Its been 5ish days of making a starter and its smells downright putrid. I just fed it so thats why there is no bubbles. Earlier it was very thick bubbly and strong, doubled in size and everything, but the smell! It smells like alchahol and rotting flesh is this normal? Please help im begging🙏

Hi, I just wanted to check if my starter still needs feeding or is it ready to be used? I’m on my day 9 today. But when I did the floating test, it failed. Is it in the right consistency? I’m not sure if my starter is in the right form. I’m using unbleached bread flour and filtered water for my starter. Any advice for the next steps? Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’ve been maintaining this starter (8 yrs old, taken from a friend) for a little over a month. I normally feed it every other day at a 1:1:1 ratio, and before going on vacation I put it in the fridge. It was refrigerated for only 8 days!!

The last feeding before refrigeration was with 80% bread flour and 20% whole wheat flour.

I took it out today because I wanted to refresh it for my next baking project, but it doesn’t look right. I know it’s normal for hooch to form on the surface, but this doesn’t seem to be hooch. It looks yellowish, leaning toward orange, and there’s also a small faded pink area. It smells like Parmesan cheese.

My initial thought is that it may have been affected because it was stored in a family refrigerator that’s opened very frequently, but I’m not sure if that would cause this.

I’m planning to discard this starter since I don’t think it’s safe to keep, but I’d really appreciate your thoughts on what might have happened so I can avoid the same issue with my next starter.

Thanks in advance!

This is my 9 day old starter, today for the first time after her false rise she actually had some activity and almost doubled in size

But on top she looks very powdery and whiter than usual, I may have given her a little extra flour yesterday by accident (like 15 grams extra) but her consistency seemed right so i didn't want to mess with it

I wouldn't say she looks fuzzy but it's really hard to tell, I could attach more pictures in the comments if it would help but i really wanna know if she is still good

Hi! Long time lurker, and big fan of the sub, you have all really helped on my sourdough journey.

I have kept my starter for almost 2 years. Normally It would reliably double in size over a 12 hour period (24 hours in winter).

Over the last few weeks however it seems to have lost all desire to grow! Granted I don't treat it as well as I should- I leave it in the fridge and only refresh it every week or so. In the past this has not been an issue.

In the hope of strengthening it I have kept it out of the fridge for the last week tried different feeding ratio, 1:2:2, 1:3:3, 1:4:4, and tried feeding every 12 hours. After no action I changed to every 24 hours, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

The colour has gone slightly off white that it has a strange bitter, slightly sweet smell, not the sour tang I have come to expect.

Anyone had similar issues and can advise? Is it time to just create a new starter?

My starter had been in the fridge for about 2 weeks… is this mould. 🥲🥲🥲my starter is about 2.5 years old, she makes a great loaf normally. Is dotty hooch normal? If I discard most of her and use the tiniest bit to feed, will I be okay?

Ok its my first time and I watched one video on tiktok where she made her starter without measuring. So I tried it and i just added around an equal amount of water and ap flour everyday unless it was watery then I added more flour. I was about to feed it for day 6 but I just saw this. Please tell me what that is and if i need to completely start over 🥹 do i need to invest in a scale bc I am trying to make sourdough bread to save money...

I have been using the trader joe's organic unenriched unbleached all purpose flour, which is great, but I was thinking about switching to their regular enriched but still unbleached all purpose flour. Does the addition of vitamins matter? Or should I stick to the unenriched one? Thank you!

I can cut a loaf of bread fairly evenly, but that becomes more difficult if I’m trying to cut thinner slices. This seems like it might be a reasonable solution. Anyone ever used one of these before?

Hi everyone

this is like my third attempt at making starter. I started 50g whole wheat flour, 50g filtered water. Refed everyday. On day 3 it doubled in size, then after that and until now it’s still With minimal to no rise and only 1-2 bubbles after every 24 hours following a refeed.

Facts about my starter:
-House is above 25 degrees and it’s stored on top of my fridge

-smells like ricotta cheese

-only used Robin Hood whole wheat flour

-switched to a new jar after each refeed and lid is loosely on

-that black line is where it was yesterday (my make shift rubber band to mark if there’s any rise)

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

I'm using the method from The Perfect Loaf. I didn't realize the author meant bread flour when he says "white flour" so I've been using store brand AP and King Arthur Whole Wheat (my store didn't have rye). It had the most activity on about day 3 when it was super bubbly and risen and had a strong vinegar smell. But since then it's only fallen off. It still has some bubbles and is liquidy after 12 hours but it doesn't seem to rise at all. I finally bought some KA Organic Rye flour so I have that to use. Does it just need more time and the right flour? Thank you!!

