Hi, I am making sourdough starter first time ever. I used regular all purpose flour. It's day 4. I fed my starter only after 48 hours first which I think was quite late. I might have used too much water as next day my starter separated. There were 3 layers in the jar. Not active layer flour at the bottom, liquid in the middle and active layer on the top. The smell become quite pungent. Almost vomit like. I drained the liquid, discarded 2/3 of the starter and fed it again. 12 hours later, the separation happened again, but not so visible and the smell was the same. I again drained the liquid, kept only 1/3 and fed it again. Why the separation keeps happening? Is it supposed to smell like that? Should I keep going or restart with rye flour?

• Reply