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Three weeks ago my sourdough starter turned into a science experiment gone wrong
I fed my starter every day for 2 weeks straight, watched it bubble like crazy, then on day 15 it just stopped. I mean completely flat, smelled like acetone, and I almost tossed it out the window. Turned out I was using chlorinated tap water in my apartment in Denver, and that was killing the yeast before they could do anything. Switched to filtered water from the fridge dispenser and within 4 days it was doubling in size again. My first loaf came out flat as a pancake though, because I didn't wait for it to peak before baking. Has anyone else had their starter go weird from water quality issues?
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max47216d ago
Denver water killed my first two starters before I figured it out. I let a gallon of tap water sit out on the counter for 24 hours to let the chlorine evaporate, that fixed the problem for me. Also check your oven temp with a separate thermometer, mine runs 25 degrees cooler than the dial says and that was ruining my rise too.
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oliver81116d ago
Yeah, I heard about that chlorine thing from a baker I used to follow online. He said the same stuff about Denver water being rough on starters. I live in a place with well water so I got lucky there, but I also read that some cities use chloramine instead of chlorine, and that stuff doesn't just evaporate out if you let it sit. You'd need a filter or bottled water for that. The oven thermometer thing is spot on too, my grandma always said her oven was "liar hot" and she'd drop the temp by 50 degrees to get it right. I finally broke down and bought a cheap oven thermometer at the hardware store, best five bucks I ever spent. Makes a huge difference when your dough actually rises at the right pace.
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