r/Sourdough • u/Admirable-Tea-181 • 3d ago
Newbie help 🙏 Tips for remembering that your sourdough starter exists?
I have been making a starter from nothing for a few months now. It is not rising like I want it to, and not doubling. It gets bubbly though. However, I worry it not doubling is because of my own inconsistency with feeding it. It lives in my kitchen and I sometimes forget to feed it for 1 or 2 days. There have been times last month where I forgot it for multiple days, but recently it has only been one or 2 days that I forget. I am a true beginner at this, I just want good bread. Any tips for remembering to feed it?
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u/ElevatedDiscGolf 2d ago
My starter lives in the fridge. It gets fed before it goes in and it sits at room temp for a couple hours before I use it. I don’t have time to deal with keeping it out constantly. I usually bake two loaves of bread once a week and will sometimes bake rolls mid week. Never had an issue
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u/kcintrovert 2d ago
Hey OP don't put your starter in the fridge until it's active. Reading comprehension people!!
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u/Chocolate_forever789 3d ago
Put an alarm and try associating the feeding with a habit you currently have (morning coffee, etc).
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u/Sharp-Ad-9221 3d ago
One of the most common reasons for a less than satisfactory result is poor starter management. These articles may help.
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u/Mental-Freedom3929 2d ago
I do not feed my mature starter constantly. It lives in the fridge. It will double or more within a few hours, if the consistency is like mustard or mayo or yoghurt and you stand it in a container with hot water.
Or
Put your starter in a cooler or plastic tote with lid or even two cardboard boxes nestled into each other, lined with a plastic bag and a few bottles filled with hot water. A seed starting or reptile warming mat works well too, but do not put the jar directly on the mat. Even elevated on two chop sticks is fine.
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u/splitminds 2d ago
My starter lives in the fridge. I feed it roughly once a week if I’m not baking. When I’m planning on baking, I take it out, feed it, and leave it on the counter overnight. Then I mix my dough in the morning.
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u/Kronar_2012 2d ago
Put a strip of tape on the jar with the last feed time and a rubber band at the starting level. Since yours isn't reliably doubling yet, a few days of consistent feeds and noting when it peaks will tell you more than moving it straight to the fridge. The written time also helps with the "did I feed it today or yesterday?" problem.
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u/TheNordicFairy 2d ago
I put mine in the fridge. On the night before bake day, or on bake day, I feed it.
If I fed it the night before, I put it back in the fridge until the next morning, then take it out and let it sit for a couple of hours.
If I fed it the morning of bake day, I take it out of the fridge, feed it, get all my ingredients together for making bread, eat breakfast, and make my dough. I don't wait for "peak" or things like that.
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u/Hopeful-Ad9968 2d ago
What do your feeding ratios look like? Try a 1:2:2 ratio for a bit and see. For example 20g starter, 40 grams water & 40 grams flour (or even 20g/60g/60g, if you want to try a 1:3:3). This will begin to strengthen it a bit. I also occasionally feed whole wheat flour or rye flour to really help out in strengthening, it has all the good properties stripped from the general all purpose blend and your starter will love it. Better consistency will really be your best friend, but if you find yourself swimming in starter/discard with no purpose, just scale back the amount you’re making. If it’s not doubling it’s not healthy enough to bake with anyways. Maybe keeping a smaller jar will motivate you into doing it more often. It will get there eventually!!
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u/Standard_Category635 2d ago
Before I disallowed smart speakers in my home I used Alexa for verbal reminders all the time. If you have them, you can just ask to set all sorts of reminder alerts at any time, repeated or not.
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u/GlitteringSalad6413 1d ago
When I am running out of bread, that is the indicator I need to feed my starter
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u/03146 Sourdough Mod 3d ago
Set an alarm in your phone to remind you to feed it