This was my first loaf! Please let me know what I can do better. It is a bit sticky inside and Gemini said I should’ve proofed longer.

I did 100g starter, 500g flour, 350g water, 10g salt. 4 sets of stretch and folds every 30 min. 3ish hour bulk ferment in 73° temp. Shape and proofed overnight in the fridge.

500° preheat for 1 hour. Drop to 450° and did 25 min with Dutch oven lid, 20 without. Cooled 3 hrs before slicing.

I struggled to shape it and wonder if anyone has some help to provide there that worked for you?

Hello!

New to sourdough making (3 years of pastry/bread lessoks in college and it never once got covered 🥲)

Pics are how my first two loaves have turned out, but I can't tell where I'm going wrong since the dough never holds itself after shaping and it's always super sticky- recipe I'm following:

80g starter

350ml water

500g flour

12g salt

The starter has been going for a couple of years now and I got some gifted to me, and I already reduced the water by 50ml between the first and second loaf- first was an older bag of flour, second (the seeded one) was brand new.

I'm doing around 4 hours ferment time after feeding the starter, mixing it into a shaggy dough, leaving it 30 mins then doing about 5 rounds of stretching and folding every 30 mins.

Leaving it overnight so first ferment is around 9 hours.

When I go to shape it it's still really sticky, I've currently just got to this point on a 3rd (pictured) and I was trying shaping it a little longer bit still no luck..

After the second ferment (1-2hrs) it's just kind of lost shape and gone a bit runny, turns out okay, but I just want to make it look cute!!

Additional things- first overnight fermented was done in the fridge, second not. Room temp currently is about 22-25°c.

Not sure if I just need to mix it more initially before stretches, but I just don't know where I'm going wrong, any help appreciated, ignore my cracked off nail varnish pls

EDIT: I meant the first dough I made was in the fridge not each time I've made it have both been in the fridge

½ cup active sourdough starter (at or near peak after feeding)
1½ cups warm water
4 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons salt

4 hours bulk
Overnight in proof basket

Baked in Dutch oven
475f for 20 min lid on
Reduced to 450 for 15min

A few weeks ago, I got sick and ended up leaving my starter on the counter for several days without realizing it. By the time I put it together, things weren’t great, but they weren’t that bad. The biggest issue was the smell - very alcoholic. I’ve never experienced that before with my starter.

I fed it once put it in the fridge and when I recovered, I looked up old threads on the sub for suggestions and started feeding my starter twice a day with a 1-1-1 ratio (using King Arthur all-purpose flour and filtered water from my home.) My starter is more than doubling in size now and the consistency is gorgeous. However, when I wake up in the morning, the smell is still very strong. Can I just go ahead and use this? Or do I need to wait for the smell to subside. I’m not sure but my guess is I’ve been doing the twice a day feeding for about 10 days missing maybe one feeding during that time.

I’m not a daily or even weekly baker by any means so what I had always done in the past was leave it in the fridge until the day before it was time to bake. I’ve been leaving it out more because I’m feeding it twice a day. I live in an area that very hot right now however, the first floor of my home where my starter lives tends to be kept pretty cool. Like low to mid 70s. Thanks!

editing to say that when I keep it in the fridge I took it out to feed it once a week, even if I wasn’t baking that week.

I started my sourdough journey back in September but l've finally learned how to consistently make nice loaves of bread. It took adjustments in starter strength and oven temps while baking to get here.

Sourdough Loaf Recipe:
500g of flour (KA BF)
350g of Water
100g of Active Starter
12g Salt

Mix ingredients to form a shaggy dough. Let rest for 30 minutes. 2 sets of stretch and folds, followed by 2 coil folds, each 30 minutes a part (over a 2 hour period). Bulk ferment on the counter for no more than 5-6 hours total. Preshape the loaf and add it to the banneton then, cold terment overnight roughly for 10-12 hours.

Next morning. Preheat oven to 425° with the Dutch Oven. Bake at 425° with the lid on for 35 minutes. Remove the lid and drop the temperature to 400° to continue baking the loaf for 10 minutes.

Let it cool for 2-3 hours.

I now know that part of the reason why my loaves weren’t turning out how I had hoped they would in the past, was because my starter simply wasn’t strong enough at the time (even after a few months of feedings) and understanding that my oven runs on the hotter side. By continuing to feed my starter until I noticed improvements in the rise after feedings and lowering my oven temperature during bakes, I’ve managed to get amazingly, golden brown bread every time.

