Hi all! I'm Oonagh from Tempe, AZ, and like a lot of people, I'm at home a lot and getting into bread! I have a 1-year-old daughter, so bread making is a great bake I can do since it doesn't require a ton of hands-on time, I can make some good stuff without fending off a toddler lol.
I made the leap from focaccia to sourdough and I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. My starter is not ... going the way I want. I've been feeding it for four days now, 25g whole wheat, 25g AP and 50g water each morning, but I'm not seeing the bubbles I want and it smells EXTREMELY sour in the mornings when I go to re-feed.
Should I feed 2x per day to get it going? Start discarding half? Would love tips from the pros here, and looking forward to digging into the forums :)
What do you discard so far?
If you don’t discard the amount of new food as a percentage gets less every time you feed.
I had been discarding half and then feeding with the 25 + 25g flour and water, but I wasn't seeing any activity so I decided to start over. I discarded the whole jar (though I didn't wash it out, so there was leftover starter) and then went back to the feeding schedule. I haven't discarded anything for about four days.
You keep diluting it with every feed.
I would stop feeding it just stirred a bit until you see some activity.
Then start feeding it with a 1:2:ratio that is keep 1 part starter and add 2 parts flour and water.
Preferably 50% whole wheat or beter rye.
How many days should I skip feeding? I know everyone's starter is different so it'll be a range.
That ratio is very helpful though! I want sure how much I was supposed to be discarding, but 1:2 is easy to remember.
Until you see it rise 50 to 100%
Is a good measure.