A couple of weeks ago I said I’d bake a loaf of sourdough every day for a week.
That hasn’t happened.
It’s not for lack of effort. My starter has other plans.
Where things stood
If you’re just joining us, I scrapped my first starter and started over in mid-August using the King Arthur instructions. I used whole wheat flour to get it going, then switched to unbleached all-purpose. From Day 3 on, I fed it 1:1:1 twice a day, about every 12 hours, just like the instructions said.
The jar has moved a few times since then. It started in a south-facing window that hit 92°F, then moved to the stovetop. Now it lives in my microwave with the door cracked, where it holds a steady 75°F. Around Day 19, I also switched to filtered water from our outdoor spigot and started skipping the softener.
By the 12-hour mark, my starter had already peaked and fallen before I fed it again. I watched the clock and fed it on schedule because that’s what I’d read I was supposed to do.
Every time I went to feed it, it smelled like acetone. Nail polish remover. Strong, but it never burned my nose.
I’d read that a sharp, acidic smell meant a starter was hungry. What I didn’t know was that this was a problem. I thought hungry just meant it was ready to eat. I didn’t realize it meant my starter was running out of food long before I fed it, and slipping out of balance.
It happened every time, so I figured that was normal.
What I didn’t know about starter
I’d watched the videos. I’d read the blogs. What I hadn’t learned was how to actually read a starter.
After nearly two months, I went to the library and checked out every book with “sourdough” in the title.
I still feel good about the changes I made to the flour, temperature, and water. What I was missing was what my starter was telling me.
A starter is a living mix of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) sharing the same flour and water. The yeast produces carbon dioxide, which is what makes the starter rise, along with small amounts of alcohol and other fermentation byproducts. The bacteria ferment sugars and produce acids, including lactic and acetic acid. That’s where the signature sourdough tang comes from.
The balance between those microorganisms changes over the course of a feeding. As the starter uses up its available food, acidity increases and fermentation slows. If it sits too long without fresh flour, the yeast can become stressed and less active, which means less carbon dioxide and, eventually, less rise.
Here’s what that looked like in my jar.
A weak or underfed starter may have small bubbles, a loose or runny texture, and fall quickly after peaking.
A stronger, more active starter is usually airy and elastic, with plenty of bubbles and enough structure to hold its rise. It should smell pleasantly fermented rather than sharply solvent-like.
Mine matched the first description.
Even after it became predictable around Day 25, it was small-bubbled and barely doubling. And that nail polish remover smell? I’d read it meant hungry. I just didn’t understand it was a warning, that my starter was burning through its food faster than I was replacing it.
In my last post, I wrote that my starter wasn’t the problem with that first loaf.
I need to take part of that back.
The hot burner wrecked that dough, and I stand by that. But a starter that wasn’t particularly strong or active wasn’t exactly setting me up for success, either.
How a starter gets too acidic
I thought I’d done something wrong.
I hadn’t.
Acid production is a normal part of sourdough fermentation. The bacteria naturally produce acids as they ferment, and those acids build up as the starter goes longer between feedings. The problem isn’t that acid exists. It’s letting the starter sit hungry for too long without giving it fresh flour.
A starter can become overly acidic when:
- It has risen, peaked, and fallen completely before you feed it. (Guilty.)
- You use a small feeding ratio like 1:1:1 and leave it at room temperature for a long stretch. (Also guilty.)
- It stays very warm, around 85°F or higher. (My window hit 92°F.)
- You put it in the fridge without refreshing it first.
- It sits in the fridge unfed for a long time.
None of those things automatically mean you’ve ruined your starter. They’re just conditions that can push the balance in the wrong direction.
Feeding schedule
I knew a starter was alive. I wasn’t ready for how much attention that actually means.
Most beginner guides spend a lot of time explaining the first 7 to 14 days, then eventually tell you to feed your starter once a week and put it in the fridge.
That left a gap for me.
My starter was alive. It bubbled. It rose. It just wasn’t particularly impressive at any of it.
I wasn’t ready to tuck it away in the fridge. I wanted a starter that was thriving, not one that was technically surviving.
A higher feeding ratio
This is where I started looking at feeding ratios differently.
A 1:1:1 feeding gives the starter equal weights of starter, flour, and water. Depending on the temperature, flour, and activity of the culture, it can use that fresh food relatively quickly. If you’re leaving it at room temperature between feedings, it may spend a good portion of that time after peak with very little fresh food left.
Unless you want to feed every few hours, a higher ratio gives the starter a bigger meal and stretches out the time it takes to peak.
Common higher ratios include 1:5:5 and 1:10:10.
For 1:5:5, that’s 5g starter, 25g flour, and 25g water.
The idea is simple: less old starter, more fresh food.
Peak-to-peak feeding
The other part of the experiment is when I feed it.
I’ve been feeding on a schedule because 12 hours passed.
Now I’m paying attention to the starter instead.
A starter gives you plenty of clues when it’s ready for another feeding. It rises, reaches its peak, and eventually starts to fall. Feeding around peak or shortly afterward gives it fresh flour before it spends a long stretch sitting hungry.
So I’m trying to watch the starter instead of the clock.
Over several feedings, I’m hoping to see the culture rebalance and become more active. As the yeast gets a better supply of fresh food and the feeding schedule keeps acidity from building too far, the time to peak may shorten.
That’s the theory, anyway.
The next experiment
This week I’m running three ratios side by side: 1:2:2, 1:5:5, and 1:10:10.
All three will sit in the microwave at 75°F, so temperature stays the same. I’ll feed each one when it peaks and track how long that takes.
I’m looking for more than just a number on the jar. I want to see bigger bubbles, a stronger rise, a starter that holds its peak for a while, and a smell that says bread instead of nail polish remover.
My goal is a starter that can reliably double within six to eight hours after feeding.
I’ll share the results in the next post.
If this doesn’t work, I’m starting over from scratch.
Mark my words.