caseyfox•19d agoMost Upvoted

My sourdough starter took 23 days to actually double, not the 7 everyone promised

I started a starter from scratch back in February, following every guide that said it'd be ready in about a week. Day 5 it bubbled up nice, day 6 it smelled like nail polish remover, day 8 it went totally flat. I almost tossed it. Turns out the initial rise was bacteria, not yeast, and the real fermentation took almost 3 weeks to kick in. The weird thing is I did everything right, fed it daily at 1:2:2, kept it at 78 degrees in my oven with the light on, used unbleached flour. It finally doubled on day 23, and now it's a monster that peaks in 4 hours. Has anyone else had a starter that took way longer than any recipe claimed? What finally clicked for yours?

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holly_brown19d ago

Totally get that frustration, mine took about three weeks too and smelled like a chemistry experiment the whole time. Once it finally woke up, it was worth the wait, but yeah, the 7 day promise is pure fiction.