My sourdough starter took 14 days to double vs my friend's 4 days - what gives?

I started my sourdough starter 3 weeks ago and fed it at the same time every day, but it barely doubled in size for like 14 days. Meanwhile my buddy in Denver had his starter going strong and doubling in just 4 days. I'm wondering if it's our water temps or maybe the flour I used was too old. Some folks on here say using pineapple juice at the start helps, others say just stick with plain water and be patient. Has anyone else seen this big of a time difference and figured out what caused it?

2 comments

2 Comments

oscar3901d ago

Honestly, you're probably overthinking this and your friend just got lucky. Temperature matters, sure, but water temp isn't some magic switch - I've used tap water straight from the faucet for years and had starters pop off in 5 days flat. Old flour might slow things down a bit, but not by 10 days unless it's literally sawdust. The pineapple juice trick is internet hype, you end up with a sweet starter that acts weird. More likely your kitchen is cold or you're not feeding enough - I'd bet you're skimping on the flour to water ratio. Friend in Denver probably just has a warmer spot for his jar.

blairsanchez22h ago

I had the same issue with a slow starter and what fixed it was switching to a 1:2:2 ratio of starter to flour to water. I was doing 1:1:1 before and it was sluggish. Also I put it on top of my fridge where it's a few degrees warmer and that made a big difference. The pineapple juice thing never worked for me either, just made it smell funky.