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Jun 2020
5:52pm, 11 Jun 2020
6,549 posts
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sallykate
Keep it somewhere warmer? Is it white flour - that can take a bit longer I think; my first one was wholemeal rye and it was good to go after five days (using Bake with Jack's no discard approach).
I'm no expert though. I think I just lucked out first time. I am using a white starter now which I made using the discard method. I was about to give up on it, didn't feed it for two days and then noticed it was lovely and bubbly so used it and chucked the rest in the fridge, where it sits ignored for a week between uses.
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Jun 2020
8:15pm, 11 Jun 2020
8,441 posts
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leaguefreak
Ok may be white flour and cold weather. I'll persist.
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Jun 2020
8:19pm, 11 Jun 2020
3,103 posts
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jacdaw
If you don't keep it warm enough you may end up with an odd ratio of yeast to bacteria. Try to keep it as near to 29* as possible, consistently.
Brown flour works better than white, but a mixture has advantages too. Organic flour seems to get going quicker.
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Jun 2020
8:26pm, 11 Jun 2020
8,443 posts
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leaguefreak
Bloody hell. I'll have to take the bugger on holiday. Have you ever been to the north of England?
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Jun 2020
8:41pm, 11 Jun 2020
3,104 posts
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jacdaw
I have an airing cupboard, or at least a spot on top of the hot water cylinder.
28 to 30 is a kind of perfect temperature where you are absolutely guaranteed to get decent results. Not saying it isn't possible at lower or fluctuating temperatures.
I live in Northumberland... so, yes.
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Jun 2020
8:52pm, 11 Jun 2020
8,447 posts
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leaguefreak
I'll put it back in the airing cupboard.
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Jun 2020
8:57pm, 11 Jun 2020
23,257 posts
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Lizzie W
Mine didn't like the white flour, I need to go to the other shop for decent flour.
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Jun 2020
8:59pm, 11 Jun 2020
23,258 posts
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Lizzie W
I have boiled the fruit - must remember to make it into cakes.
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Jun 2020
9:06pm, 11 Jun 2020
1,740 posts
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panad
LF I’m in N Wales, and our starter has been absolutely fine just on the side in the kitchen for the last 4 years (and our house is cold - normally around 10-15C in the kitchen...) I feed it white flour when it looks a bit flat - small amounts of water and white flour added everyday seem to work better than larger amounts less frequently. - I taken to using just white flour for the last 18months as I’ve found that everyone in the house likes taste of the bread if the starter is white only - I will usually still use a mix of brown and white in the bread - but the flavour coming from the starter is too much for the girls if I use brown wheat/rye flour in the starter..
Then the day before I want/need to make bread I put about a cup of starter in a bowl with a couple of cups of flour and some tepid water to become the basis for the loaf leaving it to bubble up overnight before adding the rest of the flour and a bit of salt and oil to make the loaf the next morning re-feed the remaining starter.
Ultimately from my experience it’s a bit trial and error to find what works for you, but once you do it’s brilliant.
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Jun 2020
9:37pm, 11 Jun 2020
3,105 posts
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jacdaw
I think it is the getting it going in the first place stage where a constant warm temperature really helps. Much more resilient and adaptable once you have a good fermentation going.
Although it is easy to mishandle even an established culture and end up with it being sluggish or super sour.
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Bread machine recipes?
Jun 2023
