I started for a new starter last week. i was rising nice for the first 2-3 days. but now its just bubbling but not rising. Do i start over? What should I do.
The bubbling action is caused by the various bacterias fighting it out ... sort of. Ha ha! The medium has to become acidic enough for the right mix of bacteria and yeast to grow and that takes some time. So stir it every 12 hours and when you see some bubbling action, then you can feed it according to whatever method you are following.
You can also do a search for the pineapple solution on TFL and it will walk you through one of the most reliable ways of getting a starter going.
I had the same problem with my starter... I just started feeding it 1x a day, no matter what it looked like, for about 4 days, and ensuring that it was WARM overnight by boiling 1c of water in the microwave, then putting the starter in there. After a few days of regular feedings I woke up one morning to find it risen, and the top covered by so many bubbles it was downright frothy.
I dealt with the extra/throw-away by keeping my total volume down; 1oz of previous starter + 2oz flour + 2oz water.
The bubbling action is caused by the various bacterias fighting it out ... sort of. Ha ha! The medium has to become acidic enough for the right mix of bacteria and yeast to grow and that takes some time. So stir it every 12 hours and when you see some bubbling action, then you can feed it according to whatever method you are following.
You can also do a search for the pineapple solution on TFL and it will walk you through one of the most reliable ways of getting a starter going.
I'm using Peter Reinhart,
but here are the links to the pineapple solution.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10856/pineapple-juice-solution-part-1
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2
Lots of good reading that will explain what is going on with your starter from day to day. Debra Winks' method is at the bottom of part 2.
I had the same problem with my starter... I just started feeding it 1x a day, no matter what it looked like, for about 4 days, and ensuring that it was WARM overnight by boiling 1c of water in the microwave, then putting the starter in there. After a few days of regular feedings I woke up one morning to find it risen, and the top covered by so many bubbles it was downright frothy.
I dealt with the extra/throw-away by keeping my total volume down; 1oz of previous starter + 2oz flour + 2oz water.