Hi SpaceCat, did you follow our sourdough starter recipe, or another method? What day are you on? When you said you made sourdough yesterday, do you mean you were able to successfully bake a loaf of sourdough bread, or that your starter rose significantly after an initial feeding? Since I'm not quite sure where you are in the process and what method you're following, it's a bit difficult to advise you on how to proceed, however, almost any feeding routine will recommend that you discard a significant portion of your starter and begin feeding in a way that ensures a fairly balanced ratio of starter, water and flour. Our routine calls for equal parts by weight of starter, water and flour and a typical feeding looks like this: 1/2 cup (113g) starter + 1/2 cup (113g) water + 1 scant cup (113g) unbleached all-purpose flour. This quantity of starter will fit nicely in a quart-sized container.

However, if by some chance you just began the process of creating a starter and your starter rose as you describe, this type of rise was likely due to a type of bacteria that gives off carbon dioxide rather than true yeast behavior. Unfortunately, this kind of early rise can result in a subsequent delay in the wild yeast joining the party. If it sounds like this is what your starter is doing you may just want to discard most of the starter and save about 1/2 cup (113g) of it in a smaller container. You can then just let this starter sit for a few days, but give it a good stir each day. Allowing the starter to build acidity in this way can help pave the way for the yeast, and stirring the starter each day will help prevent mold from developing. Once the starter thins out considerably and begins to rise again (most likely around day 4), then you can resume feeding. I would recommend beginning with something like 1/2 cup (113g) starter + 1/4 cup (57g) water + 1/2 cup (57g) whole grain flour once a day for a day or two, and then gradually transition to the all-purpose flour, equal parts by weight of starter:water:flour, and twice a day feedings that we recommend in our standard starter recipe. 

For more help troubleshooting what's going on with your starter, please don't hesitate to give our Baker's Hotline a call at 855-371-BAKE (2253). We're here M-F from 9am-9pm EST, and Saturday and Sunday from 9am-5pm EST. 

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