Wheat sourdough starter - "swamp" smell
Some time ago I have grown my own sourdough starter fed with 50/50 wholemeal rye & all-purpose wheat flour (with 100% hydration). It turned out great, it normally grows a bit over 2x in volume after feeding over night, and smells in a pleasantly floral way.
I had this idea, that with already established yeast culture, I could now start a second jar, where I would grow 100% all-purpose wheat flour with a bit of the 50/50 starter - so that I would end up with a fast wheat sourdough starter. I have started it last Sunday, and I could see activity in it already after 24h, with a visible volume increase (~maybe 1.5x?) and a bubbly surface. However, after I gave it a sniff after these first 24h, I immediately detected a really offending smell, which brought about association with still water in nature, like the one you can smell in swamps. I figured it might be a result of a rapid flour type change, and that new microorganisms have started multiplying in there in competition with the already established yeast culture, so I just chucked out most of it, and fed the dirty jar with a new feed of all-purpose wheat. This morning the smell is back, maybe in a slightly smaller intensity, and volume growth is around 2x already. No mold can be seen on the surface, and the color of the mixture is milky-white.
Can anyone with some experience in this area tell me, if that is a normal behaviour, with all-wheat starter just going through its kiddy-years at the moment? Or did I already mess it up, and the only real choice is to chuck it and start anew?
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What should whole wheat sourdough starter smell like?
This is completely normal in the first few weeks and it will settle down as the good bacteria take hold. Once established, your starter should smell good - a fruity, yeasty smell should prevail.Why does my sourdough starter smell weird?
Signs of a Bad Sourdough StarterIf your starter has mold growing throughout it (not just a little on top), or if it smells really foul (not just super sour), or if it turns an odd color (not just gray, which is normal, but pink or green), it may be time to start over.Should sourdough starter have a smell?
When your starter reaches the last stage and stabilizes it will develop its own characteristic smells. However, despite the name "sourdough", a healthy sourdough starter usually has a fresh yeasty smell with, perhaps, a bit of an astringent note to it. The idea of using a fresh starter bothers some people.What should a mature sourdough starter smell like?
Your starter should have a lovely, yeasty smell, like getting a whiff of bread rising in a bakery, times five. If you stick your nose into your bag of starter, you'll get a pretty heady hit of yeast.Sourdough Starter Experiment
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