How to tell if my young starter is mature?
I am trying to grow my starter for the very first time. I have two of them, one is 12 days old now, 100% hydration white flour at 1:2:2 ratio, feeding every 24 hrs; it's a little bit bubbly and not rising much, not more than 10% of its size. The other one is 10 days old, also 100% hydration, a mix of white flour and whole wheat at 1:1:1 ratio; it still has some bubbles but not much of a rise.
Both smell yeasty with a hint of acidity. My kitchen temperature is around 20 degrees. I wonder what I am doing wrong. I read that by now my starters should be doubling or even more.
Best Answer
A good rule of thumb as to when a starter has enough oomph to raise a loaf is whether it will float in water.
I can take the properties of my starter pretty much for granted these days, but when I was making it from scratch I made sure to test a spoon of the portion that I was discarding for its flotation properties.
If you feel your starter is not making progress I would suggest two things:
- Keep it slightly warmer. The method at https://www.sourdoughhome.com/starting-a-starter-my-way/ which I more or less followed, suggests a temperature range of 18-30 degrees C, so your 20 degrees is at the lower end of that.
- Discard a lower proportion. If your starter isn't racing away and exhausting its food supply, it may help to build its population if you follow the SourdoughHome recommendation to discard only half of your starter at each feed and replenish with 50g each of flour and water.
- Check that your flour is as fresh as possible and consider switching to fully wholemeal until you get more activity going on, the meal being more likely to carry the necessary yeasts and bacteria, apparently.
- experiment with a different water supply, perhaps bottled spring water; some people report that chlorinated supplies are problematic for starters while others have no problem, there may be variations in the exact chemicals used.
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Quick Answer about "How to tell if my young starter is mature?"
Ripe and ready to go The same starter at 4 p.m., 8 hours after feeding. It's doubled in volume, and shows signs of just beginning to sag under its own weight. This is active starter that's also ripe, ready to be added to bread dough to perform its sourdough magic.How do I know if my sourdough starter is mature?
Fill a glass bowl or cup with room-temperature water, and drop a small scoop (a teaspoon or less) of the starter into the water. If it floats, it's ready to use. If it sinks, your starter will need more time to develop, either with another feeding or simply more time to sit and develop air bubbles.How do you know when your starter is ripe?
A fully ripe new starter is often one that has consistently doubled in size each day within 8-10 hours of feeding. Once a new starter can achieve those marks for two or three days in a row, it is considered ripe for baking.How long does it take for sourdough starter to mature?
Notes & Tips. The overall process typically takes 7 days, if the temperature is warm enough. However, it can take up to 2 weeks or more for a strong starter to become established.How long after feeding is starter mature?
Your starter needs to be fed about 1x per week if refrigerated, and every day if left at room temperature. Generally, about 5-6 hours after feeding my starter is ready. The time may vary based on room temp, dough temp, etc. The starter should have doubled in volume and started to recede and/or pass the float test.4 Signs you are still not a MATURE PERSON
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