Why does nobody talk about how easy it is to mess up sourdough starter for months on end?

I started my sourdough starter back in November, feeding it every day like clockwork, and it never doubled in size. Last week I finally realized I was using tap water with too much chlorine. Switched to filtered water and within 48 hours the thing tripled in volume. I felt like an idiot for wasting 4 months of flour. Has anyone else dealt with a hidden ingredient ruining their ferment?

3 comments

3 Comments

reese_hayes711mo agoMost Upvoted

Man that's rough, four months is a brutal waste of flour. I had the same thing with my first starter, turned out my kitchen was too cold for it to really get going during winter. My fix was keeping it in the microwave with the door cracked open after running some water for hot tea nearby, that little bit of warmth made it finally take off. Also learned the hard way that bleached flour kills the activity, switched to unbleached and it started bubbling like crazy within a week. You're not alone in missing something that obvious though, it's always some tiny detail that screws everything up for way too long.

sage_moore371mo ago

Did you always use unbleached or did you realize the same way?

smith.parker1mo ago

Did you check if your tap water had chlorine or chloramine in it? Filtered water saved my starter after months of frustration too.