Hi Jenna! You sure can feed your starter with whole wheat or pumpernickel flour! The biggest difference with feeding your starter whole wheat flour vs. all-purpose is that you should expect it to ripen faster (and start to smell sour and tangy more quickly). This is normal. If you continue feeding the starter with whole wheat flour, you'll find it ripens quickly unless you put it someplace cool to slow down that fermentation; such as the fridge. If you don't keep up with a whole wheat starter, then it can become over-ripe faster than you might like. As for baking with it, you can still use your whole wheat starter the same way you have been without adjusting the flour or water in the rest of the recipe; 1 cup weighs roughly 227 grams. Enjoy!
March 12, 2021 at 4:30pm
In reply to Can you feed your starter… by Jenna Helms (not verified)
Hi Jenna! You sure can feed your starter with whole wheat or pumpernickel flour! The biggest difference with feeding your starter whole wheat flour vs. all-purpose is that you should expect it to ripen faster (and start to smell sour and tangy more quickly). This is normal. If you continue feeding the starter with whole wheat flour, you'll find it ripens quickly unless you put it someplace cool to slow down that fermentation; such as the fridge. If you don't keep up with a whole wheat starter, then it can become over-ripe faster than you might like. As for baking with it, you can still use your whole wheat starter the same way you have been without adjusting the flour or water in the rest of the recipe; 1 cup weighs roughly 227 grams. Enjoy!