Maintaining Sourdough Starter
Given the time of year and my home's shoddy heating, I opted to put my starter on top of the clothes dryer to keep it warm. With five people in my family it gets regular use, especially towards the end of the week, so the actual level of warmth isn't an issue. But I am a little leery of the agitation- will the dryer's vibration affect the starter in any way?
Best Answer
The vibrations will have an effect:
On you, because it will be harder to judge the "ripeness" of your refreshed sourdough. You often want to catch the point "just before its starts to go down again" - which will be hard to do when the shaking machine bursts the bubbles all the time.
I doubt that the yeasts and bacteria in the starter will mind - they won't get seasick.
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How do you maintain a sourdough starter?
Maintaining A Sourdough Starter: Leaving it out on the counter, it will need to be fed equal parts water and flour every 12-24 hours. Warmer homes or frequent baking will require more frequent feeding (around every 12 hours), while colder homes every 24 hours.Do you have to discard sourdough starter every time you feed it?
You must discard some of your sourdough starter each time you feed it. You'll discover that discarding is necessary to build a healthy and thriving sourdough starter - but it's not actually as wasteful as you might think.How often should a sourdough starter be fed to maintain an active culture?
When maintained at room temperature, the sourdough starter should be fed every 12 to 24 hours, depending on the specific starter and culturing conditions.How long can a properly maintained sourdough starter be kept?
You can leave the starter in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days at a time between feedings. We recommend feeding sourdough starter at least twice a week for best results.How to Maintain a Sourdough Starter - Simple Method
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Answer 2
I don't think it will bother your starter any, and as far as YOU go, I read a great tip of putting my starter in a canning jar, or a glass jar, so the action of it could be easily visualized. Right after stirring down, adding air and feeding it, put a rubber band on the jar at the current level, and have one or two more rubber bands handy...I keep mine up by the top of the jar. I move one to around where a double quantity would be... example: If I have, for instance, 2" of starter in the container, My next rubber band will be at about 4", or double. I also put one at around 6", and I have an absolute visual on what that starter is doing, just by glancing in it's direction. Going up? When I first notice that it has marks on the side of the jar where is has begun to shrink, I move a rubber band to that point, and/or do my 'float' test if I am wanting to bake. Or, I know to feed it again before it drops all the way back down to the starting point.
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