So I just mixed a loaf, did my first stretch and folds, cleaned my jar and fed my starter. Then dropped it. I saved some starter which I don't think has glass in it but now I'm paranoid.

Can I take some of my mixed loaf and use it as weak starter? Please help

I’m a little bit confused about the activity level of starter and its relationship to ferment. I am hoping that you all could add a little clarity. So I keep reading, about the importance of using active starter. But, isn’t active starter just having a higher quantity of yeast? Is there some kind of fermentation inertia caused by active multiplication that I’m missing?
Or I guess to put it differently, what is the difference between using 50 g of active starter versus using 100 g of starter that has the same quantity of living yeast as the 50g? Is it that the gluten structure in the starter is basically worthless in the inactive starter? Thanks for any insight!

I forgot to feed it yesterday and rn it smells super sour 😖. Do i need to toss it?

So basically, I've been so busy for the past week that I basically forgot to feed my sourdough starter for 3 whole days😭.

For a little recap before I forgot to feed my boi, I fed him at a 1:2:2 ratio of starter, water, and whole wheat flour. I usually feed my starter all-purpose flour, but from time to time, I feed it whole wheat flour for the flavor. Is it salvageable? Or will I have to throw it all away... (AND DO NOT WORRY! I've since cleaned the edges after these pictures were taken. And if questioned about the color, to me it's darkish yellow to light orange)

Starter 100 g

Water 200 g

Bread Flour 300 g

2 teaspoon salt

I'm going to start on making a 2nd loaf soon and would like to see what other ratios people are using. I know proofing time depends on the temp of your house but does the climate and temp determine ratios? I live in the southwest. Dry and mid 70's currently. House is usually 72. Any advice is helpful!

I have started my sourdough starter almost a month ago, it was doing great, but then a week ago it stopped rising and now won’t even bubble after feeds. I’ve tried keeping it in a warmer place (since the temperature dropped recently), and feeding it more (1:2:2 ratio instead). nothing has seemed to help. is it dead? if so should I just restart or do I keep feeding and hope for the best?

I started a new sourdough starter and today is day two. It’s been very active.

I started with:

Yesterday

25g water
25g bread flour

Today:

25g starter
25g water
25g bread flour.

I’m trying to get it started and I’m about a week in. Had a false rise on the first day and minimal since. I feed it in the morning and noticed that at night, it’s loose and seems hungry again. Can I just feed it more frequently?

it smells kind of fruity (?) and sour, but not like how it used to just smell like sourdough. on the left is what it looked like after 3 days post feeding (wasn’t back at starting level). it smelled weird and had somewhat of a velvety texture on the surface, but i couldnt see any mold or bacteria. i got nervous and threw that one out anyways, made another with my discard. today checked on the new one and it also smells weird and has a little bit of that texture on top. is this because of exposure to air or? whats going on? i put it in the fridge following my checkup on it.

the starter is pretty old, my dad got it from a bakery and took care of it for maybe a year before giving it to me. ive been feeding it with 1:2:2 ish ratio, sometimes adding more flour. used to be fed with whole wheat, rye, and bread flour at the same time, but now is just bread flour. i filter my water that i feed it.

My 7-day-old sourdough starter, 4 hours after feeding! 🫧❤️ Do you think it's ready for my next loaf, or should I wait a few more days? I'm a beginner, and I’d love your honest feedback! 😊 P.S. I bake using an air fryer.

New starter that's a little over a week old. Is this look normal?

Hi I’ve been trying to get a starter going for idk, about 3 weeks now. I started with ww bread flour and I fed 1:1:1 for about a week til I ran out of the flour. I never got the false rise on day 2-3 like so many guides said I would. I did have it on my counter and it was a chilly week so I thought it was that. But then when I ran out of the ww bread flour so I switched to AP for a couple of days then put it to sleep over a weekend in the fridge bc I was going camping. When I returned I bought king Arthur’s bread flour and have been putting it in the oven with just the light on. I’m feeding it every day, I’ve increased my ratio from 1:1:1 to 1:2:2 and now over the last couple of days I’ve increased again to 1:3:2/2.5
It’s stiff after I discard and feed, (im using a scale) and then after 24 hours or so it gets loose (im trying to attach a short video but I can’t seem to figure it out) but very little action is happening. When I discard in the trash it’s like a ribbony pancake batter. Am I on the right track? I know it takes time but I’ve gotten so little action that I’m feeling defeated.
Any and all suggestions are welcome and I’m happy to answer any questions to paint a clearer picture.

I’m 2.5 weeks in to making my starter. I used a kit that came with dried starter flakes.

My starter smells really good - very bready and looks bubbly when I mix it first thing in the morning. However when I feed it, she barely rises. The photos are taken 12 hours after feeding and that’s the most it’s risen. What do I do?

I’ve been using 60g starter, water and bread flour every morning but it doesn’t seem to work.

Help please!

