great info here, thanks. however, i've been struggling with a starter that, from what i've read on peter reinhart's blog posted some years ago, may be going "dormant" after several days of doubling in volume. even when starting with orange/pineapple juice i experienced three good days of feeding every 12 hours then less and less activity until it becomes an inactive soup. fearing leuconostoc, i waited and stirred (no feeding) for 5 days until i saw yeasty bubbling (very fine bubbles and clumping) - i thought it may have come to life with good yeast. i let it go another 24 hours, then after one feeding (150g starter to 250g each water & flour) it went "dormant" again, very little activity, no gluten (very soupy). it smells of sour apple and breadiness, there is some warmth and humidity in the tub when i remove the lid, so there's life, but just not much. can you help? Please call our baker's hotline, 802-649-3717. Sourdough can be complicated, and a dialogue will be much more useful to you than my trying to formulate a one-sided answer here, OK? Good luck - PJH

• Reply