Starter Help - bubbles, no rise

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JRo on

Hi, this is another “need help with my starter” post.

BLUF/TL;DR: Even after 2-3 weeks, I have been getting bubbles but no rise and definitely no doubling.

Full story: I’m new to this but have read many threads on this site to try and fix any mistakes I’ve made.

I wanted to make my own starter, and since i had King Arthur lying around, i did the following:

Used King Arthur Recipe

Started with whole wheat on 3/20

Followed directions for 2 weeks, twice a day feedings

Transitioned to once daily feedings 50g starter, 100g AP flour, 100g water

Keeping in warmest area i could find - behind keurig (70-72deg F)

 

After a week, i wasn’t seeing results i was expecting and thought it may have been due to the aggressiveness of the feedings and the quantity of feeds (after reading a bunch and watching YouTube videos of course) so i started another:

 

Second starter - started on 3/28

Boy Who Bakes recipe using King Arthur Whole wheat

25g flour/25g 95deg F bottled water daily x 4 days

Then 50g starter, 100g AP flour, 100g water daily since

 

I’ve been getting bubbles in both, get smoother and thinner by feeding, smells pleasantly fruity when feeding, not acrid.

 

(The discard I’ve been making fried scallion pancakes in the AM which are delicious...)

 

I’ve followed them every few hours and attached are photos at 4 hr, 8 hr and 24 hr.

 

Should I abandon and re-try?  Any way to salvage what I have?

 

THANKS!

Jon

Starter 1: 4 hr, 8 hr, 24 hr:

F56064C2-1FDA-4F77-B269-5FA300EC50DC.jpeg
58174D69-8F58-4328-A28F-9EF59C392E42.jpeg
7A73AF1F-65AF-47B5-A877-0A34BCD26803.jpeg

Starter 2: 4 hr, 8 hr, 24 hr:

A2021C50-2F16-4D26-B2DE-CFD2E005E0BA.jpeg
CB155B81-44F1-4852-9752-8D4053FC4E79.jpeg
D6C889EA-1771-4F80-9A34-D62F7A1CAB35.jpeg

What is it that makes you think it’s not working?

If you think it’s too thin, try feeding using less starter in a 1:4:4 ratio. Or add more flour 1:4:5 (starter:water:flour) as a lower hydration will usually rise more. There is no one perfect way that works in all situations and there are lots of options. The doubling is a guideline that is easy to visualize but it isn’t strictly necessary. 

I might let it go to 36 or even 48 hours before the next feed to help build up the population of beasties. But what you’ve got looks just fine and if the smell is fruity and pleasant, stick with it. 

-Brad

Great, thanks for the feedback!  As is the case, nothing goes specifically by the book.  I have been waiting for the rise and fall that i hear and see in all the recipes/videos but haven’t seen it yet so i was worried something was wrong.  I tested it with a float test a week or so ago after several hours after feeding and it sank like a rock.  I’ll try that again soon as i get ready to plan a bake.

I’ll try the lower hydration... I’ve been weary of too little water because it feels like mixing concrete... maybe I’ve been working at too high a hydration... And then I’ll give them more time to grow prior to feeding.

Thanks again!

Looks good to me, do not abandon. I am not an expert, so take it with a grain of salt, but your starter is looking good. Do you live in a relatively humid environment? My suggestions are:

 - Go back to discarding and feeding twice a day

 - You may not be seeing much lift because of too much liquid. My home is too humid for the 1:1 flour:water ratio in so many recipes. I have to do a little less water.

 - If you don't need that much volume and want to conserve flour, you can drop from 100g flour to 30-50g (and drop water to match of course)

I usually stir my starter, discard half, and then add 40g flour and ~35g water and stir, and that works pretty well in my relatively humid home. At 70-72 F I think twice a day should be good.

You could probably make bread with your starter now (though it should improve with age). If you were worried about not having enough lift you could supplement with 1/16 tsp to 1/8 tsp "fast rise" yeast to your recipe.

Thanks!  I’ll check our humidity and then maybe lower the hydration.  I’ll keep them going and see if a float test works again after several hours after feeding.

This last starter I developed was absurdly sluggish, and took nearly 8 weeks to get to the point where it was predictable and could be used in a bake. I eventually realized that using the 'recommended feedings' was not allowing enough development. What I settled on was feeding 1:1:1 and purposefully not feeding it until I saw it start to drop - an indication that the culture was fully fed and starting to die off. Initially this took roughly 36hr. Then, I would reduce the held back starter slightly (say, 1:1.25:1.25) and keep that consistent for a few feedings, until I began to see a drop happen earlier. I kept repeating this until I found a ratio that would cause the starter to drop right at 12hr so I could feed it twice a day. My starter is roughly 4 months old now, and I'm feeding half rye / half AP at a ratio of  1:6:8 (starter : flour : water) and at 70 degrees it consistently builds to about 3.5x in 10.5hr, stays there for about an hour, and then starts to drop. 

Don't compare your starter to others, work to figure out what yours needs. Try to keep the temp as consistent as possible and only change one thing at a time. Be patient!

Good luck