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My aunt's sourdough starter tip almost ruined my kitchen
My aunt swore I needed to feed my starter every 12 hours without fail, even when it looked sluggish. I followed her advice for two weeks straight, setting alarms at 6 AM and 6 PM. Last Tuesday, I came home to a jar that had exploded all over my counter, leaving a floury mess. She forgot to tell me that rule only applies once the starter is mature, not during the first week. Now I keep it in the fridge and feed it every few days, and it's actually working fine. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a well-meaning relative that backfired?
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ray61319d ago
That's a rough way to learn that lesson, but honestly, your aunt gave you the classic "do everything at once" advice. The 12 hour feeding schedule is a good goal for a mature starter that's being kept at room temp, but for a new one, you're right, it's way too aggressive. I ruined my first starter by doing the same thing, ended up with a slimy mess that smelled like nail polish remover. Best thing I ever did was just switch to a 1:1:1 ratio once a day and let it do its thing. Now I keep mine in the fridge for a week at a time and it perks right back up with one feed.
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ross.kim19d ago
And yeah @ray613, that nail polish smell is a dead giveaway the starter is starving and producing acetone from going too long between feeds. Once I backed off to a single daily feed with a 1:1:1 ratio, that stink vanished in about three days and it started doubling on schedule. Patience really is the secret with these things, they just need time to build up their yeast population before you push them harder.
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wadejenkins19d ago
Wait have you tried keeping your starter at a cooler temp? I keep mine in the basement where its around 60F and I feed it every 24 hours with a 1:2:2 ratio and it stays happy as can be. Never had the acetone smell issue even when I was first building it up. The fridge method works fine for maintenance but some of us like having a starter thats always ready to go at room temp without needing a whole day to wake it back up.
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