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Did I kill my levain?

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    Did I kill my levain?

    Day 4 of making my starter per Forkish's method. Yesterday it made it up to the 2 qt mark and his instructions say it should be the same today, but as you can see, it's falling short. I put it in our outdoor laundry room yesterday because he said the ideal temp for it is between 75 and 90 F. I'm wondering whether that may have given the yeast a heat stroke. What say you all?
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    #2
    You might be able to patch your Big Joe III with that!

    Comment


    • hoovarmin
      hoovarmin commented
      Editing a comment
      If it's caput I may use it for chum

    • Sid P
      Sid P commented
      Editing a comment
      I think you should have waited a little longer .

    #3
    Feed it and see what happens.

    Comment


    • hoovarmin
      hoovarmin commented
      Editing a comment
      It certainly smells like it's active.

    #4
    Direct answer? Probably not. Yeast grows best at about 84F. So, unless you stuff them in a 110F room, they're probably fine.

    What happens with a new starter is that you get a burst of activity, mostly from organisms we don't want. Then, sometimes, those die off as the starter becomes more acidic... but the bacteria and yeast we do want like acidic environments, so they start to grow. But there can be a pause in activity between the two phases.


    How are you feeding it? How often? What water?
    Last edited by rickgregory; June 30, 2022, 08:56 AM.

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      #5
      I'd just repeat the "Day 3" instructions and not store it in such a warm location. If it restarts, give it a smell and if it seems ok, proceed from there. Otherwise, ditch it before wasting more time and ingredients and just start over.

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      • hoovarmin
        hoovarmin commented
        Editing a comment
        Will do. Thanks

      #6
      It’s ok. Up to the 2 qt mark was probably just the initial bloom. Setting it down might’ve degassed it, which is no big deal.

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        #7
        I threw it out. When I went to deal with it the next day it was kind of clear to me that there was no activity and the smell was really unpleasant. It may well have been fine, but I lost confidence in it so there was no point in continuing. I'm on day 3 of my new batch.

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        • MBMorgan
          MBMorgan commented
          Editing a comment
          It happens. Good luck with the new one.

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