Okay, after a lot of bubbling and not much volume growth for quite a while - and a couple blatantly failed test loaves - Day 12 was the day! I checked in the wee hours of this morning and it was nearly popping out of its Mason jar. And after the next feeding it sprang right up. I can't post a photo here but the Artisan Bread group on FB chronicles my attempts and anxiety. I got a lot of support and encouragement to be patient, and I was able today to post an image of my volcanic starter. Very excited to see how tomorrow's test loaves turn out! For anyone going through this process who is itching to bake but whose starter isn't fully established, I would encourage you to feed your bread baking jones by using your starter discard with added yeast (essentially the "Rustic" recipe on this site) to make some loaves. Even if the starter isn't strong enough to shoulder the entire responsibility of leavening, the flavor it gives is very noticeable. I used some whole rye flour in one of my feeding cycles - and whole rye and wheat flours for 1/3 to 1/2 of the flour in the "Rustic" loaves - and I got fantastic flavor and crust consistency. I think I'm nearly there! Thanks for all the support. Just don't be disappointed of it takes two or three weeks instead of one.

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