Hello I have been trying to make sourdough starter since the end of February at our vacation home in Arkansas. I have read quite a lot on the internet and have been trying to diagnose the problem. I started out with Bob's Red Mill organic rye flour. At first I had the huge leuconostoc bacteria rise and then read Debra Wink and started over with pineapple juice with the rye flour. There was very little activity or rise...some bubbles but no substantial increase in volume. The issue then I believe was lack of heat. The temperature was below 70 degrees in our kitchen. The proportions I used were 1/4 cup of bottled drinking water (trying to avoid fluoride) and 1/4 cup flour added to the same amount of original starter. I didn't always discard before these feedings, but whether I did or didn't I never had much change in the activity or amount. Maybe the discard is essential in order to concentrate the ratio of yeasts to the volume?? I had thought it was only just so you didn't create too much volume. Also maybe when I didn't discard, and just added the same 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup water I was starving the yeasts (should have measured the amount of starter and added the same amount of water and flour) I was feeding every 12 hours and measuring by volume, not by weight. I went through two full packages of the Bob's rye flour. We returned to Minnesota for Easter and brought back to Arkansas a soil heating pad which I put inside a large cooler and left the top a bit ajar. That did produce more activity and a slight rise but again, nothing enough to say I had created something to bake with. Shortly before I was done with the second bag of rye, i used your unbleached white for several feedings along with the pineapple juice. That did produce the greatest rise, but nowhere near double. But...perhaps this reaction was partially due to the sugars in the juice, that's what I surmised. When I went back to water, again very little activity. Having run out of our bottled drinking water, I purchased a gallon of Ozarka spring water and have been using that since Easter. Yesterday morning back in MN I started measuring by weight; as I have a scale here. I used 100 gr starter and the same weight of water and same of your white unbleached. I am doing two quart jars; put them both in our oven with the light on. Last evening very little change except the mixture got very warm...I though I had killed everything. My husband used a non contact infrared thermometer on the jars and each were at 96 degrees. But I read online yeast is killed at around 130 degrees so I think I did not kill anything. Maybe set things back though. I did a discard, measured out again 100 gr of the three ingredients and put the jars back in the oven but well away from the light bulb. This morning the jars were around 82. So that should be fine. But...no rise! I just did a discard back to 100 gr of starter and added the same weights of the Ozarka water and your unbleached white flour. I'll see if that produces a rise, but not getting my hopes up. I am wondering about the Ozarka. Tried to find out if there might be fluoride in it but it doesn't seem so. However their website indicates they do add chlorine at some early stage of collection or transport and then later it is filtered out. They also do an ultraviolet light/ozone purification that "destroys bacteria". There is also a line sanitation process on the pipes and machinery. Maybe all this is detrimental to my starter? Any help you can give me most appreciated. should I perhaps post this same message on the blog? Thank you, Mary Wareham

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