  At this point a  spoonful is  put  back into the jar  ,   fed ,  watered , put back on the shelf   ,  and  the  dough  is made as per usual .