Hi Elaine, if your starter is rising predictably, that's great news, and you should definitely switch to twice a day feedings, which will keep the yeast activity more vigorous. Whole wheat starters don't always look exactly like white flour starters in terms of bubbling, but as long as your starter is rising and doubling, trust that your starter is behaving as it should. The goal at this point is to find a twice a day feeding routine that allows you to replenish (feed) your starter when it's at its highest point of rising, or just beginning to fall. While it's perfectly normal for a starter to rise and then gradually collapse, allowing the starter to fall completely between feedings tends to lead to more sluggish yeast behavior. I suspect your 1:3:3 feeding routine may still work well with twice a day feedings if it's warm where you live, but in cooler weather you may find you need to shift to something closer to the 1:1:1 ratio (by weight) we recommend in our sourdough starter recipe.
At some point you may also want to consider gradually transitioning to feeding with unbleached all-purpose flour, but if you prefer a whole wheat starter then there's nothing written in stone that says you have to do this. Keep in mind that a whole wheat starter tends to ferment more quickly than a white flour starter, and may also contribute more sour flavor to your baked goods, while perhaps not promoting quite as strong of a rise as a white flour starter.
July 1, 2020 at 10:52am
In reply to My starter is 5 days old. I… by Elaine Stashak (not verified)
Hi Elaine, if your starter is rising predictably, that's great news, and you should definitely switch to twice a day feedings, which will keep the yeast activity more vigorous. Whole wheat starters don't always look exactly like white flour starters in terms of bubbling, but as long as your starter is rising and doubling, trust that your starter is behaving as it should. The goal at this point is to find a twice a day feeding routine that allows you to replenish (feed) your starter when it's at its highest point of rising, or just beginning to fall. While it's perfectly normal for a starter to rise and then gradually collapse, allowing the starter to fall completely between feedings tends to lead to more sluggish yeast behavior. I suspect your 1:3:3 feeding routine may still work well with twice a day feedings if it's warm where you live, but in cooler weather you may find you need to shift to something closer to the 1:1:1 ratio (by weight) we recommend in our sourdough starter recipe.
At some point you may also want to consider gradually transitioning to feeding with unbleached all-purpose flour, but if you prefer a whole wheat starter then there's nothing written in stone that says you have to do this. Keep in mind that a whole wheat starter tends to ferment more quickly than a white flour starter, and may also contribute more sour flavor to your baked goods, while perhaps not promoting quite as strong of a rise as a white flour starter.
I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes.
Barb