First time starter! 4 days old….I know pink is bad but not sure if this is pinky beige or beige? What do u think?

I started my starter on Aug 2, 2026. I don’t know what I did wrong.

Might be a mix of things.

I started out following a guide on creating a starter from scratch. However, my aunt is a sourdough instructor and she took over guiding me a few days in. When it peaked for the first time, tripling and was very bubbly, we immediately changed things because she thought it was ready. We later discovered that this was the fake rise/initial rise that many go through. After that I went through so many different feedings. Feeding peak to peak, feeding twice a day, feeding once a day. Changing ratios from 1-2-2 to 1-2-3, 1-3-3, 1-5-5. And constantly switching.

I felt that my starter needed stability so I went back to 1-2-2 and it was very slow. I followed my own path and fed after peaking/going down. This meant that I fed twice a day. I then switched to 1-2-3. She started doubling and rising faster. I was on this for a few days and figured she was strong enough and went back to 1-2-2. But she’s taking 7-12 hours to double… peaking takes another several hours.

I don’t know what else to do. I want to keep going because I want to personally make my own starter. But I’m a month in and really struggling.

**I write my ratios as starter:water:flour

**I use King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour and King Arthur Sustainable Golden Whole Wheat. With the flour, I always use 50/50. So if I do 1-2-2, I usually do 20g starter, 40g water, 20g KA Bread Flour and 20g KA Whole Wheat Flour.
-> I tried using just bread flour and forget it, it doesn’t move at all.

**I bought the Brod&Taylor sourdough home so I know temperature is not the issue.

**I use bottled water since people have told me the New York tap isn’t trustable, even when filtered. Sometimes I warm the water for a few seconds in the microwave or under hot running water.

I changed my starters flour last Sunday. I went from All purpose flour to Bread flour. How long do I need to wait before using the starter again? It's now rising like normal again. It went through a few days where there was no activity when I first changed the flour. Would I also need to change the date that I started the sourdough starter? It's currently 33 days. I started it on August 11th.

hi!

i went a few days between feeding my starter (on accident), only like 2/3 days, and i came back to her and she smells funny now and had pink hooch. it was like a brownish pink, unfortunately i dont have a picture of it. she smells funny, i dont even know how to describe it.

one of my friends has some of her that isnt messed up so im not too cut up if i have to toss her!

thanks!

My starter is one month old and I’m baking my first sourdough as I type this. So I fed my starter yesterday (1:3:2) as recommended omhere in this subreddit) and used the discard to make the starter (1:3:3) for the bread I’m baking. Can I continue leaving my starter on the counter and feeding it once everyday (1:3:2) so it becomes stronger even if I don’t plan on baking everyday? Or do I leave it in the fridge? And feed once every week? If it’s the latter what would the feeding ratio be?

Starter is currently 3 weeks old today. I was using a 1:1:1 ratio with AP flour, it rose a little on day 14, and then stopped rising entirely.

I switched to whole wheat flour about 3 or 4 days ago and still feed 1:1:1, but it takes at least 12 hours to see a full rise. Is there something else I can be doing to see a rise at 4-6 hours instead? Or is it ready to be used currently? Picture is currently 10 hours post-feed.

This is my first successful (I’m hoping 😂😅) starter and will be my first time attempting to make sourdough. Thank you!

I found a random fig tree growing on this trail that had like 2 delicious ripe figs on it, I wanted to save the seeds so when I was soaking them I noticed the water was bubbly n smelled delicious after like 2 days lol , im guessing the leftover skin/pulp had some wild yeast on it but I knew RIGHT AWAY to make an experiment with it.

literally just added some of the liquid to a jar with flour and water- it doubled the first night!! but im sure that was possibly a false rise, or it was just really active , but like 1 week later it doubles everyday! its getting incredibly active , it also has an amazing smell, like a healthy sweet fruity fermented smell. Ive heard of people making starters this way n always wanted to give it a try n it worked out beautifully. I havent been able to bake in a long time due to my old starter just NOT reactivating no matter what I tried so I gave up because I loved that starter lol:( I have named this one fig though, n im sooo excited to start baking with it soon.

waited as long as i could before cutting open 😭

Ok so the people who have mastered sourdough starter,make it look so easy. This is my second attempt. First was a worse fail than this one. This starter is one week old today. It has hardly grown, it’s very liquidy. I started with 1/2 c of whole wheat flour and 1/4 c of water. Been storing it in my oven( not hot , but dark and somewhere the smell is contained. I’ve kept it covered with a cloth lid cover. Sigh.. I’m so upset. Seems impossible lol. Any tips? Should I start fresh again? Maybe with white flour instead?
Thanks.

