Day nine, wholemeal and water, feeding once a day. It bubbles enthusiastically about eight hours after feeding, smelled strongly of acetone for the first few days and now smells more like yoghurt. Everyone says two weeks, some people say six. Is there a signal I should be waiting for rather than counting days?
The other signal is smell stability. A ready starter smells roughly the same after every feed: yoghurty, slightly beery, pleasant. If it swings between acetone and sweet from one feed to the next, the populations are still fighting it out.
Nine days on a discard-and-feed rhythm is completely normal, and the wholemeal is helping. If you switch to white flour now, expect a temporary slowdown for a few days. It isn't failure, there's just less on the flour to work with.
Staying on wholemeal until it's reliable then. No point adding a variable now.
Weigh your feeds. A spoonful varies by a factor of two and you can't read a trend when the input keeps changing.
@keg_line_ken · 11mo ago · 3 replies
Yes: consistent, predictable doubling within four to six hours of a feed, three days running. That's the signal, and it beats any day count because the day count depends on your flour, your water and your kitchen.
What you're describing is textbook. Acetone early on is normal, the shift to yoghurt is the bacterial population sorting itself out, and bubbling at eight hours on day nine means it's on the way but not ready. Two things speed it up: feed twice a day rather than once, and keep it warmer, 25-26C rather than a cold worktop. Most "my starter has stalled at three weeks" posts are a jar living at 18C.
Don't bake with it early and conclude it failed. The first loaf from a not-quite-ready starter is dense, and people bin the starter when it needed another four days.
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@solder_sundays · 11mo ago
Twice a day and on top of the fridge. It's at five hours now on day thirteen.
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@weatherfront_wu · 11mo ago
Top of the fridge is the classic move and it works, but check it with a thermometer. Some modern fridges barely warm the top at all.
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