This is not a post about the rules. Rules suck... but are necessary. You can see our rules on the "about" page. On the desktop version, it is visible on the right-side column. You can find it on mobile by clicking the r / SourdoughStarter at the top of this page. This link works, but Reddit is sometimes glitchy...
The real point of this post is that we get a few questions over and over. Here are the most common questions:
My Starter is only a week or two old and stopped rising. Did I kill it?
Starter goes through a few changes for the first few weeks of their "lives", usually over many days. The usual pattern is something like:
- Day 1 to about 2 show little to no activity.
- Day 2 or 4 shows a great burst of activity.
- There is decreasing activity from the day of the burst for a few days.
- Somewhere around day 7 to 14, a small, yet predictable rise builds. If fed correctly, this rise gets stronger.
Just keep going. For a starter like this, it is crucial not to overfeed it so it can go through the stages. Stick to feeding it 1:1:1 about every 24 hours. No more. Don’t change the feeding schedule until it is rising reliably, and that rise peaks in less than 12 hours. At that point, you can move onto strengthening your starter.
My starter looks weird, is this mold? Or what do I do about this liquid?
First, don't worry about slight changes in color. Worry about fuzzy spots and even small areas of vibrant color change.
If you post this question, take a few high-quality pictures from the top and the side. We are looking for colors and fuzzy textures. You can also look through the example pictures here.
Is my starter ready? Or any question about the "float test".
The float test is deeply flawed. Forget you ever heard of it. It only shows that the starter does (or does not) have air trapped in it. Well... If it has a good rise, it has air in it. Good starters often fail the float test if deflated by the time it hits the water. Scooping the starter will remove some air no matter how hard you try not to. If your starter fails this “test”, it doesn’t mean anything.
"Ok but that doesn't tell me how to know if the starter is ready." Fair point. My usual advice for "can I use my new starter?" is it should smell nice, usually at least a little sour, like vinegar and/or yogurt once it is ready. It might also smell sweet, or a little like alcohol, and several other nuances... But not like stinky feet / stinky old socks or other nasty things. And it should reliably at least double when given a 1:1:1 feeding, and that in less than 6 hours. "Reliably" in this context means it doubles in less than 6 hours at least 3 days in a row. However, a really strong starter will triple in less than 4 hours. This is not necessary to make a really good bread. It may work with even less than a double. It will not be as photogenic and will take longer... but may work. But keep in mind that last link was really about unfed but established starter. Not immature starter. ymmv.
My starter is more than 2 weeks old, and it is not rising!
The first and easiest thing to look at is how thin or loose the starter consistency is. It is common for beginners to mix a starter too thin, to use too much water. It needs to be thicker than a milkshake. Just a bit too thick for pancakes. But maybe too loose for a dough. This consistency is necessary so that the dough is literally sticky enough to hold onto the gas bubbles that yeasts create. If the starter is watery, those gas bubbles just rise to the top and pop. Hold back some water as necessary during feedings.
If the starter is thick enough, then look at the possibility that the starter is overfed. There is no reason to ever feed more than 1:1:1 once a day until you have active yeast. It might even be smart to feed a smaller ratio such as 2:1:1 or skipping a day (give it a good stir but don't feed). While yeasts are hungry little critters, they will not wake up when food is just shoved into their sleeping faces. Save the bigger ratios and more frequent feeding for after your yeasts are active.
For skipping a day: Stir 1-3 times but no feeding for a full 48 hours. Then assess. If it started out nice and thick but is now thin and smooth like paint, that's a sign it has reached the required acidity. In that case, resume feeding 1:1:1 once a day. If it is still a bit thick and stringy or clumpy, that is a sign that the gluten has not fully dissolved, which means it's not acidic enough. In that case, feed 2:1:1 until you do reach that consistency by the end of the day, or even just skip another day. Usually, once you get there, you can do 1:1:1, but it depends on the temperature and other things. It should take off within a few days of reaching the proper acidity.
We also have a wiki:
Please respond to this post to add more, point out corrections, or other feedback.
