Hi Mark, that's definitely a little warmer than is ideal, so you'll likely need to take some measures to slow down fermentation. You may also want to take advantage of refrigeration if you find your starter is fermenting faster than you're able to keep up with. So, ideally find a slightly cooler spot for your starter (anywhere in the 70's should be okay). You could try placing it in a cooler with a few ice packs, which should slow things down if you're away from home all day. You could also try feeding with cool water and chilling your flour as well. All these measures will delay the amount of time it takes your starter to get up to your very warm room temperature, and may allow you time to get home and attend to it when it's still at its peak, or just beginning to fall. You can also choose to save a smaller percentage of starter as opposed to flour and water fed. This will also serve to slow things down. Maybe try a 1:2:2 ratio. I'm not certain how that will work during the creation process, however, so you might want to stick to the recipe as written, but provide a cooler environment or use cooler ingredients as best you can, until you've developed a mature starter. Once your starter is up and running, you'll want to be sure that it doesn't sit out at room temperature for an extended time without being fed; try to feed it at its peak, or just as it's beginning to fall. You'll also want to be sure not to leave it in direct sunlight. Use the measures listed above to control timing, and stick the starter in the refrigerator when you're not able to attend to it in a timely fashion.
Barb
May 10, 2019 at 1:36pm
In reply to Hi, so I'm planning on starting my own starter soon. But the us… by Mark (not verified)