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Just fead my #sourdough starter and absent-mindedly threw the discard in the garbage (which is what I usually do). I was planning on making biscuits with it.

Guess I'll be making midnight biscuits instead (after my next scheduled feeding).

These things happen πŸ˜† On Friday I had my ingredients weighed out and ready to go. Got distracted and forgot to add starter to my dough.


Now that I've got a decent handle on making my own #sourdough.* I'm setting my sights on #kombucha next. Obviously, this needs to be done from scratch as well.

* I'm competent, but by no means have I perfected the art.

@BirdBird I am slightly concerned about the possibility of giving myself botulism, but hey...

The worst thing you'll have to worry about is mold. If you buy a scoby in liquid online (or have a friend who makes kombucha and has a spare) the risk is minimal.

You Brew Kombucha on YouTube is how I learned. I recommend checking her out.

Have fun fermenting!



No wonder this #sourdough biscuit recipe is so delicious. It's almost 1/4 butter by mass (23.9%).


Trying to ferment my #sourdough a little longer today. The recipe says it should increase in size by 50%, but I always have such a hard time judging that.
Looking good, but I feel like we can still do better...
photo of a loaf of sourdough bread cut in half with small-ish air bubbles in the bread
No, you just ate half a loaf of bread in one sitting. πŸ™ƒ


I draw the line at using bottled water to feed my #sourdough starter. They did this in ancient times; they didn't have Dasani back then.
I used to filter it but now use water straight from the tap and didn't notice a difference
This entry was edited (4 months ago)


The #sourdough starter that I've been trying to get going has taken on a vague smell of apples, which is a little perplexing, but I'm not mad about it.
does it have rye flour in? I often find my eye starter has an apple-y smell.
@Steven I started it with whole wheat, and have been feeding it bread flour ever since.
that’s less expected then, I don’t remember having an apple-y bread flour starter.
a vague smell is okay and normal, just watch that it doesn't get too strong or you might be running into these problems: https://crustylabs.com/what-makes-sourdough-smell-sweet-and-why-is-it-bad-for-baking/


It's taken two weeks and a lot of experimentation to figure out what the problem was, but I've finally got my #sourdough starter nearly doubling in size as it rises after feeding. πŸ˜€πŸž
...and by two weeks, I mean two weeks since I scrapped the last batch and started over.

Bob Jonkman reshared this.


To all the #sourdough enthusiasts of the fediverse: I'm working on getting a viable starter going. Can anyone recommend a beginner-friendly bread recipe. Given how much trouble I'm having just with the starter, I probably need something relatively easy.
#AskFedi
I used the instructions from King Arthur Flour. Starter prep took 7 days. Very easy. I've now had the same starter going for two years, replenishing/feeding only every 2-3 weeks (4 weeks max) since I don't bake alot.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-starter-recipe
Started a fresh batch with some of the feedback I got. This is roughly 10 hours after the first feeding. This is similar to the result I got on previous attempts, except that it nearly wouldn't rise at all on subsequent feedings.

The recipe called for the second feeding to be 24 hours after the first, and then every 12 hours thereafter.

I'm going to try at the 12 hour mark though, since I think the problem was that it had starved by the 24h mark. I'm also using bread flour this time instead of all purpose. I started with whole wheat, because it's what I had on hand, and my wife might murder me if I tell her I need to get yet another variety of flour. πŸ™ƒ

Is this common for a first feeding? My apartment tends to be quite warm, FWIW.

#sourdough
photo of a glass jar nearly overflowing with rising sourdough starter; the jar has a hinged lid which is closed but not latched, and covered with plastic wrap
@Jonathan Lamothe well, you need a better jar, but nah, that doesn't seem unreasonable
@silverwizard Yeah, if nothing else, a larger one. This is actually a step up from the one I started with, but I still didn't quite go big enough.
It depends on how lively your starter is and the ambient temperature. If you’re feeding regularly it should be very quick to double, if it’s been more than a few days you might need a couple of feeds before it’s ready to bake with. My starter lives in the fridge, I take it out the night before I plan to bake and feed it. The day of the bake I take out 100g of starter and put the jar of remains back in the fridge where it stays for 3-4 days until my next bake.
Just gave it its second feeding at the 12 hour mark. Guess we'll see of that helps.

Bob Jonkman reshared this.

Well, I'm definitely no longer having issues getting my #sourdough starter to rise. I have invested in a larger jar into which I will transfer it on the next feeding.
photo of a glass jar of sourdough starter significantly overflowing the jar

Bob Jonkman reshared this.

@me comes home after running some errands downtown only to find #Sourdough starter oozing out of all the outwardly burst doors and windows of his home πŸ˜†
Very young starters (1/2 weeks old) usually have a crazy activity, but it is driven mostly by bacteria that you don't really want to bake with. With more time, the good yeasts will take over, and that's when it becomes mature (~3 weeks in). So don't be surprised if it slows down in the next couple of weeks, that's normal: it is finding its own healthy and long-term microbial community. You might also notice a change from a sharp sour smell (bacteria) to a smoother yogurty one (yeasts).
I maintain mine in a 500 mL jar (2 cups). During the week, I refresh it every day with a spoonful of the old starter (usually not even a spoonful, just what is left on the sides of the jar), 15 g of flour (about 1/8 cup) and 15 mL of water (about 1/16 cup). The day before a baking day, I use 3 to 4 times that, and this still fits in the 500 mL jar. If I am not baking, I pour the starter into a skillet and I add some raisins: it makes a nice snack and allows to keep my amount of starter low.
I stand corrected. My #sourdough starter was very active for about 24h after the first feeding, but it's gone back to being relatively inert. It's been a week since I started this batch and it's barely rising at all any more.

I've started keeping it in an insulated bag after feeding, but only since the last two feedings. I'm wondering if it's possibly due to the fact that instead of putting it back in the same glass jar, I put it in a freshly washed one after every feeding (because I tend to spill starter all over the jar making a mess of it when I measure it out).

The proportions I'm using to feed it are: 113g of starter, 1 cup of bread flour, 1/2 cup of warm water. I do this every 12 hours (+/-15 minutes or so).

The recipe says it should be good to go after 5 or 6 days, but I've heard of people needing up to three weeks to get a viable starter going.

#AskFedi
I grew 3 or 4 starters from scratch and it always happened exactly like you describe. Keep feeding it regularly and wait, as long as it doesn't grow mold (or gets weird smells or colors) you are good. If by 3 weeks it doesn't at least double in 12 hours, then there is a problem with flour or water. It works in 3 days or 3 wks depending on the flour, the microorganisms that are in it or on your hands, whether there is already a starter living around, etc. I am sure it will work for you too πŸ˜€
@Virgile Andreani Good to know. I guess my recipe was just a bit over-prescriptive with the timeline.

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