Help! I bought a King Arthur sourdough starter a few months ago and I've been feeding it with King Arthur flour. It's happy, it's active, it froths. Whenever I try to make anything other than pancakes with it, I have a gloppy disaster on my hands. Literally! I've been trying the extra-tangy sourdough recipe that came with the starter. After the four hours per-ferment, the twelve hours in the refrigerator, and the five-hour rise, I inevitably have glop. A couple times, I actually got some under-risen loaves. Usually, I get dough that is too sticky to form into loaves, or to do anything else with. Is my sourdough too acidic and breaking down the gluten? I even tried sweetening my sourdough by knocking it down to 4 ounces and adding 4 ounces each of water and flour (I weigh everything). I'd like to start making sourdough and stop making big gloppy messes that make my garbage can smell wondrously yeasty. Could be your sourdough is extra-acidic and you're letting everything rise too long; acid eventually does break down gluten. Try our Rustic Sourdough recipe, mild version; that should take you out of the realm of glop and back into safer territory. Call our Baker's Hotline, 802-649-3717, for more suggesitons, OK? Good luck - PJH

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