My sourdough starter took 6 days to double and I nearly quit baking forever

I started my first sourdough starter back in February, and I was so sure I messed it up. Day two it smelled like old gym socks, day three it did nothing, and by day five I was ready to toss the whole jar in the compost bin. I kept following this one blog that said it should double in 4 hours by day three, so I figured my tap water or my flour was cursed. Turns out my kitchen was just too cold, our house sits around 63 degrees in the winter. Once I moved the jar on top of the fridge and started using bottled spring water, it finally doubled at hour 14 on day 6. Six days feels like forever when you're checking on goo every morning before coffee. Has anyone else had a starter that took way longer than the typical timeline? What finally got yours going?

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1 Comment

pat_schmidt6024d ago

Waiting six days just means you were paying attention to the wrong signals, honestly. A cold kitchen is a simple fix, but most beginners blame the flour or water before they blame their own impatience. If it doubles eventually, what does the timeline even matter?