Intro • Day 1 • Day 2 • Day 3 • [Day 4] • Day 5 • Day 6 • Day 7 • Final Thoughts • Day 15
Day 4:
(and once daily until it starts to expand and smell yeasty), mix . . .
2 oz. of the starter (1/4 c. after stirring down–discard the rest)
1 oz. flour** (scant 1/4 cup)
1 oz. water (2 tablespoons)
** You can feed the starter/seed culture whatever you would like at this point. White flour, either bread or a strong all-purpose like King Arthur or a Canadian brand will turn it into a general-purpose white sourdough starter. Feed it rye flour if you want a rye sour, or whole wheat, if you want to make 100% whole wheat breads. If you’re new to sourdough, a white starter is probably the best place to start.
Yowza!! PJ has expanded a huge amount overnight!
When I pop open the lid, there is a distinct yeasty smell though still with a pineapple one. Wally , on the other hand, is still napping, doing what is needed to get the pH in his jar down. OK boys, time to wash up and get ready for your next phase.
Here I’ve reduced the two starters to 1/4c (2 oz or 58g) and put that in separate containers so I can wash out the jars and lids.
I’ve also measured out 2 Tbsp (28g) water for each jar and a “scant” 1/4 cup (28g) of UAP flour. I’m using separate utensils for each to avoid cross contamination or interference between the two starter. As you can see, the water and flour weights are equal (28g/28g) so we’re building a 100% hydration starter at this point.
The two lots get mixed up and we then have our first UAP feed.
And yes, Wally still stinks, just a little less so now.
Because this is a process involving variable live cultures, I think it may be better to outline the phases of development, rather than to give a timetable. It’s a natural succession that will progress at its own speed. You can influence it, but you can’t control it–not an easy concept for a baker :-) “Relax. Be patient.” You’ll hear that a lot in regard to sourdough.
You don’t have to taste the mixture if the thought really bothers you, but it will tell you a lot about the progress at times when there may be no other outward signs. Lactic acid doesn’t really have an aroma, so you won’t be able to gauge just how sour it is by smell. Taste the initial mixture to get a point of reference and pay attention to the sourness level as you go. Taste it before you feed and decide if it is more sour or the same as after you fed it 24 hours previous. Taste it again after feeding the next addition to compare in the next 24 hours.
Intro • Day 1 • Day 2 • Day 3 • [Day 4] • Day 5 • Day 6 • Day 7 • Final Thoughts • Day 15
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Aloha Paul,
I’m on day 4 and you mention giving the “kids” an extra feeding when they use up the food in the jar. With this extra food, do you just add flour and water to the jar? Or do you reduce the amount of starter and use the 1:1:1 ratio? Sorry if this old man is a little dense here… comes with age!!
Mahalo,
Royall
Hi Royall,
Sorry about the very long delay in replying, I guess I missed your post.
At this point, we’re reducing the starter to a small amount at each feed so in this case I discard all but 2 Tbsp of starter and feed as indicated.
I’m guessing this is WAYYY late for you and you’re gone ahead with the starter. I’m sure it worked out in any case. The difference is that by reducing, I’m really cutting back on how many hungry yeasties there are so there’s more food available. Simply adding food without cutting back still gives them more food but it’s shared by a lot more critters. Still, either way means they get more food.
Well, here we are at day four and Mina did not have the massive expansion. Kind of expected that because of the cooler house temps. She did at least almost double. Maybe 1/8th short of doubling. I’m still pleased with her activity.
Thank you Paul for suggesting some options to warm her up some. (Day three comments.) It would be nice if a person could buy a coffee cup warmer with a temp control! That would be soooo nice and easy. LOL
Today is moving day to a different jar, discarding and feeding water and APF.
I am concerned about under feeding her at this stage so I will be giving her extra APF and water so she will make it through 24 hours without going hungry. (1:1:1 by weight) I hope this is not a mistake on my part.
I can say that I’m enjoying this adventure. :>)
Deka
Oh no…I forgot to do step 4 last night…is it too late to do it this am? Gah!
Hey Gwyn,
No, it’s not too late. Starter is quite forgiving and can actually take a fair bit of abuse. Carry on and get back on schedule as best you can and it will work out fine!
phew! Thanks
Hi Paul! So I’ve separated my starter today and added white bread flour but am left with quite a bit of rye starter since I don’t have two experimental ones going. Should I do anything with this or just discard it? Also, on day 5 she talks about reducing to 1:1:1 but if I’ve discarded my original starter how can I reduce my ratio? Shouldn’t it be all my white sourdough starter:1:1? Know what I mean? Can offer some advice? Thanks!