Hi! I'm really new to this. This is my first attempt at making sourdough, and I am just completely lost. I'm not sure if things are going well or not, because my starter smells AWFUL! I started off with whole grain flour and distilled water and covered loosely with cling wrap (as directed, I did not add yeast). The first day, it took off - like, really took off. It overflowed the 4-cup glass measuring cup that I was keeping it in. I'm guessing that this was because we don't have air conditioning and my house hovered just under 90 degrees that day. I've trudged on, following the recipe. Since then, it's been a little cooler. Let's say around low to mid 80's in my house. Day 2, I stirred it up, and tossed all but 1/2c., then fed with unbleached all-purpose flour and distilled water after 24 hours. It smelled... rank. Just ripe and pungent and not pleasant at all. I let it sit for 12 hours. Day three came, and I followed the same procedure, feeding twice (every 12ish hours). Still active, and although I haven't been paying close attention to the volumes, it looks like it's about doubling. It still smelled ripe like days one and two. Day four, the same thing, although I ran out of my all purpose flour and switched back to the whole-wheat flour. Still doubling over the 12 hours, though I'm not home or awake in between to see if it's rising much more than that and then falling, the container looks like it can't be rising too much more than the double-ish mark. On day four, the smell has changed, and it's reminiscent of vomit... it's not quite as strong of a smell as it was before, but it's still not pleasant by any means. It's now day five, and I've done the morning feeding and left for the day. There's no noticeable discoloration (I know to watch for the pink or orange hue, and it's not there). It's not getting watery or anything. It's a thick, gooey paste after I feed it, and it seems to get a little more wet throughout the 12 hours it sits, but it's still oozy after I stir the air out come the next feeding time. Does this sound right? I'm mostly just scared by the smell... and I waiting for that trademark sourdough smell? Or something else? Am I doing this right? Has something gone wrong? Please help!!! I just realized that the measuring cup that I've been using to measure out the 1/2 cup of reserved starter (as well as my flour and water) is stainless steel... I've been keeping the mixture in a glass or plastic bowl and using a silicone and wood spoon to mix, but the measuring cup is metal... does that matter if it's only in contact for a few seconds???

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