Barb at King Arthur

May 27, 2020 at 12:39pm

In reply to by Shefali Pathy (not verified)

Hi Shefali, I'm sorry I wasn't able to get back to you a little more quickly, but you certainly haven't done your starter too much harm if the first feeding was a bit dry. That first feeding with our sourdough starter recipe is quite a bit stiffer because the whole grain flour absorbs more liquid than unbleached all-purpose flour, but you do want to be sure that all the flour is moistened. It's okay to add a bit more water if you still have dry pockets of flour. If you're measuring your flour by cups rather than weight, this can cause you to add extra flour, so I would also recommend either weighing your ingredients, or using this method to measure flour by cups. With our recipe, once you begin feeding with AP flour, you're looking for a thick, but easily stirrable paste consistency right after feeding. When your starter begins to bubble and rise it will become more like a thick pancake batter. If allowed to fall completely it will return to the level it was when it was first fed, but the consistency will be thinner, with perhaps some frothy bubbles on the surface. I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes. 

Barb

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