My sourdough starter used to be a total diva until I changed one thing

For the longest time, I kept my starter in a cool, dark pantry and fed it once a day with filtered water and fancy bread flour. It was okay, but it was slow and sometimes just wouldn't rise right before a bake. Then, about three months ago, I moved it to the top of my fridge where it's a bit warmer, maybe 75 degrees. I also switched to feeding it with plain tap water and cheap all-purpose flour from the store. The change was wild. It's way more active now, doubles in size in about four hours, and my loaves have a better, more open crumb. I guess I was making it too hard, you know? Has anyone else found that a simpler routine actually works better for their starter?

2 comments

2 Comments

danielm1510d ago

Totally get that! I was doing the same thing with bottled water and expensive flour, thinking it needed special treatment. Moving mine to a warmer spot on the kitchen counter made it way more reliable and hungry. It's funny how these things often thrive on neglect and basic stuff instead of us trying too hard. My baking got so much less stressful when I stopped treating the starter like a science project.

sean_robinson10d ago

Right? I spent way too much time trying to be a starter scientist before realizing, like @danielm15 said, it just wants to be left alone with some tap water and cheap flour.