Barb at King Arthur

November 7, 2022 at 2:08pm

In reply to by Jen (not verified)

Hi Jen, it depends a little on if your starter is an established starter or still in the creation phase, but in both cases bubbling is a good sign, and the consistency will likely improve with a few days of twice a day feeding at room temperature. The difference is that if your starter is still being created, the thinner consistency might actually be a good sign that the yeast is about to kick in.

On the other hand, if your starter is established and just seems to have gotten thinner since it was exposed to the warmer environment, there might be a little tweaking you could do to your feeding routine to improve the consistency. Warmer temperatures do tend to make starters ferment faster, and if a starter is allowed to routinely ferment and rise beyond the peak and then fall significantly, the starter gets thinner in consistency. This is partly because it deflates and the bubbles that have contributed to the rise gravitate to the surface. The starter also becomes more acidic as the starter falls, and the gluten gradually begins to break down, which also contributes to the thinner consistency.

If you notice that your starter is routinely falling between feedings when you're maintaining it at room temperature, then it might be helpful to adjust your feeding routine slightly. Our nomral maintenance feeding routine is 1:1:1 (starter:water:flour, by weight), and a feeding looks like this: 113g (1/2 cup) starter + 113g (1/2 cup) water + 113g (1 scant cup) unbleached all-purpose flour. This generally works fine when your home hovers around 70°F or a little cooler, but if your home is warmer than that, you might want to try reducing the percentage of starter as compared to water and flour you're feeding it. For example, you could try feedomg 1:4:4, which would look like this: 28g starter + 113g water + 113g flour. Offering your starter a relatively larger meal in this way won't hurt it at all, but it may help you line up your twice a day feedings closer to the peak, which may improve both its consistency and activity level. 

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