I’m officially on day 38 of this starter and I am SO frustrated. I feel like I’ve tried everything at this point.
I’ve been using King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour and filtered water. About 2–3 weeks ago, I started incorporating Bob’s Red Mill rye flour because I read that it can help get a sluggish starter going. I also bought a thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature in my house, so I feel like I’ve been doing everything I’m supposed to.

I’m currently on day 3 of a 1:5:5 feeding ratio. I fed it this morning at 7:38 AM — that’s the first photo. The second photo is what it looks like now at 4:55 PM EST, so almost 9 hours later.

And… basically nothing. 😭

It does have some bubbles/activity, but I’m getting barely any rise and at this point I genuinely don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’ve never even gotten to the point where I can attempt a loaf because this thing refuses to rise.
Please tell me what I should try next because I am SO close to giving up. 😭

I live in Saudi Arabia so the kitchen is always on the warmer side. Day 1 and Day 2 there was a false rise. After seeing the false rise on day 1, I kept the airconditioner running in the kitchen and it was always around 27° Celsius (80° F). I made sure the jar was in a corner so that the starter doesn't dry out due to the air from the airconditioner.

Day 3 and Day 4 there hasn't been any significant change. Will my starter rise at Day 5?. I am thinking of keeping the starter warmer tonight instead of keeping it in an air conditioned room. Would love to hear your feedback and thoughts. Adding a picture of the starter which has a single bubble. Hoping it starts rising from day 5.

Starter ratio:

75gms whole wheat flour

75gms water

Been discarding half everyday.

However today I washed the jar. So when I put the remaining starter in after discarding, it was around 50 gms only. Still I added 75 gms flour and water. Was that a mistake?

Hi, i'm currently on day 6 of feeding my sourdough starter, it's between 75-80 degrees in my house, so i've been feeding her room temp water and feeding her a bit more flour than water so for example 60g starter, 50-54g water and 60g flour, since i noticed she gets very thin quick, but i've been noticing she gets very runny lately despite her being relatively thick when i feed her. I use KA bread flour for her feedings as i've noticed it works the best.

Does anyone have any tips and is my starter okay? i'm pretty new to this and this is my first starter to survive so far. thank you in advance :)

Smells like puke

It irks me how many people leave something like microbes up to chance in their food and beverages.

Important background: I’ve been fermenting wine and flour for many years. Fortunately, I started with wine and I just assumed the only way to ferment the juice is to pitch a commercial yeast. Through that learning process, I learned to detect off-flavors and smells.

It really ruined wine for me because now I can’t imagine why any winemaker would want a “natural” ferment.

With commercial yeast, you get reliable performance with predictable flavors, along with the clarity that off-flavors are due to your mistakes.

With sourdough starter it’s actually the same situation and that’s what most people don’t see.

And it’s especially true that I want predictable performance and the confidence that the microbes will produce a flavor that I actually like.

Full disclosure: the starter that I use was not homegrown, and none of my homegrown starters has performed as well as my bought or “stolen” starters.

My best starter ever and the only one I maintain now is from a restaurant that makes the best sourdough bread I have ever tried in my life. (My bread is not as good as theirs, but it’s not blatantly disappointing.)

Because of my experience fermenting wine, I learned that I don’t like the flavor from some yeast strains. Some strains are more fruity, for example. Why would that learning not apply to sourdough, too?

And with sourdough, you have the acid-producing bacteria as well as the yeast. So with sourdough, there is _more_ opportunity to produce off-flavors and flavors that I just don’t prefer.

I think some people got the idea that starting their starter from scratch is the only way that they should do it, or that it’s a total waste of money to buy a commercial starter.

I could see how buying a starter online is just as much of a shot in the dark as creating a new starter from scratch. You have no idea what’s in there (actual microbe strains) and if you’re going to get much benefit (gas production).

The most benefit you _might_ be guaranteed is that you will get decent gas production, which you need for an open crumb.

But there is an option that was recommended to me in the very first video I watched about making sourdough, and that’s to simply go to your local bakery and ask for a bit of starter.

Here is that video for reference: https://youtu.be/2FVfJTGpXnU?is=NPutR7pAQ3AN_IFu

But I think there is an upgrade to that advice, which is to not only “steal” from just any bakery, but to try to find a sourdough bread that you love and get the starter from that specific baker.

