April 24, 2009 - 5:21pm
Rye starter + buckwheat starter
Hello all.
I started three starters. A basic white flour one. A rye one and a buckwheat one. I followed the instructions that are written up in another post found on this site: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/233. It's day 7 of my starters's lives and the white one is doing well, i.e. bubbling up. HOwever, the rye and buckwheat seem realtively flat. No sight of bubbles or anything near to percolation. However there is a slight yeasty smell. I even added 1/4 tsp of apple cider vinegar as suggested. So my question is, wht should my rye and buckwehat starters look like at this point in their "lives"? Should there be some bubbles at least?
thanks.
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My rye starter doubles and is filled with air pockets at that stage.
I don't use anything by rye flour and water, starting out with 6.4 ounces of rye and 6.4 ounces of water.
On day two and thereafter, I use 3.2 ounces of the starter, 3.2 ounces of whole rye, and 3.2 ounces of water. By the third day it has to be fed twice a day. This is using Arrowhead Mills organic rye. I don't get the same results with Bob's Red Mill organic rye, so I quit using it.
I've no knowledge of buckwheat, except that it contains no gluten.
What brand of rye flour are you using?
Not too sure about the brand of rye because I buy it at the bulk food store.
So i guess I have a dead rye starter...
Why not try feeding it every 12 hours?
I find that my rye starter is thicker/stickier than my freely bubbling white flour starter, even though both are made using equal weights of flour and water(i.e. a 100% hydration).When I stir it down, I do find it has plenty of bubbles distributed and actually,I think it has risen-I just miss it since I feed it at night and go to bed.
If your starter smells yeasty, I would continue to feed it once or twice a day for a few days and then try baking with it. If it is getting hootch on it, it's hungry and needs to be fed more or more often.
Thanks for the reply. I didn't realize hooch was an indicator of my starter needing more ffed. thanks for the insight