Sourdough Starter Troubleshooting Guide and FAQ
Basics + FAQ Maintenance Baking Troubleshooting
Many people are creating sourdough starters and exploring sourdough for the first time. It’s exciting to see people diving into a subject that I’m so passionate about!
Over the past month, I’ve received many questions on sourdough starters. To create a helpful and easily referenced resource, I’ve put together an extensive Sourdough Starter Troubleshooting Guide below.
If you’ve already established a strong sourdough starter and are experiencing troubleshooting issues related to bread baking, please check out my Sourdough Bread Troubleshooting Guide.
Here you’ll find answers to the following questions and much more:
- How do I get started?
- How can I reduce sourdough discard and waste?
- What flour should I feed my starter? What is a feeding ratio?
- Why isn’t my starter more active? Should I start over? When can I start baking with it?
Note: If you have additional questions not addressed, please leave them in the comment section.
Skip to Various Sections:
Basics + FAQ Maintenance Baking Troubleshooting
Sourdough Starter FAQ:
Q: How do I get started?
A sourdough starter is a culture of naturally occurring wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria used to make naturally leavened, fermented bread. Sourdough starters are active organisms that require regular feedings for best results.
If you’re new to sourdough baking and interested in creating a starter from scratch, I recommend checking out this list of my favorite sourdough resources and tools before getting started.
While I don’t have a sourdough starter recipe, I recommend The Perfect Loaf’s starter guide or Baker Bettie’s starter guide. Be patient as it can take up at least 2 weeks (or longer) to build an active, strong sourdough starter ready for bread baking.
Q: Do I really need a kitchen scale?
Yes. This is less of a deal-breaker for creating a starter, but vital for bread baking if you’re looking to achieve consistent results.
Volume measurements are wildly inaccurate (on that note, be sure to learn how to measure flour properly!) and will not yield consistent results for sourdough baking. I recommend this basic scale, but any accurate scale with 1-gram increments will work.
Q: Where are your starter jars from?
I’ve found Weck jars to be perfect because they’re straight-sided. This makes them easy to clean and offers a visual clue as to your starter’s activity level.
If you would prefer to use something else, choose a container that meets the following criteria: 1) easy-to-clean, 2) glass, 3) includes a lid, which can be set askew or is not airtight, 4) is appropriately sized and allows your starter to grow at least 3-4x in volume.
Q: Do I have to discard sourdough starter? How can I reduce flour waste?
Yes! Discarding part of the starter is required to maintain a healthy sourdough starter. This actually reduces waste, as it means your starter remains small and requires less flour during feedings. Also, please remember that homemade bread is less wasteful and less resource-intensive than packaged store-bought bread.
When I’m not baking bread, I scale down my starter. If I do plan on making bread, I simply scale it up during the previous night’s feeding (same feeding ratios, just larger quantities) before preparing sourdough bread or sourdough pizza dough the next morning. Please remember that you can always scale a starter up or down; the volume of your starter does not have an impact on its strength.
The best way to reduce the amount of sourdough discard during each feeding is to maintain a small starter or use the discard in sourdough discard recipes or for bread baking. You can also compost discard or gift dry sourdough starter to friends.
Note: If you want to use the discard, but don’t want to bake every day, you can compile the discard into one jar at each feeding and store this in the refrigerator. You’ll need to bring it back to room temperature (wake it up!) or give it additional feedings, depending on what you are using it for.
Q: Why do some starter guides call for different types of flours?
Methods will vary depending on a baker’s preference and experience. While you can make a sourdough starter with many flour types (do not use bleached flour for any bread baking), whole grain flours will generally yield faster results.
Rye flour is one of the best, as it is higher in nutrients than other whole grain flours. Extra nutrients will often speed up the process. If you don’t have access to rye flour, organic whole wheat flour is the next best option. Most starter guides will transition flour types and instruct you to change feeding ratios as it builds strength.
Whole grain flours contain the germ and endosperm, which become rancid if stored for extended periods at room temperature. Make sure your flour isn’t spoiled before starting.
Q: What kind of flour should I feed my starter?
Sourdough starters can be made and maintained with many different types of flours. All sourdough starters will behave differently, but different flours will yield different characteristics and flavor profiles.
Once your starter is active, I generally recommend feeding it with the type of flour that you will most often bake with. Therefore, if you’re making mostly whole grain bread, you might want to maintain a whole wheat (or predominantly whole grain) starter.
