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My starter isn’t activating well.
I did the first feed and I waited 12 hours and it didn’t grow very much so I did a 2nd feed last night and it’s slightly larger today (pictured) but not much. Feeds were 1:1 ratio of AP flour and 70-77 F water.
My house has been colder so I upped the heat and boiled some water to add some nearby moisture. It’s been covered loosely with a kitchen towel without a rubber band for most of the time but put the lid on more recently.
I think I need to give it more time but pretty frustrating so far.
Any tips?
Showing all 28 replies.
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>>22011862
How old is it?
You can put the starter jar in a pan of hot water to warm it up if the room gets too cold.
Also feed it some whole wheat or rye to make your starter more robust and active.
Rye will also make it thrive better in cold while increasing nutrition, flavor complexity and bacteria diversity.
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>>22011865
this. its basically to show off how much time you have to spend on bread which can be done in like one or two days... all my cousins do it and want me to take their starter like they're trying to impregnate me and pass dpwn their kin. it's onlt something i imagine white christian women doing desu
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>>22011862
as long as you know its still alive and bubbling just adjust the feed times maybe 8 hours. keep it warmer. to test if its ready do float test. just put some water in a cup and spoon a bit of starter in it. if the starter floats your ready to bake.
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>>22012212
>>22012213
>Greater Chemical Complexity
>significantly higher number and total concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
>Acetic acid flavor enhancer
>Enhanced Aroma Compounds
>1-hexanol (sweet, floral) and phenylethyl alcohol (rose, honey) are more abundant
>more fruity esters like ethyl acetate, isoamyl acetate (banana), and phenylethyl acetate
>higher levels of pyrazines, which give a desirable "roasted" and "popcorn-like" flavor, particularly in the crust
>potent flavor compounds like 3-methyl-1-butanol (malty) and phenylethanol (floral)
>converts aldehydes from lipid oxidation into less pungent alcohols, refining the flavor
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>>22011865
>>22012134
Sourdough bread was fundamental to both Greek and Roman diet and culture, the core of the daily diet for all classes.
They didnt have pansy yeast bread.
The Greeks refined sourdough techniques from the Egyptians, the Romans wisely adopted it.
Cultivate sourdough culture, bake and eat sourdough bread, and become a rugged Greco-Roman patrician nourished with the wisdom of the ancients.
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>>22011862
My first question is, did you create this yeast culture yourself? Did you buy it? Did you get it from a friend?
I can tell just by looking at it that it is not 1:1 by weight. When its a pancake batter consistency, the water allows other things like bacteria to compete with the yeast. A true 1:1 will feel like bread dough. Almost stiff. Definitely more difficult to stir. As the yeast breaks down the glucose network, it will collapse into a more liquified state and become more bubbly. The alcohol produced will kill off the other bacterial and fungal contaminants and leave even more room for yeast to breed and eat. My advice is throw out half, add 60g water, 60g flour. Then just throw it in the fridge for a week. What I can tell you now is that you will not be making bread today my friend.
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>>22011862
You using tap water? If so, switch to bottled at the next feeding as a stopgap, and marvel at what starter does when you don't feed it shit specifically treated to fuck up microbes. Then get yourself a couple jars, bring a pot of tap water to a rolling boil for 15 minutes minimum. This'll offgas most of the chlorine and anti-microbial shit from the municipal water system. Let the water in the jars cool to room temp; rendering it safe for your starter. Feed the starter using your baking water as normal for a couple days. You'll see a massive difference. It's like an on/off switch. Tripped me up when I first established my starter. The bottled water was the first breakthrough cluing me into the fact I was introducing something that was inhibiting microbial activity. After that, I just experimented with how much boil I needed to get whatever that was out of my tap water for economic bread/doughmaking.
Ping back with an update if it does the trick. Hopefully it will, and the bounty of criminally delicious bread will be within your reach soon.
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>>22012404
No, I will use yeast for cooking at home. Gromans got all their bread from the baker or field kitchens. Very few people had a home kitchen. So picking up some sourdough from the supermarket bakery is very lindy.
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>>22014190
I bought it. And yeah I thinned it out because they said it was supposed to be muffin batter consistency and they’re lying fucks
>>22015155
I did at first but switched to filtered water. Since the post in OP, I thicker up both of the originals. They smell pretty strongly now but it’s still on the thinner side. I don’t see that elevated sponge type consistency in pics like the post above yours.
I’ve also started 2 new starters with rye flour instead of AP flour and using filtered water from the jump.
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>>22017512
>I bought it
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>>22015907
No harm in just using the bottled if you can afford it and it's already accounted for in the budget. Shit in question you want gone is just the chlorine/chloramine which off gas from a rolling boil in short order. You'll just get a smidge of scale left on your pans that'll wash off easy.
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>>22017512
What flour did you base it off of? I got mine started just fine off whole wheat flour during the winter. Filtered, unboiled water from the tap is just as microbe unfriendly due to high chlorine/chloramine levels. Only way to get that shit out is offgassing it in my experience.
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Hello /ck/. I finished day 7 of my first sourdough starter a few minutes ago, and I was hoping to find some resources on what I can make other than the standard bread in a dutch oven with it?
I've seen some recipes online about like cheese/garlic or raisin sourdough loafs, but I was wondering if it lends itself well to anything else? Also, potentially using the discard for some small breadsticks/chips to munch on seems like something people do?
Please drop any links or info that you have found helpful. I will hopefully be preparing my first levin in a few hours.
this (https://files.catbox.moe/it9xdx.jpg) recipe worked for me >>22011862
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>>22019632
pizza
herb bread/regular focaccia
dessert focaccia
tips:
use a cast iron
high hydration dough & no knead/folding techniques
keep starter in fridge so no discard
start with smallish loaves so you dont waste flour if you fock up (unless you already have exp with yeast bread)