Hey guys! I've been curious about starting a sourdough starter for over a year, but finally decided to give it a go in February. There are so many health benefits to it that it just makes sense. You guys. This process was not easy. It took me three dang tries, switching three different containers, and six weeks to finally get it to start rising!
In this container, a mason jar like large container, I could get it bubbly, but no rise. I also got mold once so I had to through it all out and start over.
Then I tried this bowl. And it rose the same night I transferred it! I used a saucer plate on top of it.
After two days of rising, I decided to do the float test. I was dancing as it floated. My first baked good was bread. Just regular ole sandwich bread. It was alright. It was fine the first day, but only the boys enjoyed it after that.
We love artisan bread in this house, so that was next. It was very good.
I ordered some new bowls, that would have a lid, and transferred my starter. It performed so much better in this one
We made cinnamon sugar doughnuts and they were amazing!
Next was some dinner rolls to go with dinner
The next night we made waffles
And some chocolate chip pancakes and waffles for the boys.
As I was getting ready to add flour and water to my remaining starter, I sniffed it. It didn't have a sour smell to it, but rather, it smelled like slime as my daughter said. So instead of feeding it, I stuck it in the fridge in hopes it would begin to sour. Oh, and nobody got sick from the waffles, so I don't think it was bad. After 9 days, it still hadn't soured! Looked the same and smelled the same too. Ugh. I was going to through it all away and quit my adventure, but after more research, I decided to pull it out of the fridge and feed it on April 6th.
Now that it's fed, it shouldn't take but two days to do what it needs to do. According to everything I've read.
April 7th: It doubled, but didn't pass the float test. Still smells like glue. Discarded and fed am and pm.
April 8th: Tripled, but didn't pass the float test. Discarded and fed am and pm.
April 9th: Gave up. Threw it in the trash and I'm not trying again. It tripled again, but still had the weird smell and didn't pass the float test.
Even though I didn't successfully keep an active starter, I kept trying. I called it my science experiment because that's what it felt like. We still prefer homemade artisan breads, so we'll continue making them with yeast. If you've been successful at keeping a starter, kudos to you! I envy you.
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