PSA: I stopped stirring my sourdough starter and the rise is insane now

Letting it sit untouched for days instead of daily feeds gave me loaves with way bigger holes and a deeper tang.

3 comments

3 Comments

My buddy at the bakery downtown says he always stirs his starter daily. But is skipping the stir really that HUGE of a difference? Sometimes a bigger rise just means more gas, not better flavor. I tried leaving mine for two days and it just got watery. Seems like another internet hack that might not hold up.

valgibson2d ago

Two days without stirring turned your starter into soup? That's a classic starter tantrum! Your bakery buddy's daily stir routine probably keeps the yeast from getting lazy. I mean, think about it, if you left a kid alone with candy, you'd get a mess too. My own neglect experiment ended with a layer of hooch that could strip paint. So maybe skip the internet magic and just give it a quick mix to avoid a science project disaster.

sams253d ago

Ever have that problem where the starter separates and looks like a weird science experiment? Mine did the same thing, went all watery on top. Had to mess with the water to flour ratio a bit to fix it. Honestly, every starter has its own weird personality. What works for one person just makes a sticky mess for someone else.