On Monday I tried making a sourdough starter this week. I worked from instructions that basically said to mix flour and water, let it sit covered in the kitchen, and feed it with more flour and water every day. Tuesday my starter was looking bubbly and healthy. By Wednesday, though, it suddenly collapsed into amber fluid on top and inert sediment below. I fed it more flour and water twice that day. On Thursday my "starter" was just a milky fluid that smelled like vomit. I tried feeding it again, just in case. Then, in the evening, I tried using this stuff to make some bread overnight. When I got up this morning, the dough from my starter hadn't risen at all, but smelled as bad as the starter.

Any idea what I did wrong? I fed my starter every day, and it was just sitting in a large, covered mason jar in my kitchen. My girlfriend is telling me that this was a dumb idea. She insists that the technique of making sourdough starter from leaving flour and water sitting out at room temperature is an old wives' tale.

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