If you plan on baking with bread flour, you might want to slowly transition it to bread flour or unbleached all purpose flour over time. See more on transitioning to different flour types below.
Q: Can I make a gluten free sourdough starter?
Yes, this is possible! Gluten free starters behave extremely differently and require a completely different baking approach. There are various flour options you can try, so you’ll need to do more research to figure out what is best for you.
I am not experienced with gluten-free sourdough baking, but there are great resources (Vanilla and Bean, as well as King Arthur Flour) out there if you’re interested.
Q: Can I use packaged yeast in my starter?
No! Sourdough starters are cultures of wild yeast/lactic acid bacteria. You cannot jumpstart or create an a sourdough starter from commercial or dried yeast. It sort of defeats the point.
Q: What is a 100% hydration starter? What does that mean?
Hydration refers to water (or other liquids) quantity relative to total weight (grams) of flour. A 100% hydration sourdough starter is fed and maintained with equal parts flour and water by weight. Most sourdough bread recipes call for and use this type of starter.
Starter Maintenance Questions;
Q: Can I switch or transition flour types over time?
If your starter is brand new, I don’t recommend constantly switching your flours (type or brand) as this will impact its activity and can create confusion if you’re looking to establish a solid feeding schedule.
However, if your starter is active and mature, you can change flour type as desired or needed. I recommend transitioning the flours slowly over the course of a week. Remember that flours behave differently and you may need to adjust your feeding schedule.
Q: How do I scale my starter up or down for baking or other reasons?
Simple increase or decrease the quantities in your next feeding using the same feeding ratio (see explanation below) to maintain your current schedule. Example:
Current Starter Feeding: 20 grams starter: 100 grams flour: 100 grams water (1:5:5 ratio)
Scaled Down Starter: 5 grams starter: 25 grams flour: 25 grams water (1:5:5 ratio)
Scaled Up Starter: 40 grams starter: 200 grams flour: 200 grams water (1:5:5 ratio)
Q: Can I preserve my sourdough starter in case something happens? What’s the best way to gift it to other people?
For long term storage, I recommend keeping dried sourdough starter on hand. Follow this guide on how to dry sourdough starter. Great for an emergency back-up or for gifting to friends and family.
Q: Can I refrigerate my starter if I don’t bake frequently?
Yes. If you don’t bake frequently or are going out of town, you can refrigerate a healthy sourdough starter for long period of time. Cold temperatures slow yeast and bacteria activity and will naturally extend how long your starter can sit between feedings.
I don’t recommend continuous refrigeration as it can change the balance of wild yeast/lactic acid bacteria and yield inconsistent results. However, it’s a great option for short-term breaks!
Before refrigerating your sourdough starter, discard a portion and give it a regular feeding. Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for roughly 1 hour before transferring it to the fridge.
Once you are ready to resume regular feedings or bake with your starter, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature (ideally between 74°F-78°F) until it is bubbly and has reached peak activity. Continue with regular feedings and observe its activity.
Depending on how long it has been refrigerated, a refrigerated sourdough starter may require an additional 2 to 3 regular feedings at room temperature before it has resumed regular activity levels and is strong enough for baking sourdough bread or sourdough pizza.
Q: What do you mean by feeding ratio? Which feeding ratio should I use?
Feeding ratios are used to indicate the ratio of sourdough starter, flour, and water in each feeding. Here are a few examples:
1:1:1 ratio = equal amounts of sourdough starter, total flour, and total water by weight. [Eg. 20 grams sourdough starter: 20 grams flour: 20 grams water].
1:2:2 ratio = [Eg. 20 grams sourdough starter: 40 grams flour: 40 grams water]
1:5:5 ratio [Eg. 20 grams sourdough starter: 100 grams flour: 100 grams water]
*Most sourdough starter guides begin with a 1:1:1 ratio. As your starter becomes more active (more wild yeast/lactic acid bacteria), you will change your feeding ratio to account for the increased activity level.
Once your starter is active and on a reliable feeding schedule, you can adapt your feeding ratio as needed to adjust baking timelines, etc.
Sourdough Starter Baking Questions
Q: How do I know when my starter is ready for bread baking?
Before baking, your sourdough starter should rise predictably and be on a reliable, consistent feeding schedule. If your starter is struggling to rise between feedings or taking a significantly long period to reach peak activity, it is most likely not strong enough to leaven bread.
