Day 6:
After a slight mishap on Day 3, (in which “I poured the water from a gallon pitcher into a tiny tablespoon right over the bowl and too much poured out and got into the dough“), my 3rd attempt at making a sourdough starter using the yeast lying dormant in our apartment has failed.
The promise of that quintessential sourdough (see above) however, will drive me to try once more to recruit the rising power of the wild yeast living in our kitchen. But only after a proper analysis of what went wrong.
First off, how did I know it was wrong?
- The dough should rise as much as 50% each day with proper feeding
- If you slice the dough with a paring knife, you should see a lattice network of air pockets within nicely developed gluten.
After that fretful 3rd day, my dough did not grow at all. It remained quite smooth and flat, and when I ran a paring knife through it, all I saw was just how smooth, dense, and goopy it was.
And so, into the garbage it went
But what exactly went wrong? Why does this keep happening?
The more obvious explanation is that I added too much water, and as dough and baking in general are usually quite precise, the extra water spoiled the environment and the yeast died.
Another reason why it may have failed may be that it is July. A hot and humid July. Our kitchen has been very warm, definitely warmer than the 75 degrees the book recommends. This probably accelerates the growth of yeast, and would explain why things were looking so good on days 2 and 3. If the yeast grew too quickly, the alcohol, or hooch, that is the byproduct of their starch metabolism, could have created an inhospitable environment that killed off the yeast. Sort of like dying in your own excrement. Not a good way to go.
But this is just a theory.
During my next effort, I will do 2 things:
- I will measure much more carefully, and never over the mixing bowl
- If the kitchen continues to be this warm, I will watch the dough more carefully and feed it more often if it seems as though the alcohols are building too quickly
Do any of you have ideas as to what went wrong? or suggestions for my next attempt?
I too am just starting to do sourdough, and I have learned a lot since I started to research my Summer Organic Chemistry project. Write me, I don’t check this email everyday, but at least 4 days out of a week. I also have a couple of very good starters going, and I recognize the Book.
Terri
Thank’s for the comment Terri. What has your research taught you about the key to creating a starter? Can it ripen within 2 days if the environment is warm enough? Are there any starters that you have made that are a bit more foolproof?
Matthew – I too recognize the book and just began attempt number 4 of the “stiff dough levain”. I had luck on attempt number 3, day two where my starter came to life and became a dome and nearly doubled in size but on day 3 something went wrong. I’ve become a mad scientist measuring out ingredients, checking temperatures (I have the opposite problem – san francisco weather is typically cool so I use the top of my stove to try and achieve the 70 – 78 degree temperatures recommended but I think it is a little too warm – low to mid 80’s) I have no problem making things smell sour but the structure is very similar to your third attempt. I’ve also switched over from using a mixing bowl to a container that is smaller and has straight sides so any sign of life is easier to see as it can only rise up and not out. I’m also switching over to feeding my starter twice a day per the recommendation of a friend who just took bread baking classes at the San Francisco Baking Institute – her instructor said, “think how much more active you would be if you ate twice-a-day instead of only once.”
-Tom