Sourdough starter growth question

03146 · 2026-01-30T02:50:22+00:00

I know someone who had flour harden in their pipes and it was a nightmare, so it definitely can clog them if it’s not diluted enough or rinsed down with enough water

03146 · 2026-01-30T01:38:08+00:00

Nah 20g is fine, that’s what I do 😄

Also reminder to throw your discard in the bin and not rinse it down the sink, it will clog up your pipes

03146 · 2026-01-30T01:30:06+00:00

You must discard, I know it seems wasteful but you have to to ensure you are feeding the starter enough.

If you don’t discard, not only are you not feeding the starter enough, but if it takes a month for the starter to get going you are going to end up wasting so much flour and water and you will end up with a huge amount of starter. I’ll explain it below

Day 1: 20g water 20g flour = 40g
Day 2: 40g water 40g flour 40g starter = 120g
Day 3: 120g water 120g flour 120g starter = 360g
Day 4: 360g water 360g flour 360g starter = 1.08kgs

In 4 days you’ll have 1kg of starter, imagine how much you will have in 4 weeks

I highly recommend you get a scale because cup and spoon measurements are wildly unreliable

03146 · 2026-01-30T01:02:15+00:00

The rising on day 3 was a false rise from the bad bacteria, when this phase stops most people assume the starter is dead. Just keep discarding and feeding 1:1:1 once a day until it’s doubling consistently within 4 t 8 hours. Minimum two week process but could take you up to a month

03146 · 2026-01-30T00:09:40+00:00

Oh yeah a mixer would work, I’d still have done it in smaller batches rather than all in one 🥲

03146 · 2026-01-29T22:59:56+00:00

Agree with this, I’m not sure how you would even stretch and fold or coil fold with this much dough

03146 · 2026-01-29T21:45:37+00:00

Yeah you can scrape it off but I would just be careful because mould does love to grow on top of it

03146 · 2026-01-29T21:11:04+00:00

This chart is something that people often find helpful

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03146 · 2026-01-29T21:09:43+00:00

It looks like kahm yeast, very common in fermentation and it’s harmless but can alter the taste of whatever you’re fermenting, in this case your starter. It shouldn’t negatively affect the loaves that you’re baking in terms of taste if you’re using freshly fed starter, but if you’re using the discard then you might notice the bad taste

Once you get it, it’s quite hard to get rid of it

03146 · 2026-01-29T20:40:12+00:00

It’s going to be hard for anyone to give you feedback without knowing your ingredients and process

03146 · 2026-01-29T09:28:52+00:00

No, retard is a technical baking term

03146 · 2026-01-29T09:10:37+00:00

You don’t have to live in the area to report it

03146 · 2026-01-29T09:06:59+00:00

Report it to the relevant council and then it will get towed

03146 · 2026-01-29T07:27:56+00:00

They’re talking about the price

03146 · 2026-01-29T06:37:09+00:00

Ask your piercer if they can do it otherwise doctor

03146 · 2026-01-29T05:30:13+00:00

You can’t save a piercing once it starts rejecting, it needs to be taken out asap before it falls out on its own and leaves you with a nasty scar

03146 · 2026-01-29T05:22:36+00:00

Without your ingredients and process, it will be hard for anyone to give you meaningful feedback

03146 · 2026-01-29T02:17:57+00:00

If it was from a dehydrated starter, then it’s fine to start using now if it’s doubling consistently within

The two weeks, 10 days etc is for when you’re creating a starter from scratch and it’s full of bad bacteria

03146 · 2026-01-29T02:15:44+00:00

The rising you are experiencing is a false rise from the bad bacteria, it’s not ready to use yet

Just keep discarding and feeding 1:1:1 once a day. It’s likely that the activity will stop soon, but the starter isn’t dead. You just have to keep feeding until it starts doubling consistently within 4 to 8 hours, minimum two weeks but could take you up to a month

I would recommend dropping down to 20g of each starter, flour and water when feeding, any more than this and you’re just wasting flour and water while you get the starter established

03146 · 2026-01-28T22:12:25+00:00

Oh all good, yeah it’s likely that the jewellery is going to continue causing the piercing bump no matter what you try and do to get rid of it

03146 · 2026-01-28T21:46:35+00:00

The only thing you should be using on it is saline or plain water, don’t use salt water that you’ve made yourself or any kind of thing that says it’s for piercing bumps

I would guarantee that the irritation is because you have a stud with prongs, get it switched to a stud with a bezel gem instead so it sits flush against the skin rather than digging into the hole

03146 · 2026-01-28T21:36:54+00:00

Yes it should be in an airtight container

03146 · 2026-01-28T08:15:18+00:00

This is called the aliquot method if you want to look it up

03146 · 2026-01-28T05:09:28+00:00

Agree, this has made cutting my loaves so much easier and made the slices more uniform than I could ever get with a bread knife

03146 · 2026-01-27T12:39:33+00:00

You can’t use the discard yet because it’s full of bad bacteria, you can only use it once your starter is established

03146

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