This might vary depending on the type of flour you’re using, but your starter should at least double in volume (or more) at peak activity and pass the float test.
My current feeding and starter activity: My two-year-old starter is currently fed King Arthur unbleached bread flour. Using a 1:5:5 ratio, my starter peaks in about 10-12 hours when held at a temperature of roughly 75F.
Q: Do I have to use my starter at peak activity? Can it be used early or late?
Once your starter is active, you can play with these elements to introduce different flavor profiles into your bread. Younger starters will have a more delicate, sweet flavor. Peaked, slightly fallen starters are higher in acetic acid and will contribute more sourness/tanginess to your loaf.
I prefer to use my sourdough starter at peak activity and when it is just beginning to fall, as this has yielded the best results for me. Remember that changing these variables will impact your dough and bulk fermentation times.
Sourdough Starter Troubleshooting
Q: My starter is developing mold. How do I know if my sourdough starter is bad?
If your starter is developing any mold (pink, etc.), throw it out immediately. There is no way to fix or salvage a moldy starter. Check your flours (are they rancid? spoiling?) before starting over.
Q: My starter isn’t showing any signs of activity and it has been several days. Did I kill my sourdough starter?
Be patient and try placing it in a warmer area of your home (76F-80F is ideal). Use your nose as a guide, as it a better tool than visual activity in the beginning. Use recipes as guidelines, not strict timelines. If your starter peaks in activity, feed it. If it sluggish, wait and give it more time.
Many guides indicate that your sourdough starter should be active and ready for baking within less than a week. This is best case scenario and is not common. Many starters take up to 2 weeks or longer to become active enough to use in bread.
Q: My starter was really active on day 2 and 3, and then there was zero activity. What is happening?
It is common for a sourdough starter to have a surge in activity those first few days and then die down. This is normal and the results of another type of bacteria build up, not an indication that your starter is dead.
It will pick up again with time and the right types of bacteria (wild yeast/lactic acid) will increase and become more stable.
Q: My starter is active, but is barely rising between feedings. What do I do?
Stay the course, be patient, and continue with regular feedings until it strengthens. If you’re using a smaller ratio of sourdough starter in your feedings, consider increasing it until the starter gains more strength.
If your starter is not doubling or growing substantially in volume between feedings, it is not strong enough to leaven dough. You can certainly try baking, but you most likely will not achieve proper fermentation.
Q: Why isn’t my starter passing the float test?
Float tests are not fool-proof, but are generally reliable for 100% hydration sourdough starters (starters that are fed equal portions of flour and water). Failed float tests generally indicate the following:
- Your sourdough starter is too young and not strong enough for bread baking.
- The starter is strong and active, but not quite ready. Allow the starter to sit at temperature for another 30 minutes or hour and test again.
Q: My ambient kitchen is very cold. What can I do?
Wild yeast prefers warmer temperatures. If you’re dealing with cooler temperatures, your sourdough starter will take longer to develop, require more time to peak between feedings, and your bulk fermentation time for bread baking will be extended considerably. This isn’t a deal-breaker, but something to be aware of.
You can try storing your starter in an oven with the light on (please use an ambient thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature as some ovens can easily become too hot). You can also try placing your starter container in a microwave next to a warm bowl of water.
If you’re serious about bread baking and struggling with temperature regulation, I highly recommend a bread proofing box (I own this Brod & Taylor one and love it).
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out my other sourdough bread baking resources:
177 Comments on “Sourdough Starter Troubleshooting Guide and FAQ”
Can I feed my ripe/peak starter to keep it from falling if I can’t start my recipe for a few hours? If so, how much should I feed it? Just a little to keep it active? Thx
Hi! You give so much great detail here! My starter is over a year old. For a while, I was getting really Great rise out of it it lately is is barely rising at all. It’s slightly bubbly on top. I typically don’t discard and do a 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water. I tried removing lots of the starter and doing the 1/2 to 1/2 cup again and still barely got a rise. Is it possible to salvage?
Hello! Just ran across your blog today and am loveing the info!
I’m on my second starter attempt (the first one got to just over 2 weeks old and got some mold on top 🙁 so had to throw it.) I’m on day 5 of my starter now. I have been doing a 1:1:1 ratio and have been using ww flour and unbleached bread flour.
