Hey Loafers...
New to TFL and this is my first post. So I have more questions than there are electrons to carry them at the moment. :)
A little bread background: I have been baking bread at home from commercial flour and yeast for about 15+ years, have worked in professional kitchens (many, many years ago) and at one of them I made 100-200 lbs. of dough/day. I was up to my elbows in dough! Just so y'all would know I'm not a total noob to bread, yeast and such.
I'll start with my latest project - Sourdough Starter (biological yeast, not commercial). I have run this little experiment now 3 or 4 times and each time the starter stops. Day1 - Day 3 there is what appears to be fermentation happening by the smell and bubbling, but then things take a turn for the worse. I mill my own red hard winter wheat and using 0% extraction (btw, I need to get some screens.... but that is another set of questions I'll get to).
- Day 1: 20g flour and 30g water (20g/20g made a paste and I wanted a more liquid starter and I know the higher ash content consumes more water).
- Day 2: 40g flour/60g water.
- After Day 1 I had nice bubbling action going on.
- After Day 2 I got a very nice rise and nice 'sour/tangy' smell.
- Day 3: 80g flour/110 g water.
- After Day3 is when things change. The smell returns to a pleasant wet flour smell and there is no action with bubbling or rising. I have tried to persevere and have removed all but 2-3 T then added 1T flour/1T water but it appears to have past a point of no return.
And then I toss it after another day or two of no motion and start over.
Just before posting this I read the entry from The Sourdough Lady that mentions using orange or pineapple juice vs. water to moderate the pH and found that really interesting. So that is a course I may try but wanted to humbly throw myself at the feet of you who know better and, I am sure, know what corrective measures I can take.
Thanks for your time and consideration.
~ Walstib
You aren't the first person to panic at day 3-4 and you won't be the last.
The initial bubbling up happens quite quickly but it's not coming from the same yeasts and good bacteria in a viable starter. It is leuconostoc - bad bacteria. Quick and short lived. Then all goes quiet but things are still happening. Your starter is becoming acidic which is a good environment for the yeasts and good bacteria to live in.
I'm sorry to say that you have tossed a good starter away. All you need to do at this stage is to stop the feedings and start again when the starter begins to show signs of life. Over feeding at this quiet stage "to try and wake it up" just slows things down as the fresh feeds slow it down becoming acidic. All you need to do is skip a feed or two (or even three), keep warm and stir. Once bubbles begin to appear then begin feeding again.
Here is a good video...
Very much appreciated. I am really loving the learning process of sourdough and I know the payoff will be enormous.
I will check the video and name my first successful starter Lechem!
That's what this site is for. I had help when I first started and now I can pass the knowledge on. Not too long ago I was in the same predicament.
Let us know how you're getting along and never toss a starter before asking for help on this site.
Again my thanks.
Watched both vids and will be starting today. I'll log the process and use more patience this time. Which will also allow me time to mill some more. :)
Okay.....I'm off.