Hi, I am making your sourdough starter using organic rye flour that I've had for a few years. I have made it exactly the same way two times now and both times, with the help of my heating pad on low (great tip by the way), it looks textbook perfect except it develops an awful nasty smell after the first day. Even after several days of feeding it white flour, it's still nasty. Other than that, it looks like healthy sourdough. I am using filtered water and a clean plastic container. I'm afraid to try it because it doesn't smell right. (I've made starter before and know what it should smell like) Any ideas what my problem is? By the way, at the same time, I revived your 250 yr.old starter using the same white flour and it didn't smell bad at all. Thank you. Chris, if your organic rye flour is a few years old, it's no doubt rancid, and anything you make with it will smell bad - and taste awful, too. Please discard that flour and buy some new - any opened package of whole-grain flour will go rancid after a few months at warm room temperature, or 6 to 9 months or so in the freezer. I'm betting that's the problem. PJH

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