The first 2 days it’s exploded and even ran over my 1 qt jar. So I was pretty excited but now I’m on day 6 and it hasn’t done much of anything since day 2. I did get some hooch on top by day 3, since I had no idea I should have fed it when it fell rather than waiting the whole 24 hours.
I just fed it 2 hours ago and it was the nice thick consistency and now it’s super runny. I could easily pour it out of thr jar. I was keeping it in the oven with the light on. The thermometer was reading it is about 85 degrees in there. Is that to hot? Should I feed it again when it gets runny? It’s smells fine and has maybe 6 little bubbles on top.
I’m so excited to start a new hobby! My husband it very impatiently waiting for a loaf of bread. 😅
Sorry for not replying to this sooner. It isn’t uncommon to see a surge of activity in the first few days and have it die down substantially right after that. The initial activity is misleading, and does not indicate that your starter is strong enough for baking with yet. Ideally, you’ll want to feed your starter when it reaches peak activity (you might want to use a rubber band to see how ‘tall’ it gets before no further growth – this is peak activity and it will shift and change as it gets stronger). Hooch will develop if it is not fed for quite some time. In that case, pour off and discard the hooch and proceed to feed. Avoid following super prescriptive starter feeding instructions at this point, as every starter behaves differently and it’s the basics that you’ll want to follow (feed once peak activity is reached, etc.), not an arbitrary timeline.
85 degrees is very warm for a starter to be stored at – and will lead to it peaking very quickly – and oven temperatures are notoriously wrong and it may be even WARMER than that. Best case, the starter would be stored between 72-76 degrees Fahrenheit and that will slow down activity to reduce the number of feedings you have to do in a day.
Keep at it and it will continue to get stronger and more predictable!
Hi Laura thank you for helping us. my room temperature is 78 f . I keep my starter in the fridge and I bake once a week. After I use my starter I feed it, leave it on table until it doubled in size, then I put in the fridge.Before I bake I feed my starter twice. I use rye flour and bread flour for feeding. I remove my starter from the fridge 9:00 p.m. I wait until it comes to room temperature,then I feed it at 10:00pm, after 5 hours my starter double in size, then I need to do second feeding middle of the night, so I get up around 3:00 a.m. to feed my starter. Then in the morning around 7:00 am my starter is ready to use to bake bread. Will you tell me please how I can feed my starter, so I won’t get up middle of the night to feed it. I need to start it in the morning so I can go church at 7pm. Thank you in advance.
Sorry for only just replying! I would simply remove it from the fridge much earlier in the day, and adjust your feeding ratio so that you can go 10-12 hours between feedings (not sure what your ratio is, but this can always be adjusted to tweak timelines!). This would enable you to feed just before going to bed, so it doesn’t reach peak activity until the morning when you’re ready to bake.
This might require some tinkering. Your ambient temperature is warm, so that, combined with potentially your ratio, is causing it to peak in a very short window of time (5 hours). The way to combat that is to change up your ratio, use colder water for feedings, reduce ambient temperature somehow, etc. All of these variables can be played and experimented with to make timelines work for you – instead of working AROUND your starter’s schedule. Hope this helps!
hi, i made my starter from scratch around three weeks ago and i have been feeding it twice a day with 90% bread flour and 10% rye flour. it’s been rising and falling but the rise does not reach a double and the top of my starter is matte even though i have covered my mason jar tightly, any tips on helping it rise to a double or even a triple?
It sounds like it’s drying out – but it should NOT be covered tightly (or sealed, it could explode!). I would try to figure out an alternative storage solution – a new jar or lid? And see if that helps things. In addition, you might just need to give it more time as it’s still a relatively young starter and it can take some time to establish strength, as frustrating as that sounds.
I would switch to a 80/20 ratio (bread flour to rye) or 50/50 ratio (bread flour to rye). Rye has more nutrients, so it might just need a boost to gain more activity! See if that helps?
This is simply a thank you. I had been feeding my starter for over a week. The starter was initially grown a month and a half ago. But due to time commitments, I had to put the scrapings in the refrig until this last week. I had made two loaves of sourdough bread initially that looked fine. And a couple days ago, made baguettes. But never did my starter ever double in volume. I used a 1:1:1 ratio of starter to Rye to water.
After reading a great deal of your blog, I came to the conclusion that I needed to add bread flour to my Rye. Immediately, after the first feeding with 50% bread flour and 50% Rye, my starter doubled in volume in six hours.