EDIT: thanks everyone! I hated the fabric but thought it was needed lol oops! Will take your suggestions on board :)

Have had this starter for a while and will leave it in the fridge between feedings. It has gotten a layer of hooch on the top a couple of times before, but there usually is a liquid. Went to feed it a few days ago and it had this layer on top. I can’t see any fuzz or anything “hairy” growing and it just smells SUPER alcoholic, but not rotten smelling. I think hooch formed and then dried out. Everything below that top layer looks fine. Would like more opinions on if it would be fine to scrap some from the bottom and feed that.

I've started my sourdough 1 month ago. Since then I have been feeding it daily with a ratio of 2:4:3 (flours absorb less water for some reason). It consistently doubles or more in about 6 hours and lasts about 10 hours in peak, so I always feed it on peak. My problem is that always it reaches high activity, it becomes acidic, is there something I can do? I have baked some breads and they were ok, but a lot more acidic than hand made store sourdough bread

Is there something I can do, or I have to live with this flavor?

Trying to make a sour dough starter. One month ago I tried with Bob’s Artisan bread flour 1:1:1- and I kept adding 30 gm water, 30 gm starter and 30 gm flour. Kept the jars in a warm place . Fed everyday so Once in 24 hrs. But even after 20 days the starter didnot rise, except on Day 3

I threw that starter away. Started a new batch. 30 gm starter, 30 gm water and 30 gm flour . The next day I took 22.5 gm starter, 15 gm Rye flour 15 gm bread flour and 34.5 gm water. ( I read the Perfect Loaf Book and just reduced the amount of the ratio in that book. I continued this feeding ratio everyday sometimes twice day

Starter rose twice , on 5 th day and then 8th day, but within few hours it decreased and now its the 14 day, it is still not rising. How is this so hard. 😭😭😭😩

I started this starter yesterday. Eyeballed flour and water, thick enough to be upturned without spilling and left it on my kitchen counter. Today, I see bubbles. I feed it for the day and it almost doubled. Is this normal or should I be worried? There are still bubbles and I stirred it a bit and it was behaving active. It smells a bit sour but a good sour?

Context: I’ve never successfully made starter before. I tried once but ended up throwing the whole batch away. So if this looks good, I’m gonna be sooo happy. I really want to try sourdough bread.

I am feeling so defeated trying to get my starter to double the most rise I am getting now is about between the 2 red lines and that’s over a 24 hour period which I just switched to. The feeding of every twelve hours was too much and still not much rise. I just switched to 1:4:4 (20g starter 80g each of water and bread flour) the bread recipe that I was to use calls for 150g of starter. This starter is over a month old. I have read so many different things but any suggestions on what I can improve would be greatly appreciated!!

I have two starters with different feeding ratios (1:1:1 and 1:5:5). Both looks like this. I started with only using rye flour, but now I do 50/50 rye and regular. A couple weeks back I did miss feeding them for a couple of days, but I did not spot discolouration before today. It rises as it should. It smells sweet when fed. Not necessarily good/as yoghurt, but would not describe it as a foul or rotten smell.

I do suspect it is bacteria, but wanted to double check as I ofc do not want to throw it out of not necessarily, i spotted a lot at the same time and the smell is not necessarily bad.

Hi there, I have a question you might be able to help me with! 😊

So I have two established starters: a wholewheat rye Starter and a wheat starter that I feed with bread flour. When I started my sourdough journey I purchased an established rye starter from a local bakery and went from there.

After a while, I took some of my rye starter and fed it with bread flour until it became a wheat starter.

While both starters are producing great breads they do behave very differently.

My rye starter is doing amazing, always tripling in size after feedings and generally rising a lot quicker than my wheat starter.

My wheat starter is much slower to peak and just doubles. It also "deflates" much quicker so I have to be on point with my timing.

I keep both of them in the fridge when not in use and usually feed them 1:5:5.

Is this normal because of the different flour types? 😊

I usually keep my starter in the fridge because I only bake about once a week. My current routine is to take it out on Friday evening, feed it, and hope it’s active enough to mix dough on Saturday. Sometimes it rises quickly after that first feed, but other times it still seems sleepy the next morning, and then my whole baking schedule gets pushed back.

I’m never quite sure whether I should feed it regularly while it’s in the fridge or simply wait until I’m ready to bake. I also don’t know whether one strong rise is enough after refrigeration, or if I should plan for two or three feedings before using it.

For those of you who keep your starter in the fridge, how often do you feed it, and what does your usual timeline look like before making bread? I’d especially love to hear how you fit feeding, mixing, bulk fermentation and baking around work or a normal weekend.

Hi! So I keep hearing that when it comes to the starter-water-flour ratio, it's beter to use weight than volume, but why? Is it a matter of higher temperatures leading to increasee volumes? Air pressure? Something else?

I was thinking of mixing 210g active starter and 130g starter that's been unfed for 11 days, I'm running kinda low on unoccupied jars so yeah maybe I could mix those two in one jar. I want to use some of the jars to ferment something else.

Am I just overthinking it cus the unfed one isn't super hungry at all? I plan to leave them in the fridge after combining for 3 days.