This post might include affiliate links. First, if you haven’t buckwheat sourdough bread created a sourdough starter, be sure to read my guide to creating a starter from scratch in seven simple steps.
What helps a struggling sourdough starter? How do I know if I killed my sourdough starter? What if I see mold in my starter? Why does my sourdough starter rise and then fall? I get it to rise higher?
Why doesn’t my sourdough starter have big bubbles? How do I make my sourdough starter more active? Do I have to discard some of my starter each time I feed it? What if I miss feeding my sourdough starter? Can I use tap water to feed my starter? Can a sourdough starter be gluten-free?
What are sourdough starter feeding ratios? Aside from temperature, if I ever experience any issues with my starter, I’ll often treat it as a sick child and give it a little extra attention, care, and some healthy food. I find best for my normal maintenance. But for a 12-hour feeding interval at a warm temperature, I find this keeps my starter strong and healthy.
Oh, it’s so difficult to kill a sourdough starter! I’ve had readers write in about having left a starter on their counter for a week or it in the fridge for a month or more without feeding it, and once they’ve given it a few consistent feedings, it’s sprung back to life, ready to make delicious bread. Usually, this also presents as an aroma like spoiled or rotten food. What a good starter might smell like: Bakers often say their healthy starter might smell a bit like sulfur, a little musty, a little like ripe cheese or yogurt.
Personally, when I use whole grain rye flour in my starter, at the end of its refreshment cycle it’ll smell pungent and musty, but it never makes me feel disgusted or off-put. It has a unique aroma that I’ve come to identify with my starter. Typical signs of food spoilage and mold include pink, orange, or green colors, white fuzzy spots, or sometimes areas that are darker with white areas on top. If you see any of these signs, I would recommend throwing your starter away and creating a new one. Follow my guide to creating a starter, and in only seven days, you’ll have a fresh and healthy one that’s ready for baking. As fermentation progresses in your mixture of flour, water, and ripe starter, the byproducts of fermentation, namely gas production, are trapped in the viscoelastic dough and cause it to rise.
This rise is expected and is a good indicator of strong fermentation activity. In some cases, I’ve found that some starters never fall, or only collapse a small amount in their jar. Again, this is related to the flour used and is not a bad sign. Use the other signs of fermentation to determine when it’s ripe and needs feeding.