Sourdough Starter: Day 02

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Sourdough Starter: Day 02

Ingredients
25g flour (always assume organic and 50:50 mix wholemeal: rye)
25g spring/mineral water

Equipment
1 sterile teaspoon(s)
Scales

Method
  • Again, just the 25g flour and 25g spring or mineral water into your Day 01 starter and mix in well with that sterile teaspoon. Done.
Hygiene
Try to keep the sides of the jar and seal free of any flour or flour mix because they increase the risk of contamination especially if you get the starter mix around the jar top or on the seal. We don't want to increase the risks of things going bad early on.

Day 2 before adding more food. There is definitely a lot of life now. It is bubbling away quite nicely and when I open the lid there is a definite release of pressure (and add the air pressure is equalised, the foam reduces in height).

Photos
6am this morning
20190731_071410.jpg 20190731_071358.jpg

11am this morning, just before it was fed again. After today, I'll be refreshing it rather than feeding it because it is getting active and ion rubbing pout of space in the small ¼L Kilner jar it's in.

20190731_102921.jpg 20190731_102914.jpg
 
Out of interest, this is my old starter which had been dormant in the fridge for the last 15-18 months. I brought it out of the fridge and fed it on the same day I started the new starter.

It has the most wonderful sourdough aroma and very definite alcohol smell (from fermentation). It is so very active that I've had to empty almost all of it from the jar and refresh it, not feed it. Refreshing is when you basically get rid of all but a teaspoon of the original mother and add it to 50g flour and 50g water. I'll do this every other day now before I make a loaf or send it back to the fridge to be a touch less active.

20190731_102938.jpg 20190730_210935.jpg

The spare mother that would normally be thrown from this older starter, had been made up too start some bread. It weighed 175g or thereabouts, so I've added 200g flour and 200g water to it and I'll start a new thread relating to that experiment. I've yet to decide if we'll have a loaf of bread, another pizza or if I'll make a nice garlic and herb focaccia.
 
Out of interest, this is my old starter which had been dormant in the fridge for the last 15-18 months. I brought it out of the fridge and fed it on the same day I started the new starter.

It has the most wonderful sourdough aroma and very definite alcohol smell (from fermentation). It is so very active that I've had to empty almost all of it from the jar and refresh it, not feed it. Refreshing is when you basically get rid of all but a teaspoon of the original mother and add it to 50g flour and 50g water. I'll do this every other day now before I make a loaf or send it back to the fridge to be a touch less active.

View attachment 30148 View attachment 30149

The spare mother that would normally be thrown from this older starter, had been made up too start some bread. It weighed 175g or thereabouts, so I've added 200g flour and 200g water to it and I'll start a new thread relating to that experiment. I've yet to decide if we'll have a loaf of bread, another pizza or if I'll make a nice garlic and herb focaccia.

This sounds like a ginger beer bug that we used to make as kids to make ginger beer. Is it similar??

Russ
 
This sounds like a ginger beer bug that we used to make as kids to make ginger beer. Is it similar??

Russ
It can be a bit addictive but... A member asked about sourdough starters and making them and quite a few persons popped up saying that they wanted to make once or that they had had problems making one. I've never had problems making them, so said I would talk everyone who wanted to, through it. So best way of doing that is to make one, but I also had a dormant one at the back of the fridge. It got shelved quite literally last year when we had to move house at very short notice and whilst moving house I found out that I quite literally needed life saving surgery. So i thought that I'd find out if the one at the back of the fridge was still alive and if it was, run a test to see how well it has faired whilst resting. Plus, until moving to Australia, I used to make all of our own bread. So I wouldn't mind making a few loaves, though I won't stay in earnest until mid September when I'm back from my holiday and had chance to recover.

But yes making sourdough is a bit of a bug, but very easy to do and I enjoy it.
 
I'm now confused (tired). Can you spell out what I do next (tomorrow). Do I follow day 3 instructions?
Sourdough Starter: Day 03

Looking at my starter this morning, it's clear to me that it had used all of the available food to it and needs a refresh rather than a straight feed. So today I'll throw most of it away and put fresh flour and water in it.

I know this because my starter is very runny. It's got a slightly different colour to it and it isn't very bubbly.
  1. If your's still looks like yesterday's, just feed it again like yesterday.
  2. If it is as I describe, then do a refresh.
  3. If there's a bad odour, mold, black spots or growth of any other kind, you'll need to start again.
  4. If nothing had happened yet, or it's only got the odd bubble here and there consider keeping it warmer (or cooler, possible but unlikely).

Day 3 is an either or day. There are 2 posdibities, (actually 3 if it's smelling or looking bad, you'd start again).Your's looks to be the same as mine was in the description. I've edited my quote to clarify and correct an amusing typo... Your's appears to be option 2. But is it much thinner or just very bubbly? If it is just very bubbly you could leave it another 12 hours to get it to the thinner stage and then pick up from there with an empty it all away (refresh/replenish). Some sites mix terms around so I'll just go with feed (simply adding more to existing starter) or (refresh) empty it almost all away...
 
I'm now totally confused. Sorry - I'm tired and shouldn't be on-line.

But is it much thinner or just very bubbly?
I don't know if its thinner or more bubbly than yours. Its certainly bubbly.

If it is just very bubbly you could leave it another 12 hours to get it to the thinner stage and then pick up from there with an empty it all away (.

What do you mean 'empty it all away' (refresh/replenish)? You mean start all over again?
 
I'm now totally confused. Sorry - I'm tired and shouldn't be on-line.


I don't know if its thinner or more bubbly than yours. Its certainly bubbly.



What do you mean 'empty it all away' (refresh/replenish)? You mean start all over again?
To the letter.

Leave it alone and go and get some sleep.
After sleep, it should be thinner and runnier. This will be obvious when it happens.
Then follow day 3 instructions following the through almost all of it away (called a refresh or replenish). Not a feed and not start again from scratch.

But first, sleep for both of you.
 
Sourdough Starter: Day 02

Ingredients
25g flour (always assume organic and 50:50 mix wholemeal: rye)
25g spring/mineral water

Equipment
1 sterile teaspoon(s)
Scales

Method
  • Again, just the 25g flour and 25g spring or mineral water into your Day 01 starter and mix in well with that sterile teaspoon. Done.
Hygiene
Try to keep the sides of the jar and seal free of any flour or flour mix because they increase the risk of contamination especially if you get the starter mix around the jar top or on the seal. We don't want to increase the risks of things going bad early on.

Day 2 before adding more food. There is definitely a lot of life now. It is bubbling away quite nicely and when I open the lid there is a definite release of pressure (and add the air pressure is equalised, the foam reduces in height).

Photos
6am this morning
View attachment 30143 View attachment 30145

11am this morning, just before it was fed again. After today, I'll be refreshing it rather than feeding it because it is getting active and ion rubbing pout of space in the small ¼L Kilner jar it's in.

View attachment 30147 View attachment 30146


Mine definitely didn't look like that after a couple of days. Not as bubbly, i fed it now, the lid is on tight i will see what it looks like tomorrow!
 
Mine definitely didn't look like that after a couple of days. Not as bubbly, i fed it now, the lid is on tight i will see what it looks like tomorrow!

Just keep going - it should eventually bubble. But I did find it varied - some days it fizzed up more than others. I now have two lots which are both fine. One spent a week in the fridge unfed and is now raring to go again.
 
Just keep going - it should eventually bubble. But I did find it varied - some days it fizzed up more than others. I now have two lots which are both fine. One spent a week in the fridge unfed and is now raring to go again.

Funny you say that, the thing has took off!

69634092_682811162218487_8727147527113015296_n.jpg
 
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