Hey everyone! I'm new here and new to making sourdough / bread in general.
I've decided to make a sourdough starter and am on day 5 so far of it and have run into an issue with it. I've got 2 starters going, one whole wheat born and bread, the other whole wheat when it was initially started then fed all purpose bread flour.
On day 3 both starters rose to about 2.5 times its original size. I fed them that evening when they started to fall, and now 2 days later they wont rise at all. I waited an extra day thinking it may be a bit slow to come up, and when nothing happened I fed them again. 24 hours later, still no rise (only about 1/4 of an inch and then it remains there).
My feeding consists of saving 1/2 a cup of the starter and adding 120 grams of water / 120 grams of flour.
There's no hooch developing on top.
Any ideas on what I may need to do?
Stop feeding, keep warm and stir every so often. In a day or two (or even three) they'll begin to wake up. If in a few days they still haven't shown any signs of life and they're getting watery then just give them a little flour enough to thicken them up. This quiet stage is very normal. Ride it out.
Thanks Abe. I’ve just given them both a stir. I’m thinking it might be the temperature seeing as though they have both been reacting exactly the same as each other. Almost in sync, rising and falling on the exact same schedule until this happened and the both went on strike at the same time. It’s the only thing I can think of.
but I’ve just given them a stir and have moved them into a warmer area. Let’s see what happens after a day or two :).
Keeping them warm will speed things up. But at the same time a quiet stage is very normal. Doesn't mean nothing is happening. You just have to stop feeding until they show signs of life again. Allow the starters to dictate when they should be fed.
:). You'll get there.