November 1, 2021 - 2:40am
Sourdough starter mould after 12 hours!!!
I started a sourdough culture last night at a ratio of 1:1.
Warm temperature last night and today, 26°C.
it rose slightly this morning and I’ve gone to feed it and I can already see red mould on top! I’ve been told this is bad and is when an old starter should be thrown away but this is brand new!
If anyone can shed any light that would be appreciated!
thanks in advance. Michael.
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Not so clear in the photos. Difficult to advise what to do. On the one hand i'm for salvaging where possible especially if it's a starter one has kept going for a while and it's not red/pinkish mould. Yours is less than a day old so not the end of the world if you start again and it does look red (ish). I think for peace of mind start again.
It certainly is very quick for mould to grow that's why i'm thinking maybe it's something else. But on the other hand it doesn't look right. Not really worth at this very early stage to save it. Better it happen now then later on. Call it a learning experience. Perhaps the utensils or jar had a contaminant.
Throw it out. Clean and sterilise everything very well. Start again but use pure pineapple juice (ascorbic acid is fine but shouldn't have any additives) for the liquid until you're getting a steady rise each and every time it's fed then switch over to water.
.... you might consider using Debra Wink's pineapple juice method. A number of people on TFL have used it quite successfully, myself included. It was pretty impressive to see how fast it went.
Link below. You can read her comments re how/why it works, or just scroll down to where she describes what to do. Fwiw, I (successfully) used the juice from canned pineapple packed in it's own juice.
Link:
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2
Mary
Agree with using pineapple juice instead of water at the beginning as I have just gone through this process recently and have a starter going quite well. Attached pic is my baby at Day 18 today, it has not been able to triple a rise yet, almost there with a 1:3:3 feeding ratio. What is not helping is that the temp of my kitchen had dropped to around 70 F from two weeks ago from 80 F all summer long. I should have started two months earlier but oh well it seems to be doing quite well so far.
I would use pineapple juice for at least for the first 5 days or until yeast is geminated. Don't worry about the pineapple juice taste in the mixture as by the time the starter is ready to use (2-3 weeks), it would taste and smell like yeast. Also, I would not discard any for at least the first 4 days, I would keep feeding into the mixture, so make sure the container is large enough to accommodate it. I would not pay any attention to the rises for the first 4 days as there is no yeast in there to do the job, you might get some false rises for the first three days from the unwanted bacteria if you use water, this won't be a problem if you use pineapple juice as it would kill those unwanted bacteria right from the beginning, eliminating those disgusting vomit odors that could last for days. Good luck.
20211101_Stellar_Day18.jpg
Yes, it can be a good indicator of when ready and when to use but there are many factors affecting the rise. How much fresh flour, what kind of flour, the hydration etc.
Your starter looks perfect and while getting one going it does help for the temperature to be 75-78°F it will fare very well at 70°F once fully mature. As long as it's given the time it needs.
Having said that I see your starter has tripled! Hope you're baking with it.
Thanks Abe for the tip, noted. I have been using it since Day 8 but I have been supplementing the dough with a tiny amount of instant yeast (cheating I know). I think this week my SD starter will be ready as a standalone solution, hope my baby will perform admirably as expected, can't wait to find out.
Looks good to me. Hope you have a nice recipe ready. My only advice is watch the dough and not the clock. Looking forward.
Hello, I am new to sourdough baking. I just made a starter that seems to be going along well and it is doubling in size now at day 7. Do I need to have it triple in size before baking with it or is double in size what I am looking for? any tips greatly appreciated!
Lots of factors dictate how much a starter grows after being fed. Flour, hydration, how much it's fed etc. While it is a good indicator it's not the only indicator. If your starter is bubbling up consistently, not taking too long to peak depending on how much it's fed and has a nice aroma then these are all factors to take into consideration.
No two starters behave in the exact same way but if fed 1:1:1 and it has no trouble maturing within 4-6 hours every time it is fed then there's no harm in trying a recipe.
What is a typical feed and how does it react?
Thanks Abe. I did a 1:2:2 feed and I put it in the proofer at 25 degrees. It doubled in 4-5 hours. I assumed this was ok but was not sure if I should have let it go longer, i.e did it need to triple in size?
Can double in 4-5 hours then your starter is doing well and ready to bake with. As to when to use it the rule of thumb is to use when peaked but as usual it is a guide. Your starter may very well rise more than double. Another guide is to take a teaspoon of the starter and carefully place it in a glass of water and if it floats it's a good time to use it.
Should you wish to follow a recipe following one which has a levain [an off-shoot starter] build will bring your starter and timings into line with the recipe.
Does your starter float? How much starter do you have right now?
Yes, the starter did float when I tried that the other day. I made my first sourdough loaf, it was ok but a bit too gummy. apparently it was over hydrated for my bread flour. oh the joy! I have to keep trying.
I am now keeping my starter in the fridge as I will only bake with it once a week. I am going to feed it once a week, hopefully this will be ok with a young starter.
As for the gumminess that's probably down to judging the ferment just right which comes with time. Young starters do benefit from as much TLC as you can afford but once made it can quite happily sit in the fridge and have a weekly feed. For a weekly maintenance I recommend a healthy feed, allowed to double then back into the fridge it goes. When it comes to baking take a little off to build a levain this way you only need to keep a small amount of starter at any one time. There are many ways to keep a starter and that is just one idea. Another might be to keep a few grams at any one time. When it comes to baking feed it as much as you need for the recipe and return the remainder to the fridge after it has matured and you've taken off what you need. I recommend keeping it simple till you get the hang of it.
Thanks Abe, great tips! Can you please recommend a good Sourdough recipe for a beginner? Do you have a favourite recipe?
How about Hamleman's Vermont Sourdough? Good recipe, has a levain build, Simple with excellent results and good to practice and perfect with.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/vermont-sourdough-recipe
Thanks, that looks like a winning recipe and it's straightforward for a beginner sourdough baker like me! I will give it a go on the weekend.
When a US recipe says AP flour use Bread flour!
The day before prep your starter, allow it to mature and refrigerate. Then 12-16 hours before the final dough build the levain.
Some good steps to follow with a young starter. You'll soon stray and follow your nose but for now learn and follow the 'rules' before breaking them.
It is a very high hydration bread flour levain so it'll bubble and froth more than it'll rise. It'll still rise just not as much as a 100% hydration starter. Just expect it to act a little different to what you've come accustomed to.
Best of luck.
Cheers! I am glad that you told me about the levin in that recipe as I would have wondered why it was only bubbling and not climbing. lol.