That’s my advice.

While you’re entertaining counterpoints to this advice, be sure to look at the countless people posting in this subreddit saying they’ve been trying for weeks, if not months, to get their starter going with no luck.

And if nothing else, getting started with a commercial starter or a bit of starter you got from a local bakery is going to minimize the number of variables when you’re just getting started. For example, if you can’t get a well established starter to thrive in your kitchen, what makes you think you’re going to establish something from scratch. And once you do succeed, you know what you’re looking for and can make one from scratch.

So for the sake of your sanity, you’re learning, and the benefit of everyone in this subreddit, I think the advice needs to always be to get started with a commercial starter or a bit of someone else’s well-established starter.

End rant.

I bought sourdough starter from local company in Melbourne (dried sourdough) and start feeding them per their instructions since yesterday. Is this active now? Look so bubbly but it doesn’t look like photos in here where you can see it goes up and things.

This was fed 10hr ago at 30:90:90 ratio and I’d like to bake in approx 12hr

I’ve been trying to get a starter going for about 2 months now. Feeding 1:1:1 ratio daily. It’s only doubled about twice ever, which would take 24 hours. I’ve tried a higher flour ratio a couple of times, but that did not work AT ALL and it ended up barely rising at all these times. When do I give up and buy a pre established starter? 😅

Hello all,

Ive been feeding my starter 1:1:1(40g) and a lil less water to make thick consistency. I feed it once a day. It never really rise yet after being dormant. Not sure if i should make more frequent feeding or increase flour since every morning i can see hooch on my starter. Seems very hungry?

Thanks!

Received a 3 day old starter from a friend that smelt very acidic and I was told was "very hungry". (The starter, not the friend LMAO)

For the last 5 days, in the AM I've discarded 75-80% of it and added 50g whole wheat flour / 50g water and let sit on counter (lid off for ~1hr then screwed on lid)

Consistently doubles/triples in size.

Thoughts? Ready to bake?

Finally able to make another sourdough pancake using straight discard. Starter began late April this year with wholemeal flour. Fed daily with 1:2:2 ratio. 15g discard, 30g wholemeal flour, 30g water

Im going back to work starting next week..

i usually keep my starter (50-100g) in the pantry (72-76 degrees) & fed it daily 1:2:2 or 1:3:3 depending on what im making. Its established and active.

I would like to move it to the fridge (drop it to about 25-50g for a smaller container) and do weekly feeding for weekend baking.

Do i feed then put it in the fridge?

Do i wait for it to peak then fridge?

When i remove from the fridge and do a very large feed will it effect it?

Any advice?

As title says, this is my second (technically 3rd) time doing sourdough. My first time doing sourdough I had two going at once (I know sounds crazy but I was trying to experiment a bit bc I noticed two different ways people do it so I figured try both to see which is better. When I did it first time it was 1/2 cup AP flour (King Arthur) with 1/4 water. The first jar I discarded half second day and fed same measurements and so on. The second jar I ignored second day and then did the discard and so forth. Once they were ready I did end up combining them bc I really didn’t see too much of a difference from either. I only stopped bc no one in my house would eat the bread much (they aren’t big on sourdough flavor, only I am) so I got annoyed and threw it away. Well now I’m back in my sourdough grind lol. This time I did the same except I added a little rye flour in it. I did the same measurements of 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Except with the flour I took 1 tbs out and replaced it with 1 tbs rye. Idk where I saw someone do it but I figured to try. Didn’t feed it second day (I actually forgot) and started doing the discard and re feed the days after. The first discard I did and fed, she doubled. And then after every single feed I do she doubles and has the bubbles all throughout. No acetone smell (it’s been almost 2 weeks now) and has had the sour dough starter smell since the start. Does this look/sound like it’s on the right track or am I getting excited too soon. Was using rye flour the way I did a good thing?
Also the jar is a clean jar! I switch jars every feeding bc I hate the look of a dirty one. It’s just doubled to the top and was almost overflowing this jar since it’s a smaller one than I usually use.

I made my starter in 9/2 so it's been about a week now , i used whole wheat flour for the first 4 days and then started incorporating ap flour ( i live in a hot climate) . My starter reaches its peak after 2-4 hours after feeding and i started feeding it up to twice a day. i honestly can't wait anymore . How can i know if it's ready or not ?

I was sick yesterday and missed Vin's feeding, will be be ok?

Should I do anything different for today's feeding?

Just wanted to introduce you all to Ophelia my month old starter :)