Troubleshooting Your New Sourdough Starter

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If you are having some issues with getting your sourdough starter going, this video should help you! These are the most common questions I get about new starters:
-Why isn't my starter looking active?
-Why did my starter look active and then die down?
-How do I know my starter has gone bad?
-Why does my starter smell?

#sourdough #stayhome #bread

[lulugoh]

My sourdough starter is finally successful and is now sitting happily in my fridge. Before watching Bettie’s video, my fifth attempt at making a sourdough starter was dying by day three, as usual. I had tried following five different tutorials on YouTube, but I couldn’t figure out what was going wrong. My starter always produced hooch on top, became too watery, or had hooch in the middle.

After watching Bettie’s troubleshooting tips and successfully reviving my starter, I’ve concluded a few points that might help others living in tropical climates (like Malaysia) where it’s around 30°C even indoors:

01. Maintain a Thick Pancake Batter Consistency:
My starter had hooch on day three and stopped growing, becoming very watery. So, I poured out half of my starter (the hooch was in the middle) and added flour and water to achieve a thick pancake batter consistency.

02. Keep it in the Coolest Room:
I didn’t store it in the kitchen because the kitchen temperature exceeds 30°C. Instead, I kept it in my bedroom, where the temperature is around 28-29°C.

03. Feed More Often:
I didn’t follow the standard feeding schedules found in tutorials from temperate climates. These didn’t work for me, even a Hong Kong-based tutorial failed.

04. Discard Extra Starter:
I always discard extra starters to avoid having too much. I keep around 25g of starter and feed it with 50g of flour and 50g of water, maintaining the sticky thick pancake batter consistency.

05. Don’t Stick to Online Tutorial Timelines: Everyone has their own unique environment, which differs from others in various ways, including room temperature, flour gluten content, and the bacteria around the starter. Because of these differences, I didn’t follow the exact timelines provided in the tutorials. Instead, I observed my starter and waited until it could double in size every time I fed it, made a sizzling sound when scooped and passed the floating test. These signs indicate that your starter is stable and alive, meaning you have successfully created a starter!

When I saw Bettie’s video, I was about to throw away my fifth starter. It had hooch in the middle and had stopped growing. I discarded some of it (keeping it at about two days' worth) and doubled the amount of flour and water to keep it at the sticky thick pancake batter consistency. I didn’t measure precisely because my scale was broken. The starter revived on day three after this adjustment and stabilized by day six, doubling in size every time I fed it. Bei Bei (my starter's name) is now very active and two weeks old.

I’ve tried using Beibei to bake sourdough bread, but my bread flattens like a flying saucer because the starter is more active compared to factory-dried yeasts. I’m currently struggling to achieve a balloon-shaped sourdough bread, but I’m not giving up. I’m confident I’ll succeed if I keep trying! Thanks again, Bettie, for sharing your video!

[bambamssam]

Honestly, you give the clearest instructions on sourdough starter. I've watched your entire series and it's clear and easy to follow. Thank you so much!! I've watched like a bunch, before I found your videos, I'm so glad you made this series!! x

[hansb]

YES! You managed to answer all the questions i still had after watching endless number of tutorials. Thank you!

[sohelsohel]

Clearest instructions on troubleshooting a beginner starter grower ..

[nicollewilbur]

Oh my god. This has been amazing. I have gone through so many starters because I always thought they were dead. 😩 and you come along and tell me all the things Pinterest did not. Thank you 🙏🏻 was about to throw out another starter.

[danielpagnozzi]

Thank you much. I was struggling, so I would throw out a bunch of starter because I thought I was doing something wrong. And with your video I understood that is normal and that I had to have more faith.
Back to the kitchen

[KimZaharia]

Just found you and have subscribed. I too have been throwing away my starters way to soon. You are so clear in how you communicate and what you say makes total sense. Now to finish my starter finally

[buzzrodwell]

I'm so grateful for this! Having made bread for a year or so with yeast I finally decided to try sourdough, but I was despairing about my starter because after several days the only thing it did was to produce the hooch. Now I am wiser having watched your video, so I will persevere. Thank you Bettie!!

[Homegrown_Hillary]

Thank you!!! I’ve tried making and sustaining sourdough starters multiple times and hit most of those roadblocks each time, yet my google searches on the issues never gave me these answers so I gave up each time.

Not today! You’ve given me hope that I haven’t killed my yeast babies and I’m so grateful. 😊

[SpencerPullenPhotography]

Oh thank goodness! You have saved my sanity. My starter had the “false start”. I was wondering what happened to the bubbles! I’m going into day 7. I’ll keep the course and hope for the best. Keep up the great videos!

[VedWyawahare]

The best video which I have been finding for 3 days thankyou for the advice and all

[endorpha]

Thank you! I’ve watched countless long drawn out versions that make my head spin! Now I know that I’ve been starving my starter. Best vid!

[franciellimoodie]

I feel so intimidated to start baking with my brand new starter, I thought I had killed it but this video brought me a lot of clarity and now I know my “ baby” Is still alive haha 🙌🏼
Now I just need to work on my mind and actually give it a try 😅

[MickieMuellerStudio]

This was so helpful! I did get that false start, I was so excited. Then I seriously thought I killed it. I think I've devised a good spot for temperature now, it's definitely not doubling, but there's some activity. This made me feel a little more confident moving forward. Thank you!

[heatherkanneman]

Just found your video. Thank you! I now realize that my starter was starving and I wasn’t feeding it enough. The recipe I was using said to feed every 24 hours. I’m now feed about every 12 and it looks and smells SO MUCH better!!!

[quaydvt]

Thank you. My first attempt at sour dough. Your comment on the initial activity then looking DOA is exactly what I saw and what I was researching. Took off like a rocket on day 2-3 then a few bubbles but no real activity since. It is now day 5. Still alive, a bit of hooch today and a few surface bubbles, but still pretty flat. I was really wondering about and insane rise between day 2 and 3 followed by 3 days of "blah". Not worried now. I have to keep mine in the oven with the light on. Up in the mountains of BC and the house gets pretty cold overnight and not overly warm during the day (winter!) so I figured the oven was the most consistent place for it.

[rhadetre]

So basically, getting my sourdough started is like watching a fungal/bacterial war. And once it starts smelling pleasant, the yeast has won.

[gradyhester]

SO HELPFUL! I started a starter 5 or so weeks ago and was ready to throw in the towel. I was starving my starter as it turns out. Baker Bettie, I'm so thankful for your time and help! My starter is happy and active and ready for baking... Take care, Grady!
Nashville, TN

[Deepgoat]

I thought this was going to be another video where someone reiterates the basics of making a starter without any real new info. Tremendous video, all the real questions answered.

[FeelFree]

What should I do if my starter is bubbly but doesn’t rise much? I’ve maintained my starter for several years now and noticed this happening over the last several months.