My Starter is Acting Strange

[SheilaAnn]

Hi so I was generously gifted some starter from Richard Chrz I named it Sir Richard of Fairchild. A few days ago, I pull it for a feeding (previous feedings have been flawless) and fed 1:1:1 starter to water to bread flour. And this happens…….



it looks like it would be hooch, but it’s not that funky gunmetal grey color. And I only fed him last night. So I just put it in the fridge tonight. I will pour off the excess liquid and try again. I’m mystified. Any and all feedback gratefully accepted.

[jhapka]

When you say 1:1:1 did you measure in grams or did you use volumetric measurements like tablespoons/cups? It "looks" like its over 100% hydration to me

[jhapka]

Try a 1:3:1 starter:flour:water maybe

[SheilaAnn]

jhapka grams. 50 grams starter: 50 grams flour: 50 grams water

[MBMorgan]

Unless your starter is already 100% hydration, by using 1:1:1, you may have been changing it's hydration with every feeding (remember to count the water in the old starter in addition to water that you add during feeding).

For my 100% hydration starter, I use 1:2:2. So for the 100 g batch that I keep, I remove all but 20 g of the old starter, then feed an additional 40 g of water plus 40 g of flour.

The old starter contributes 10g of water plus 10 g of flour. When I feed 40 g each water and flour, the total becomes 50 g water plus 50 g flour ... and, like magic ... a newly fed 100% hydration batch is born.

[SheilaAnn]

MBMorgan thank you!

I just fed per above just now. 1:30pm pst

[SheilaAnn]

Here's the kicker.. it doesn’t happen with Nancy. I’ve been feeding Nancy 1:1:1 for over 15 years.

[MBMorgan]

If Nancy has been stable at 100%, then she should still be ... even at 1:1:1. I failed to mention in my earlier response, that most sourdough bakers seem to recommend only a small amount of old starter when feeding ... some even less than my 1:2:2.

Also, I just went back and edited my reply. My math can't be trusted while my brain is still woefully under-caffeinated 😵💫.

[MBMorgan]

First, a question: When you reconstituted your starter from Richard's, what water:dry-starter weights did you use?

Second, don't know if this will be of any use to you (and feel free to ignore if not) and since I'm pretty sure you're a Paprika user, I've attached a file with all my current starter info ... (if you don't already have a "Baking" category in Paprika, it will create one).

[SheilaAnn]

Hi, I do not recall the method RC gave me, I would have to track back through messages, etc. thanks for the paprika file! I’m an avid user.

Just downloaded…. Gol dang, I love Paprika!

[HawkerXP]

I was going to suggest you check for corrosion around the battery terminals. Also check they are tight.

[HawkerXP]

Get your BF to put jumper cables in your trunk.

[SheilaAnn]

Y’all are punks…. 🤣🤣🤣

[yakima]

Late to the game.
I have used a long heavy screwdriver, tap with hammer on bendix. a temporary fix.

More substantively, fooled with sourdough a few years ago. Even captured local atmospheric yeast to make my own starter. Worked fine. But the 2 of us don't eat enough bread to justify the fuss. Local baker bakes a variety of breads, restocks local grocer every Tuesday. Good enough for me.

[jfmorris]

I’ve been rolling with a starter from Richard Chrz since maybe 2021 I think. A few times this past year it did something like that, and I just kept it out on the counter and fed it daily for a few days and it got ‘strong’ again. If I am not baking I feed it 1:1:1 and put right back in the fridge, for a week at a time.

[hoovarmin]

If the surface color is pinkish then it has been infected with a dangerous bacteria. I can't remember the name of the bacteria but was watching a YouTube short about it yesterday https://youtube.com/shorts/wUCENhXoo...lfxaQPRe_tICGr

[SheilaAnn]

I am happy to report that sir Richard should pull through. (I swear, I feel like he has been in ICU)

I followed MBMorgan advice above. As you would guess, it was a clumpy mess (think oatmeal) and over a couple hours, here we are. I will leave him in the oven with the light on. It’s my starter’s happy place. I will feed in the am. Do I do a 1:1:1 or 1:2:2 this round?

[MBMorgan]

I’d stick with 1:2:2 (of course I would… it’s what I do 😎).

[MBMorgan]

More seriously, I’d suggest letting it stabilize for a few feedings before changing things.

[SheilaAnn]

I forgot to feed him this morning. This is how he looked when I got home tonight. 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

[MBMorgan]

Looks pretty happy ...

[jfmorris]

My Richard sourced starter falls like that if I leave it consuming the new flour and water for too long.

[Davek8282]

SheilaAnn I'm not sure what is going on but three days in a row now when I see this thread I keep seeing "My Sister is acting Strange"!

[SheilaAnn]

Davek8282 my eyes read threads different, too, sometimes. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Note, it is also highly likely that my sister can act strange! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[SheilaAnn]

And here we are this mid-morning. The combustion base is to show scale. I fed 20:40:40 g last night. I think Sir Richard pulled through! Thanks to the entire AR Starter ICU team!



and a view from the top…



it smells fantastic, too!

[MBMorgan]

Another thought or two about choosing the ratio of starter:flour:water for feeding:

Remember that the only part of the spent starter that you really care about are living yeast cells (hungry yeast cells). You really don't want much (if any) alcohol because that stuff actually inhibits fermentation ... nor do you really want any of the other spent gunk, either. That's why most bakers try to use only the minimum amount of spent starter required to provide enough living cells to keep the batch going.

The exact amount of flour:water isn't too important as long as there's enough food to sustain your starter until the next feeding and as long as their weight ratio matches the hydration you're either trying to reach or are trying to preserve.