What's wrong with my starter?
Been feeding starter for about two weeks, 2X daily, 1:1:1 with 110 g spring water and 110 g (unbleached) APF. Smooth oatmeal-like consistency; lots of (small) surface bubbles after every 12 hrs proof at 72deg F. No bubbles to be seen at side of jar. Smells "yeast-fruity". No evidence of any rise.
Starter is obviously not ready for baking. Does it simply need more "feeding-proofing" time, per above, or is my starter stalled (forever) and ready for burial?
First time I'm doing this, so any advice, at any level, much appreciated. Thanks
with some more flour (skip one regular discard and feed) perhaps it may be too thin to rise if bubbles are popping on the surface. Try getting up to 75°F. A little warmth will give it the boost it needs right now.
Sounds like its ready to yeast explode, just stay laid back and don't let the starter know how much you're watching it, waiting patiently for action. :)
I use the same ratios when I resurrect my starter after a few months of non-use, so I don't think the thinness is a problem. But I don't generally feed it 2x per day. Usually the first day, it takes 24 hours to get a few bubbles and I don't feed it until I see some. When I do feed it, I arbitrary use 30g:30g:30g. No point in wasting flour until it's active. Again, no feeding until I see activity. Within 3 days, I see rapid doubling & tripling.
Here's what I've done based on advice form both of you and others.
Upped the proofing temp to 75+; upped the water temp to about 80 to compensate for the colder flour.
Changed my 2x feeding of APF to 2x with 50:50 APF and White Whole Wheat. Still feeding 1:1:1.
At the end of 1st 24 hrs starter had risen about 20%. Will continue with 50:50 for another day and see what happens.
Seems all of this is more art and experience than science. On going advice appreciated.
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For tgrayson: At the start, after 2 initial days of 50:50 1xday I observed bubble activity. I then switched over to 100% APF 2xday.
wait until the culture rises and starts to fall back down before feeding again.