Hi Mary, I apologize for the delay in responding to your question, and hope by now that your starter is rising like a champ! Patience almost always pays off when it comes to sourdough starters, so there's no need to feel like your efforts thus far have been wasted. If by chance you have been feeding your starter equal parts by cups rather than equal parts by weight (as our recipe recommends) this could account for your thinner consistency and could also be contributing to the lack of rising you're seeing. It's harder for a starter that is very thin in consistency to show the type of doubling behavior we describe. However, if you've been weighing your ingredients, then your thinner consistency may actually be a good sign that the starter is fermenting and changing, and this may mean that it will begin rising soon. Look for the starter to be thick and pasty right after you feed it, but become thinner in texture (more like a thick pancake batter) as it begins to rise and ferment. 

If you're concerned about the amount of flour you're going through, you could consider maintaining a smaller starter, at least until your starter begins to rise predictably. This smaller starter recipe fits nicely into an 8-ounce canning jar, and can easily be built back up to the normal starter quantity once it's rising consistently. 

I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes! 

Barb

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