Hi Brian, thanks for reporting back! I'm sorry I wasn't able to respond more quickly to your question, and hope by now your starter is once again rising predictably. In most cases, your starter should adjust fairly quickly to the new feeding routine, but I have had a few other bakers report that their starter seemed to hit another lull. Since we know that your starter responded well to the Debra Wink plan, then it sounds like the wild yeast has joined the party, and you may just need to tweak your feeding routine a bit further to keep the yeast more vigorous. Ideally when you feed your starter twice a day at room temperature you want to feed it when it's at its peak of rising, or just beginning to fall. This helps to keep the yeast active and vigorous. If you allow the starter to collapse significantly between feedings this can lead to more sluggish yeast behavior. Especially if you've been feeding with warm water and keeping the starter in an environment that is higher than 80ºF, fermentation could be happening more rapidly, which could mean that by the 12 hour mark your starter is well past its peak. I know it's difficult to "feed at the peak" if you're not seeing any rising, but it's possible some rising is occurring when you're not looking. You might want to try storing your starter out on the counter, rather than in the oven, and and observe it's behavior a bit more closely. You could also try feeding a larger feeding, which slows down fermentation and may allow you to replenish your starter closer to the time when it's at its high point. For example, you could try a 1:2:2 ratio, by weight, which would look like this: 1/4 cup starter (2 ounces, 57g) + 1/2 cup (4 ounces, 113g) water + 1 scant cup (4 ounces, 113g) flour. If you want to introduce a little whole wheat back into the process, start with 50/50, and then gradually transition to entirely AP flour. The goal is to find a room temperature feeding routine that fits with your schedule and allows you to catch the starter at its peak, or when it's just beginning to fall. I'm confident that one way or another your starter is going to respond well and begin rising predictably again, so try to be patient and let us know how it goes.
May 13, 2020 at 12:20pm
In reply to Hi!! I started my starter… by Brian (not verified)
Hi Brian, thanks for reporting back! I'm sorry I wasn't able to respond more quickly to your question, and hope by now your starter is once again rising predictably. In most cases, your starter should adjust fairly quickly to the new feeding routine, but I have had a few other bakers report that their starter seemed to hit another lull. Since we know that your starter responded well to the Debra Wink plan, then it sounds like the wild yeast has joined the party, and you may just need to tweak your feeding routine a bit further to keep the yeast more vigorous. Ideally when you feed your starter twice a day at room temperature you want to feed it when it's at its peak of rising, or just beginning to fall. This helps to keep the yeast active and vigorous. If you allow the starter to collapse significantly between feedings this can lead to more sluggish yeast behavior. Especially if you've been feeding with warm water and keeping the starter in an environment that is higher than 80ºF, fermentation could be happening more rapidly, which could mean that by the 12 hour mark your starter is well past its peak. I know it's difficult to "feed at the peak" if you're not seeing any rising, but it's possible some rising is occurring when you're not looking. You might want to try storing your starter out on the counter, rather than in the oven, and and observe it's behavior a bit more closely. You could also try feeding a larger feeding, which slows down fermentation and may allow you to replenish your starter closer to the time when it's at its high point. For example, you could try a 1:2:2 ratio, by weight, which would look like this: 1/4 cup starter (2 ounces, 57g) + 1/2 cup (4 ounces, 113g) water + 1 scant cup (4 ounces, 113g) flour. If you want to introduce a little whole wheat back into the process, start with 50/50, and then gradually transition to entirely AP flour. The goal is to find a room temperature feeding routine that fits with your schedule and allows you to catch the starter at its peak, or when it's just beginning to fall. I'm confident that one way or another your starter is going to respond well and begin rising predictably again, so try to be patient and let us know how it goes.
Barb