hey guys,
glad I found this forum, plenty of good info.
maybe someone can help me, I made starter like this before and it worked like charm after 6-7 days.
now I tried it again and it wont work for me...
so I used 25g of (strong) bread flour & 25g of wholegrain flour & 50g water.
i fed it for about 10 days and then feeding it once in 2-3 anytime it stops bubbling.
So the thing is, it won't float on top of water anytime I try to see if it's ready, goes straight to the bottom.
and it bubbles and smells just like any normal sourdough.
can anyone tell me what am I doing wrong, or should I just start from the begging?
Oh yea I have been feeding it for the last 3 weeks.
How much fresh flour to starter?
Welcome! Let's see if we can come up with any ideas. Nice to have you on board.
Hi Lechem!
I give about 50g of fresh flour and 50g of water once in 2-3 days. As well as discarding 100g away before feeding it.
You keep 50g starter then feed it 50g water + 50g flour. A ratio of 1:1:1.
You have been feeding it for 3 weeks, it bubbles up perfectly OK and smells nice too.
The only test you do is the float test, it hasn't passed and you've never baked with it.
How about healthier feeds of 1:2:2? See how your starter fares. Add some wholegrains in there if you're not doing so already. Catch it at its peak and then do a float test. Try not to knock out any bubbles when doing so.
Other then that I think you should just try and bake with it. It certainly sounds healthy enough. Give it a good feed and try out a recipe. If a recipe asks for a starter which is fed to a different flour and/or hydration then take some off and follow the build in the recipe. Go for it!
how much starter is left to feed? And what is your ambient temperature? (or temp of the starter?)
Try feeding just wholegrain to get it going
Mix using your hands
Ensure there is ventilation (cover with a cloth, not a lid)
Perhaps try feeding twice a day, and in a slightly warmer environment (up to 25C) this will increase yeast activity, but at the loss of acidic flavour