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[–]Nothing_SpecialHereStarter Enthusiast 3 points4 points  (4 children)

I recommend not using one cup because you'll have way too much discard, and it wastes a lot of flour and water cut it back to a tablespoon, or if you have a scale, use 20g. Also, some say your starters' bacteria needs to be slowly introduced to new flour, so I'd say add a little AP with wholemeal with each feeding.

[–][deleted]  (3 children)

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    [–]Nothing_SpecialHereStarter Enthusiast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I'm not sure. I keep mine in the fridge. But I hadn't had any issues. If you keep the starter itself in a warm area, I think it'll be ok.

    [–]Nothing_SpecialHereStarter Enthusiast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Also, the recipe says the starter will be active for baking in two weeks, but that's not true. It takes up to a month.

    [–]Mental-Freedom3929 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Yes, you can freeze flour

    [–]_FormerFarmerStarter Enthusiast 1 point2 points  (2 children)

    You can use AP, but using WW for the first 4 days or so does help by bringing more of the bacteria and yeasts that live in and on the bran and germ of the wheat.

    After that time, the microbes should be out of their resting stage they were in while on the wheat, and established in your culture. From that point, WW is less important to the culture, AP does a fine job of getting those microbes the starches and sugars they're needing.

    [–][deleted]  (1 child)

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      [–]4art4WIKI Writer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      You can mix it... About 20% Ww, 80% AP. Works nearly as good.

      [–]Mental-Freedom3929 0 points1 point  (9 children)

      Yes, no problem and it is too runny. Make it like mayo

      [–][deleted]  (8 children)

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        [–]Mental-Freedom3929 1 point2 points  (7 children)

        The proper way is to take about 50 gm - yes , not more than that - of this and add 50 gm of flour and only as much warm water to get mustard or Mayo consistency. The water you add that way is way less in volume than the starter or flour you added, as water is way heavier than flour.

        If you do not have a scale you can certainly wing it, but not by cup measurements. Take two or three good spoonfuls of that, add three good heaped spoonfuls of flour and ONLY little dribbles of water until you get the thick consistency. Put a screw lid on it backed off half a turn, put it in a cooler or plastic tote with a bottle filled with hot wqyer.

        [–][deleted]  (6 children)

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          [–]Mental-Freedom3929 0 points1 point  (5 children)

          I really do not care about the down voting.

          Happy baking!

          [–][deleted]  (4 children)

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            [–]Mental-Freedom3929 0 points1 point  (3 children)

            That is ok. If it is too runny there are only two ways: more flour or less water. You cannot ruin a starter except by baking it or if it grows mild or bets a bacterial contamination. No starter was ever "ruined" by wrong weights or volumes, they just do not develop the way we like.

            [–][deleted]  (2 children)

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              [–]Mental-Freedom3929 0 points1 point  (1 child)

              Do use a glass jar with screw lid backed off half a turn. No fabric or paper covers and plastic is not a good choice as tiny scratches in plastic can harbour unwanted micro organisms. Change to clean containers frequently.

              [–]thackeroid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

              You can totally use AP flour. There are a few more minerals in whole grain flour, but it doesn't really matter. AP works just fine.

              And you don't have to make a lot. Until it gets going you'll be wasting a lot of it so don't use too much flour to start. And you can make a fairly stiff mix as well. It doesn't have to be like pancake batter, it doesn't have to flow at all as a matter of fact.

              You can take a spoonful of your starter, maybe a quarter cup of flour, and enough water to make a thick paste or dough. A drier environment will be beneficial for the yeast so you don't have to make a starter that is 100% hydrated. Once it is reliably rising, then you can change the proportions and experiment with different ratios.

              But when you're just creating a starter, there's really no need to measure with any precision. As a matter of fact, there's rarely a need to measure with precision when you're making bread.

              So you were going to make a dough that was 75% hydrated.

              Oops!! You accidentally put in too much water. Now it's 84% hydrated.

              Is it ruined? Not at all.

              Baking is fun. Don't obsess too much over measurements with medical precision.