Found out my sourdough starter was basically a science experiment gone wrong for 6 months

I was reading a food science blog last week and saw a stat that said most home bakers overfeed their starters by like 3x the normal amount. I measured what I'd been doing and it turned out I was dumping in way too much flour every day. No wonder my bread kept coming out flat and sour. Seems like I was just making a big jar of expensive mush instead of letting the bacteria do their thing. Has anyone else noticed a big difference when they cut back on feeding?

4 comments

4 Comments

nguyen.morgan5d ago

Had a similar problem. Did you find it took like 2 weeks after cutting back before the starter actually looked healthy again or did it bounce back quicker for you?

phoenix57316d ago

Wait seriously? You were feeding it twice a day with a ton of flour? That sounds like a nightmare. I did basically the same thing where I was dumping in like a cup of flour every feeding and wondering why my starter looked like wet concrete. Once I cut it down to like a quarter cup it actually started doubling in size and my bread had an actual crumb structure instead of being a hockey puck. That vinegar smell you mentioned is exactly what I had too, it was so strong it made my whole kitchen smell like a pickle factory for months.

pat78116d ago

yeah i totally feel you on this one, i did the same thing for like a year before i figured it out. i was feeding my starter twice a day with a ton of flour and it just turned into this thick gloppy mess that barely bubbled. once i cut back to once a day and used way less flour it was like night and day, actually started rising and smelling like real bread instead of like vinegar. it's embarrassing how long it took me to realize i was just making expensive goo instead of a healthy starter.

patricia26216d ago

ngl i used to be on the opposite side of this, thought feeding more = better starter. but @pat781 your post actually made me reconsider, tried cutting back and it worked way better for me too. appreciate you sharing this cause it's easy to overthink the whole thing when less is really more.