January 7, 2006 - 8:31pm
If at first you don't succeed...
I've been feeding my starter every 12 hours since Thursday evening. It isn't too lively: I'm getting some growth and bubbles, but nothing close to doubling in size.
I went ahead and fed it again this evening. I put it in the oven with just the light bulb on, which keeps it around 80 degrees. We'll see if a slightly warmer environment stimulates it enough that I can bake with it tomorrow. If not, I may cheat and make a sourdough that is spiked with half a teaspoon of yeast, since it *smells* like sourdough. I'd like to get a chance to taste it.
I went ahead and made a poolish tonight too, so at the very least I could make a decent loaf of French bread tomorrow.
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Floyd, how much are you feeding your starter and how much old starter are you starting out with? It is very important to dump out most of the old starter before feeding unless you are trying to build a large quantity of starter. When you feed, you need a minimum of twice as much food as you have old starter.
Once when one of my starters was sluggish I took 2 Tbsp. of starter and mixed it with 1 cup water, then stirred in 1 cup flour. I left it sit on the counter overnight and boy, did it grow! Another thing that sometimes helps, and I have no idea why, is to put the starter back in the fridge overnight and then take it back out in the morning. For some reason that really wakes it up. These starters can really have a mind of their own sometimes. I have also baked with a starter that didn't double up in the proof stage but it rose a nice high loaf anyway.
I'm doing 1 scoop starter, 2 scoops flour, almost 2 scoops water. I've typically been using a 1/2 cup scoop, but I've also used a 1/3 cup scoop.
I did get a loaf baked today. Details to be posted today.