Sourdough starter need guide

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dennisanthonyb… on

Hi everyone, I'm Dennis from Indonesia. Recently i started making my first sourdough starter. On my first day of making it, It looked fine and it doubled in size in the first 17 hours. After about 23 hours later i fed it. Then, i started to notice a layer of brown liquid in the middle of the dough. I throw away 2/3 of it and fed it anyway. But 12 hours after i last fed, it looked weird. The only part that's bubbling is only on the upper part. Yet the lower part didn't. Also, it smells like an overripe fruit but it's very strong. Well it might be that I'm just not used to the smell of a sourdough but I'm not sure if it's gone bad or not. Are there any suggestion as to what i need to do? Thanks

I used 50 grams of water and 50 grams of bread flour on my starter

3 days is not long enough to have a viable starter. The first few days are activity by other bacteria that aren’t usually the ones you want in the end. It will probably go quiet on you for a few days. Just stir it and don’t feed it again until you see bubbles again. 
As to your feeding, if you are keeping 50 grams of starter and feeding as above that’s just fine at the beginning. Later you might want to feed your starter at a higher ratio so that you aren’t starving it. 

Thank you for the advice. I'll be sure to update on it if there were any noticeable changes. I almost threw it out because I'm not really sure what to expect. 

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Martin Crossley on Sun, 04/19/2020 - 01:48

You might find it interesting to read The Pineapple Juice Solution, Part 1 and The Pineapple Juice Solution, Part 2; not necessarily for the 'pineapple' aspect, but for the good general introduction and soundly-based information and advice in it  :)

In particular you should be ready for the likelihood that on the way to becoming an established sourdough starter, your culture will got through a phase of smelling absolutely horrible; and will then appear to 'die'. This is where most people give up (including me the first few times I tried, until I'd read the links above); but it's (a) a natural stage; and (b) not dead.

Oh and by the way DO be careful with the lid on that jar... if you put it on tight, then your starter will become a fragmentation grenade.

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dennisanthonyb… on Sun, 04/19/2020 - 02:38

I'll be sure to check on the articles. I'm still new at making sourdough starter. So having a forum like this really helps. I did close the lid loosely but thanks for the advice. I'll keep updating the progress. 

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Martin Crossley on Sun, 04/19/2020 - 03:01

Yes the forum really helped me when I was starting out - but the problem is that there is SO much advice... some contradictory... that it can be a bit overwhelming.

I spent a lot of time trying to understand the 'right' way to do things; or at least ONE complete guide, that I could follow from start to end - but in the end I just had to accept that there are as many different approaches as there are bakers, and trying to patch together bits from several different 'tried and trusted' methods often doesn't work in one's own kitchen (!)

For what it's worth, getting to know my starter and how long it takes to respond to different amounts of feed really helped me - that was the first step; and then learning how to make a loaf that didn't try to flow off the side of the baking tray was a whole other story... I eventually realised that 'stronger' flour doesn't necessarily mean a better rise; and aiming for high hydration levels isn't a good game for beginners!!

While maintaining a starter with bread flour. Starting one from scratch works best with rey flour as fresh as you can get it. 
A good whole wheat flower works but less then the rey. 

This is because it contains more dorment wild yeast. 

 

I'm currently residing in Indonesia, and i don't have many choices to pick in terms of flour variation as it is hard to find these days especially during Covid-19. Maybe next time i'll try to look for rey flour. Thanks

Just stir it once or twice a day and don’t feed it until it shows bubbles. Right now it’s working on getting the ph right for the right bacteria and yeast to grow. 

I'll keep on checking the progress. Thank you for the advice.