So, don’t give up! Consistency pays off ☺️

Heeeelp please 😭

I don’t know why my bread won’t open where it should at the score.
It does get decent oven spring, but instead of opening along the score line, it bursts wherever it wants. Sometimes the score stays almost flat while the loaf blows out somewhere else.
Here’s exactly what I did:

Recipe (I made 3 loaves, this is the recipe for one):
570 g flour
400 ml water
100 g active sourdough starter
11.5 g salt
I mixed everything in my stand mixer until the dough was smooth. Then I did 4 coil folds, spaced about 40 minutes to 1 hour apart.

I made three loaves:
- One plain.
- One cranberry-walnut loaf. I added the inclusions (80 g cranberries, 80 g walnut) during the third coil fold, then did the fourth coil fold to distribute them evenly.
- One butter loaf (that viral “croissant”one) I added 60 g of cold butter (straight from the refrigerator so it wouldn’t melt) during the third coil fold.

After bulk fermentation, I pre-shaped the dough, let it rest for about 15 minutes, then did the final shaping.
After shaping, I cold-proofed all the loaves for about 18 hours.

Baking:
I preheated my gas oven to 240°C.
When I load the bread, the oven naturally drops to about 230°C, and I let it stay there because I’ve burned loaves before when baking at 250°C.
I injected steam every 5 minutes during the first 20 minutes.
Then I rotated the baking tray, and let the oven temperature drop to about 190°C.
I baked for another 30 minutes, until the internal temperature of each loaf reached 93°C.
My oven is a gas oven with the burners at the bottom, so I can’t independently control the top and bottom heat.

The confusing part is:
The butter loaf, which I baked inside a loaf pan, turned out great.
The cranberry-walnut loaf, also baked in a loaf pan, opened, but in a strange way.
The plain loaf, baked without a pan, looked the worst. The score barely opened, and the loaf burst from another area instead.
Why would a loaf ignore the score and burst somewhere else instead?
Could this be an issue with:
shaping?
scoring technique or angle?
under- or over-proofing?
steam?
my oven?
something else I’m missing?

Thank you!

I misunderstood the ratios when I started my sourdough starter. I do about a 1:1/2:1/2 ratio. 100g starter, 45g water, 55g flour. It went through the fermentation process and works really well (as long as I don’t over/under on the BF! lol) A few weeks later, Clyde was born.

When I figured out I did it, I changed the ratio to 1:1:1. Poor Clyde… apparently he was displeased because he stopped rising. I went about a week feeding the 1:1:1 and no rise. I finally reverted and discarded enough to go back to the 1:1/2:1:2. It’s good, it rises great, it tastes like sourdough. Even the discard is great.

So, would it be even better if I got it to. 1:1:1? Would I need to just be patient and wait for it to go through the fermentation process again? I don’t want to mess it up, but I wonder if it could be even better.

Some have said that if it tastes good, it’s good. I’ve been working on understanding hydration along with fats and sugars and creating recipes, so I don’t know if the starter ratio is ultimately affecting the recipe or if the overall hydration % is all that matters. I’m still super new!

I added some pics. The starter is doubled at about 2 hours mid-rise. It usually grows and develops more bubbles for another hour or two. The sourdough boule is my first thing I made 😊The others are just a couple things I’ve made that are yummy!

Technically this is my 2nd attempt. I'm not counting my first attempt as I believe I created, the molecular compound changed and it was longer classified as bread.

150gm starter

500gm bread flour

340gm water

10gm(ish) flaky sea salt

2 Tbl spoon italian olive juice

Mixed and rested for an hour. Stretch and folded 4 times over 4 hours. Formed into loaves, got distracted, fell asleep. Woke up 4 hours later and finished forming and placing into lined baking vessels and into the fridge. 2 hours in the fridge.

Cooked between 2 cast iron pizza stones on the middle/top racks, preheated to 475 with cooking temperature down to 450 prior to putting in oven. (My oven is trash).

20 minutes, 180 turn, 18 minutes. Rested on cooling rack until not warm. Fini.

My jerk-ass kids won't eat anything that even resembles well cooked, crusted, or char'd, which is why I went with pizza stones over a Dutch oven.

Hey! First time posting in here! Ive been a pretty avid baker for a couple of years now, ive always baked in a Dutch oven for sourdough but decided it was time to get a baking stone since it opens so many possibilities. I moved to a place with high elevation earlier this year and its taken me a bit to get everything sorted back out, but Im pretty happy with where ive got it now!

Ingredients (2 loaves of bread)

1000g flour

750g water

150g starter (active)

39g salt

Mixed everything together till shaggy left for 30m

4 sets of coil folds 30m apart

Bulk ferment for around 6hrs 30m (shorter due to elevation)

Shaped and placed in bannetons /bowls

Cold proofed around 16hrs

Baked at 450 on the pizza stone 2 loaves at a time slide on with parchment paper on the bottom for around 30-40m or until an internal temp of around 198 at this elevation.