Thank you thank you thank you.
Hi Laura, thanks so much for this awesome guide. I’ve read it about 40 times! One thing I am still trying to work out- I have a starter that’s about 3 weeks old. I have been feeding it 1:1:1 (60g starter, 30g bread and 30g whole wheat, 60g warm water) and its now doubling consistently in about 6 hours in my kitchen and looking good.
However when I try to take some for leaven (I’m terrified of messing with my seed starter ha!) and feed it 1:2:2 (40g starter, 80g bread flour, 80g warm water) at 8pm to rise overnight, the 1:2:2 leaven isn’t doubling in 12 hours- it’s maybe gaining about 1/4 in size. I know it’s definitely not peaking because I keep waking up at 2am to check 😂 Would this just be because my seed starter is too young to consume that much food and more patience is required? I’m assuming I could still scale up my seed starter using 1:1:1 and bake with that anyway as it’s become predictable? Love your thoughts!
Hi Mel, sorry for the delay in responding to your questions. Your starter is still quite young (as frustrating as that may sound to hear!), so you may still need to work on strength building. Maybe try replacing the whole wheat flour with rye flour and see if that helps. Rye has more nutrients than whole wheat, and can be really helpful for building a strong starter. Also, if you can find a warmer spot, try that too!
I don’t think your starter is too young to change up the ratio, but it will certainly take much longer if it still takes 6 hours to double with a 1:1:1. For perspective, my starter can more than double using a 1:5:5 ratio in about 10 hours.
You could certainly try baking, but if it’s taking quite some time with a 1:1:1 ratio, I think it might cause similar problems with your dough and fermentation (it will take too long for the dough to develop and if it takes too long, the dough can start to break down). I would encourage you to keep at it with feedings and try switching to rye and see if that helps!!! Again, it took me a solid month for my starter to make a decent loaf, so 3 weeks is still somewhat young.
Hi Laura, on day 5 of making the starter, do I feed it, and how do I move on to using it in a recipe?
Hi Donna! I’ve linked to multiple resources in this post, as well as answered many of these questions in the article itself – if you are following a sourdough starter guide (this is not that, just a troubleshooting article), it should guide you through that process. Again, I have linked to MANY resources and videos in this post that go into the process in detail. Unfortunately I can’t answer such broad questions in the comment section. Please also check out my sourdough resources post for even more!
https://www.abeautifulplate.com/sourdough-bread-tools-and-resources/
Hi,
I have a question regarding the starter, every day after around 18-20h after the feeding the starter becomes very alcoholic smell and on top it appears like dried out, it is not mold (I hope), it’s just looks dried.
The jar I use is lightly closed, and starter is made of 50% rye 50% wholemeal flour. I’m not sure, but I have a feeling that is the reason the bread doesn’t fully proof.
Yep – that’s a very long time between feedings, especially if you’re using whole grain or rye flours and keeping your starter at room temperature. It sounds like it has risen and fallen substantially in that time frame, especially if it smells alcoholic and is very very thin and liquidy. Ideally, you’d feed it at peak activity and well ahead of this happening to keep it healthiest and prevent the acid levels from increasing a lot.
Maybe also try a lid that rests on top, it might also be drying out slightly due to whatever vessel/lid combo that you’re using. If your bread dough is struggling, I think it’s a combination of the high acid levels and the fact that you’re probably not using your starter in your dough when it is at peak or just past peak. Using a starter that has fallen substantially is not ideal – you’d be better off feeding it again and waiting once more until it reaches peak.
usually I use the starter once it at least doubles the size (depending of the feeding ratios). I will try to feed every 12 hours and to follow what will happen. Thank you very much for your answer. Will reach out if I have other questions.
You should definitely follow your starter’s lead (not a random time) but it sounds like it has fallen, based on your description that it is very alcoholic in smell.
When feeding a starter and waiting, do i leave uncovered or tightly covered.
Covered, but it should NOT be airtight! A glass jar top or a lid not completely screwed are good examples, some air needs to be able to circulate or it could explode.
Hi Ashley! My starter is now 29-day old. It’s taking forever to double, almost 24 hours! It’s all bubbly. I am using 30g rye 30g spelt, 60g starter and 60g water for each feed. Should I feed on a regular basis (every 12 hrs) even it’s not doubled? Or should I wait for it to double and collapse before I feed it? Even when it’s doubled or almost doubled, it didn’t pass the float test. Is my starter still not ready? 🙁 Thank you for your tips!
