Joy the Baker has gone off the deep end a bit. My schedule for the next week is simply beyond what I can even comprehend. I need a body/baking double.
Right now I’m dealing with the stress by madly pacing my house and shoving handfuls of Reese’s Pieces into my face. I wish one of you were here to stop me.
I know we’re in the middle of our sourdough starter madness. Tomorrow is the seventh day of my starter. It’s bubbly and smelly (in a good way), so I’m going to feed it, cover it and toss it in the fridge until I have a moment to bake up some bread and pancakes. How are your starters going? Have any questions?
While I’m away, take a moment to revisit this Joy the Baker Classic- Blackberry Jam Cake.
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On Day 3, mine was really puffy and lovely. I stirred the hooch, dumped half, added in more of the mix and left it and nothing happened for 24 hours – i mean nothing – and it smells foul – no one else will go near it. its not warm enough to have died – i just don’t know what happened. wondering whether to start over or leave it for another day to see what happens. there are tiny bubbles, but no froth.
I havent started a sourdough starter since i’ll be leaving for university today! i feel so left out!
My starter is doing fine. Not as much lift as before but still frothy and lots of hooch. I must say, though, that I’m not enjoying the smell as much as the rest of you seem to!
Arundathi, I read that it usually calms down around day 4 and then picks up again around day 6 or 7. The article I read said that during the early days, the bacteria are active while the later days it’s the yeast being active. Keep feeding it and see if it springs back into action in a couple of days!
My starter died on day 2 for some reason. It was looking so good. I started again yesterday. We’ll see what happens.
Ok, so I started mine about three days after Joy’s. It was lovely on day 2, frothy and so forth. I forgot to feed it once (left it about 8 hours longer than I should have). Now it just doesn’t look like I imagine it should. No bubbles. No froth. It still smells nice though. Also, every day, within an hour of stirring it and feeding it, the hooch separates and sits on top while the rest sits on the bottom. Complete separation. Is that right? Help.
Mine is still smelly…I considered throwing it out and starting over, but decided not to… I am still halving and feeding it daily..it is frothy and bubbly. It smells like baby throw up.. or baby formula..
Back on day 3 I fed mine but forgot to dump half first. I had major hooch and no bubbles. SO 12 hours later I dumped half & fed again. Now I have bubbles again but no froth. The smell has gone from floury to more like sourdough (with a little bit of a “paint” smell too). I assume I will be set back a day or two from the mixup. How long do I let it go before I give it up? I know it can take up to a week, but how long is safe to go beyond that? How will I know when it’s done?
Arundathi- Give it another day and see what happens. It’s day 7 for mine and on day 6 it seemed to have stalled for a bit. Give it another day!
Holly- ha! Yea.. the smell sure is something special. Thanks for the advice too!
Theresa- I hope you have better luck this time! My starter kinda stalled day 6. I hope it’s not dead. I’m crossing my fingers.
Christina- My hooch separates fairly soon after its feeding too. I’d give yours another day or two to see if it perks up.
Missy- I’m glad you didn’t give up. That sounds about right!
Libby- I added too much one day too, but I just continued as normal. I don’t think it’s a problem. My starter has been out for 7 days. Tonight I’m going to feed it one last time and cover it and put it in the fridge. I heard that it may take longer than a week. Hope that helps!
Take a deep breath. Put down the Reese’s. Dig your heels in and go get ‘em. You’re doing what you love and sharing it with others. That’s a fantastic gift. Both for you and those you touch. Keep it up. Okay, you can pick up the Reese’s again.
send the Reese’s to me and I will “hold” them for you :)!
I would be happy to save you by eating all the Reeses Pieces!
Good luck! I’d save you by pouring a glass of milk and helping you eat those Reeses!
I started over because my daughter actually walked by (she’s 2 yrs old) and took a sniff and threw up her dinner!!! ROFL!
Now Christina says I now have complete separation – no small line of hooch – just liquid on top and the flour at the bottom. Sigh. I stirred it and kept my fingers crossed. I want those pancakes :(
Gosh, good luck getting through the busy times. :-( Thank you for the lovely cake while you catch up!
This looks so incredibly good. Makes me wish I could bake. I’m just no good at it, it takes special skills that they forgot to provide me with at birth :)
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