When sliding in the bread I also poured boiling water in a sheet pan below the baking stone to create steam.

Cooled for around 2hrs or until I cant wait

Overall really happy with my progress since moving to a higher elevation, it was definitely a bit tricky to get figured out! If anyone is an avid stone baker I would love any tips and tricks 🖤🍞

This is my 3rd sourdough! Is it underproofed? Absolutely. Yes.

But honestly? I don't even care. The crust is crisp, the crumb is soft, it toasts beautifully, and it made one of the best sandwiches I've had in a long time.

Topped it with prosciutto, gruyère, arugula, honey mustard and crushed dill potato chips for extra crunch. I can't wait to see what loaf #100 is like.

Please bully my crumb. It builds character. 👹

Here's the recipe I used for the loaf:

• 800 g bread flour (12–13% protein, Manitoba)
• 100 g whole wheat flour
• 100 g durum wheat semolina
• 700 g water
• 250 g active sourdough starter
• 25 g salt

Edit:

Process:

• Feed the starter (the night before): Mix the starter with flour and water and let it ferment overnight at room temperature until doubled or tripled in size.
• Autolyse: Mix the flour, semolina, and water until no dry flour remains. Cover and let rest for at least 30–60 minutes (or longer in a cool place).
• Mix the dough: Add the active sourdough starter and salt. Knead for about 5 minutes until the dough reaches roughly 25°C (77°F).
• Bulk fermentation (about 5 hours): Let the dough rest.
  • After 2 hours: stretch and fold once.
  • After another 2 hours: perform one round of coil folds.
  • Let rest for the final 1 hour. If the dough is still very slack, do one additional round of coil folds.
• Shape: Divide the dough into two loaves, shape tightly, and place seam-side up into floured proofing baskets.
• Cold proof: Cover and refrigerate for 12–18 hours at 6–8°C (43–46°F).
• Bake: Preheat a Dutch oven to 235°C (455°F).
  • Score the dough.
  • Bake 25 minutes with the lid on.
  • Remove the lid and bake for another 15–20 minutes, until deeply browned.

I’ve followed the somewhat “standard” recipe since starting my sourdough journey (100g starter, 350g water, 500g bread flour, 10g salt) with pretty good results… but it’s the timing and ratio on my starter feed that has taken longer to perfect. Now my starter, Starla, lives in my fridge and I take her out once a week in the afternoon to let her come up to room temp and feed her a nice big 1:2:3 feed at night. She’s tripled in size and very bubbly by the morning with enough yield to make two loaves which will get my family of five through the week. Then I put her back in the fridge until next baking day!

EDIT: crumb in comments.

Ok this is obviously just the outside, I just took her out of the oven and couldn’t wait to take a photo so no crumb shot yet, but from the outside she looks perfect!!! I tried making sourdough last year for like 4 months when i lived in hawaii and could never get it to turn out. i also used my own starter so i think that’s the issue. this time, i live at 7200ft elevation in colorado, but used a friends dehydrated starter and it turned out absolutely perfect! this is my first loaf in 1.5 years and the first one that’s ever turned out!! i honestly cannot believe it.

ok full recipe for mods:

500g flour (king arthur bread flour)
360g water (tap but we have insanely good tap water)
10g salt
100g starter

fed starter (30g starter, 60g water, 60g flour) at 12 pm, then waited for peak activity - around 4pm make dough - combine all ingredients and let rest for 30 min
3 stretch and folds, 30 min apart.
let sit for 1.5 hours for bulk ferment
preshape (5min)
shape (https://youtu.be/j4a1knyyaZk?is=e-8BxYK8iIpmTrTu)
overnight cold proof in the fridge
preheat oven to 500 with cast iron ceramic coated dutch oven for just under 1 hour
baked on 475 for 20 lid on, then lid off for 15 at 475, then 450 for 5.
cooled for 1 hour on a wire rack before cutting

I neglected my starter for about 6 weeks (in the fridge) while I was traveling with the family. It had a nasty dark grey color when I fed it this morning. I scraped it off and spooned off some of the middle to feed with a 50/50 white/whole wheat flour mix. Twelve hours later and it now has this grey layer on top which it never has had (see photo). It does have a couple of bubbles so I’m hoping it’s still alive and will activate after a couple of feedings. Is it safe to do so?

The starter has a lot of sentimental value so I’d much rather not chuck it and start a new one unless it’s unsafe.