Hi Kate (my name is Laura 🙃). Happy to help. Is there a reason why you’re feeding it with 50/50 spelt and rye? Spelt and rye are 100% whole grains and very unique wheat strains that behave much differently than the type of wheat used for bread flour, etc. I would recommend using only a portion of rye and mostly bread flour for feedings, especially when first starting out and you’re getting familiar with how a starter should behave. Even small things like that can cause issues with things like the float test (which isn’t 100% reliable). I use an 80/20 ratio (80% bread flour, 20% rye) and would recommend switching to something like this and seeing how things go.
I have a feeling it’s that factor – plus the 1:1:1 ratio – that is causing a lot of confusion. Are you sure it’s not doubling? With that much starter (to flour ratio) in each feeding, it could be rising and falling VERY quickly if it’s a few weeks old, to the point where you’re missing it. If it smells very acidic or alcoholic, that could be a tell tale sign. Keep me posted and don’t hesitate to email me if you have more questions!
My starter (1:1:1) is mature and seems To be strong. It will double in about ten hours. I need to use it i a recipe that wants me to feed it using a 1:5:5 ratio. I did that and it isn’t doubling at all. It gets bubbly and passes the float test but it maybe rose only 40%. I tried to feed it again using a 1:5:5 ratio to see if I could get more action but nope. Any thoughts as to what i should do next? Thank you!
Hi Linda! It sounds like your starter is quite young based on this description. Ideally, it should be able to double in size with a 1:3:3 or 1:5:5 feeding ratio in less than 10-12 hours. If it’s taking a solid 10 hours with a 1:1:1, it sounds like it isn’t quite strong enough. If it’s not doubling, it sounds like it just needs more time. You might want to play around with keeping it at a warmer temperature and using a combination of bread and rye flour to boost the activity.
I recently purchased the bröd and Taylor proofing box and thought I would love it but no matter what I do it cooks my sourdough starter. I placed and ambient thermometer in with my starter and the box was set to proof at the lowest setting which is 70 degrees Fahrenheit but the thermometer read that the temp was well over 100 degrees. The machine is has only been in my possession for less than 24 hours. I don’t understand what could be wrong. Help?
Hi! Do you accidentally have it on the slow cooker setting?! Also, how are you monitoring the temperature inside, and is your sourdough starter literally hot to touch? This sounds incredibly unusual, so I would definitely reach out to their customer support team and they should be able to help you out! I don’t work for the company, so I can’t help with this type of issue other than to say I’m sorry that it’s happening!
I truly enjoy your knowledge on so many different questions and scenarios. I had a good first batch but it went moldy. I had my Weck jar next to a fruit basket where the fruit becomes over ripe. I moved the jar to a second location but I think that it might be drafty at this new place. I have two questions: 1) should I use the seals that came with the Weck jars? This seems like it would be an anaerobic environment which might not be healthy for the starter but I believe that this would prevent the mold that I experienced. 2) When combining the 1:1:1 or any other combination, should the wet ingredients be combined with the dry ingredients followed by the started? In other words, what are the correct steps for combining the starter and new ingredients? Also, should they be folded or truly mixed together? Many thanks in advance!
Thanks so much for your feedback and questions! You do not want to use the seal if you’re using a weck jar. You want to just use the glass lid, and never want it to be airtight. When you’re doing feedings, it really doesn’t matter which order you combine the ingredients. I tend to measure water first, because if I overshoot the flour slightly with my scale, it’s easier to remove some (rather than the other way around). You want everything to be mixed very well so there are no dry bits of flour, and the starter is evenly incorporated through. Thoroughly mix always!
Thanks so much for your reply.
Hi, my starter was so active on day2
,3 and day 4,, but on day 5 it barely rising between feedings.
What should I do?
My ratio is 1:1:1
P.s: on the first 4 days my starter rose and doubled its size.
Hi Somaya! It is common that a starter will have a false amount of activity a few days into the process and then taper off (it confuses a lot of people!). Unless you’re mixing up other things, it should get back to real activity in the coming week or so. Keep me posted!
