I received a starter from a neighbor ar least a year ago and it had been doing great until recently. I tend towards low maintenance. I keep it in a large mouth mason quart jar, feed it white whole wheat from TJs, let it sit in the pantry until it's nice and bubbly, put it in the fridge. When I want to make bread, I keep feeding it until I have at least two cups with leftover, take out two cups, and feed the leftover. That sits in the pantry until bubbly, and then goes in the fridge. I make two loaves at least once a week, though not at all if we are out of town.
Last time I fed it and made bread, I noticed that it lost all elasticity and gluteny structure. I thought that I just hadn't put enough flour into the batch, so I added flour to my mixer. It never formed a ball, but I went ahead and proceeded with making bread. It did rise, slowly, and I did make bread out of it, but the crumb was dense. The bread tastes quite tart. The stater does activate, but is more like stirring paste rather than the typical adhesive gluten mi that I was used to seeing.
Today, I try again, and the same thing happened, so I start researching and found this forum. I've taken a tablespoon of the starter I have leftover, and put it in a new jar with a whole feeding of white whole wheat, and in a third jar I added a tablespoon to organic white AP flour.
Advice, please? It seems like my starter has been taken over by somethibg that digests gluten or something.
Is very acidic with a disproportionate ratio of bacteria to yeasts. Something which some TLC of greater feeds might help. Take off a small amount of starter and feed very well with fresh flour. Do this a few times allowing it to peak at room temperature. See if that swings in favour of the yeasts.
...and people here pointed me to this thread: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/22004/never-saw-dough-break-down
I believe this is the same that you're seeing. In my case, the starter initially looks OK, but it quickly broke down as you describe. Doughs made from it also broke down. I've heard a few theories as to why it happens, but as I know nothing definite I won't take any guesses. The advice given is to "feed through it" at a more regular pace.
I ended up ditching the starter I was having trouble with, but others managed to make it through. Good luck!
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/121566#comment-121566
The last paragraph is especially important.
Thanks for linking the explanation. I had the OP's problem a few years ago, and yes, frequent refreshments made it go away, but I didn't know why it worked.
I checked on my three starter jars just now after setting them up as described this morning. The tbs plus full feed of white whole wheat looked pretty good a couple of hours ago, so I fed it again. The mother starter did have bubbles throughout, but smells strong. The tbs to organic white seemed runny and pitiful.
My batch of bread dough has risen pretty well despite the terrible-looking sticky mess it was this morning, so I added the discard from the good-looking full feed and some gluten, mixed it up, and separated into the loaf pans for the second rise.
I'll keep vigorously feeding the starter and see if I can get over the hump. Thanks!
Someone on a recent post here I think suggested adding a tbsp or two of pineapple juice and continuing to feed at a 1:1:1 ratio. Don't know if that'll help, but I've managed to keep my starter alive for nearly 4 years now and have just recently split into two--one with rye and one with APF (King arthur). I have not yet been able to tell if there is a taste difference but in time.
My consistency is usually pretty thick when first mixing, but when active, it gets pancake batter consistency and bubbly. If you go into instagram, there are many videos and images of active bubbly starter
I find it helpful not to let a starter get too mature before chilling especially one that is made with equal weights of flour and water. I let it rise about 1/3, enough to show me the starter is active, then pop it into the fridge. It's good to go after 3 or 4 days and if it has a low hydration, keeps for weeks. I use spoonfuls to inoculate levains or make starters for bread baking.
A mature starter on the other hand is good for only a day or two then needs to be fed again as too much fermentation has taken place and the starter is depleted of food with a low pH.
I have also taken a mature 100% hydration starter, added just flour to thicken it up to a soft dough or thick paste and put it immediately into the refrigerator for longer periods of time. For very long periods (months) thicken to the point of making crumbs and press into a ball shape.
thanks!
What is a levain? I'm not versed in the terminology, sorry.
Is a preferment made with some starter and is the leaven that goes into the final dough. It is an off shoot starter.
Whether you use starter or a levain in your dough all depends on how you use your starter but essentially it's the same thing.
I think that my starter is recovering, whew! I kept feeing it yesterday, and twice again today so far. My loaves from yesterday actually rose and baked up well.
I had built up so much starter from the constant feeds yesterday, and I hate to waste, so I'm making two more loaves today! Thank goodness bread freezes well.
Thanks all for your help. Now that I've found this forum, I'll definitely visit and learn more about baking!