Liquid at bottom of sourdough starter

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samdavi on 1 May 2018 at 20:14

I've read the other posts in this forum but I couldn't be sure about what I should exactly do, so I apologize in advance if this is a repost.

I tried to start a starter by combining 100 grams of whole wheat flour and 150 grams of water. I allowed it to sit in the oven with the light on for 24 hours. At that point, the dough on top was bubbly and thick but there was a layer of water at the bottom (underneath the dough).

I believe the temperature in the oven got to ~33 degrees Celsius. Could this be the problem?

Or is it because of leuconostoc?

Should I just continue with the process? Or should I scrap it and start a new starter?

Thanks!

David

And follow the instructions at the bottom of the post. I did this and baked with my starter on the 10th day. It works!

not an option for me - i'm diabetic, so no pineapple - but it's still going to be an informative read...  thank you :)

to make your medium acidic enough so that your starter doesn’t have to go through the leucowhateveritiscalled stinky stage. By the time you are ready to make bread, there won’t be any pineapple juice left since you only use it for the first day or two. I am not sure what else you could use instead. 

i missed the stinky stage - my starters all smell yummy from the time they start bubbling.  i've run into other problems, mostly from underfeeding because of feeding by volume rather than by weight.  and i admit that i used a gram of red star yeast to get starter number 2 going - it was bubbling within a day.  the only one that went bad was my first, using a gluten free flour that, i later realized, had stuff in it that could well be incompatible with a starter at all.  it had gums, potatoes and more non-grain stuff.  it turned black and fuzzy.  the others i've used rye or spelt, and the yeast and bacteria seem to like what's on the menu ;)

could you use a touch of vinegar to the water in advance of the starter if you used a PH tester to avoid getting too acidic?  but then why would you when juice is so available...

and yeah, i could see the acidity and sugar in pineapple or OJ giving a real boost to a starter.  it acidifies AND gives an early burst of food.  

Thank you so much for that link! It was just mindblowing understanding how the whole process works. Most links don't explain what's going on and just tell you to do something without letting you know the reasoning behind it!

it really is up to you but you need to thicken up what you have and use some pineapple juice as per the link I gave you. 33C is warm but that won’t kill your starter. 

Not much more to add really but just want to reiterate "thicken it up"! This is separation because it's too hydrated.