Hello! I started my starter with king arthur whole wheat flour and after a few weeks it started bubbling and rising beautifully but I bake with all purpose flour so I wanted to change the feedings over to king arthur all purpose. I did that 4 days ago and now it’s not rising and barely bubbling. It looks thick like cake batter where it used to resemble mouse with the webbing pulling away from the jar. What can I do to get back to that?? Please help! I would like to continue feeding it all purpose flour. I do 50g starter 50g water and 50g flour
Hi Ashley! Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. You can feed your starter whole wheat and still bake with it to make a loaf that utilized all-purpose, and your starter will be stronger, so I don’t recommend switching to a 100% all purpose feed. Though it isn’t unusual that it takes some time for a starter to adapt to a big change like that, so that is part of it!
Did you accidentally switch to a bleached all purpose flour? [That would definitely cause issues!] I might need some more details to help out, but I would go back to at the very least an 80% all purpose and 20& whole wheat flour mixture at the very least, and strongly would recommend baking bread with bread flour as opposed to all purpose. The higher gluten/protein content is ideal!
Hiya! I made a wonderful starter that gave our family many loaves over a year or so. I let it die after I had my baby and have struggled to get a strong starter since. I’m on day 30(?) now, and although it has activity it has stayed consistently llimited. Within 12hrs it will bubble and rise, but will not double in size and will not pass a float test. It sinks down and has slide marks 10-15hrs after feeding.
I started it with 60g locally harvested whole wheat flour & 60g organic white bread flour : 120g filtered water. I have tried playing with my flour ratios and also tried slowly added in rye flour.
I am currently maintaining the feeds with 120g flour, 120g warm filtered water and 136g of starter.
I keep it in a warm place and have tried moving it to different areas.
I have tried letting it get extra hungry and tried feeding it as soon as it starts to sink down. I’ve also tried different water temperatures.
None of the above has made any changes.
I would appreciate any guidance and tips you could offer. I don’t want to give up on it and rrestart but I am slowly running out of patience.
Thank you in advance !!
Hi Kaylee! I’m assuming you threw out your old starter, but if you didn’t, definitely try reviving it again (assuming there is no mold or strange smell). You’d be surprised how resilient strong starters can be, even after lots of neglect.
Hmm, it does seem a bit odd that it is taking this long to show much activity – but sometimes they can be VERY sluggish, particularly in the winter months if your house is kept at a very cool temperature, etc. Also, that is a LARGE amount of starter in a feeding, so I am almost wondering if you’re missing its activity altogether? I might try reducing the overall amount of your feeds/starter size just simply to avoid extra waste – especially if it isn’t strong enough to bake with yet. I would try 80% bread flour and 20% rye flour (or 90% bread/10% rye) and give it some time to adjust to see if you start seeing some changes. For ex: 20 grams starter, 40 grams bread flour, 10 grams rye flour, 50 grams slightly warm filtered water.
Keep me posted!!!
Starter not bubbling. I read your instructions. Frustrating.
Hi, not sure what to advise unless you provide more information! This post is a troubleshooting guide, not a recipe for creating a starter. I’d need more details to help you. If your starter is young, be patient. It took my starter close to 3 weeks to become active and reliable.
Love this blog!!! I have it bookmarked. 😌. My sour dough was started 6 days ago. Overnight it developed a brow layer. What is?
If it’s liquidy and smells a little alcoholic or very acidic, it’s hooch or potentially a slight separation! Hooch means it ran out of food a while back. Pour off the liquid layer and do a normal discard/feeding. If it’s moldy or smells very odd, thats the only time to get rid of it – which is uncommon unless you live in a super warm environment.
My starter gets over active and oozes out of the large jar. What are a going on with it?
Hi! There’s no such thing as over active per say. It just means that maybe you have a jar that’s too small for the quantity of starter / feed ingredients. Ideally, you’ll always feed your starter when it runs out of food (reaches peak activity level, but before it falls). I recommend scaling down your starter or changing up your feeding ratio (see this post for more details!) if you want to slow it down or avoid it over spilling. That will take care of it!
Thanks, very useful guide. One more question: shoukd one always use a clean jar for every new feeding? If not, how frequently should a clean jar be used? Thanks.
Nope! You can totally keep using the same jar too, I just find it to be a bit messy sometimes over time and prefer to switch out for clean ones every now and then – also just makes cleaning the jars easier. As long as the starter on the sides isn’t getting too crusty, etc. you can keep the same one. It is a personal choice!