Troubleshooting Feeding

Thank you very much for your purchase, patience and effort with your starters.  I am sorry your starters did not turn out for you right away. I understand your frustration as it can take some practice. Any problem is always correctable though. I do appreciate your experience and message. I can definitely resend you a new shipment no problem if you would like me to give you an opportunity to experience it how it should be. i understand yours did not turn out but i do guarantee success and stand behind my product and would like to earn your respect and trust. I can send it out today.

 Your starter would need to be fed up to 6 days for it to have a chance to bounce back to full health as it goes into a hibernation stage during transit... fed everyday for those 6 days. 

Also the feeding amounts increase as the weight of the starter increases.. sorry for any confusion. Any 'bad' smell is simply a sign that it is hungry as the culture produces acetic acid after eating the flour..and converts it to gas..This acid when balanced causes the rise with gases and a balance of this acid gives it the sour taste. This is quite normal and simply the nature of starters. Once fed the smell mellows out and gets more pleasant. Being that the ingredients are just flour and water, there is nothing that can spoil or go bad i hope you. Sometimes a grayish hue develops that can be concerning, but this is just a sign that it is hungry and the nature of starters and actually not anything bad growing. 

Any problem is always correctable.. 99% of the time it is simply a feeding issue/misunderstanding. If it was fed anything for the past few days then scientifically speaking it definitely is not 'dead' so no worries there. 

I assure you i can get you on your way and back to looking good probably by the end of the day if you help me with a few details.

There's just one step repeated every day to feed a starter. It is the same step repeated each day..  whatever amount of starter you have or you want to feed is the same amount of flour and same amount of water that you mix together. three ingredients, three equal amounts, all mixed together... every day.

  To start all purpose flour works best and cover it lightly with a towel, not airtight. After it comes back you can switch to other flours.  Sometimes the starter bounces back after 1 feeding and sometimes takes 6 days. They can survive days without being fed as well if needed, but just need a little time to bounce back. Everyday after feeding it bubbles up and grows for a few hours and then would be expected to be flat the next day. This rise and fall is repeated each day and cause some confusion.

  It would only die from an outside contaminant such as bleach or chlorine. 

 Reminder when feeding it is important to feed everyday while keeping out at room temperature while keeping 1:1:1 ratio of starter to water to flour.. so that everyday the feeding amount would increase as the starter increases in size. Use only unbleached flour. Also do not use distilled water, RO water, hard water or chlorinated water (many city waters have small amounts of chlorine).  I recommend double checking your water source as this is the most common culprit for the starter not working out.

Most filters don't remove chloramine which kills the culture... and if it does remove it then it would also remove the beneficial minerals the culture feeds on and the water can be 'too clean.'  While most 'purified' water uses distillation or reverse osmosis which leaves behind nothing beneficial.

   Or many people are using bleached flour without knowing.     The other common problem is feeding by volume and not by weight which can lead to not feeding enough flour.     

If you are feeding with volume measurements instead of weights then that would be incorrect.. also if you aren't increasing the feeding amounts each feeding then that would be incorrect... maybe you weren't increasing the feedings or you are feeding by volume...   

If there's nothing after about 6 days, it works to give one extra large feeding... 2 or 3 times as much as you have been feeding it..  that usually does the trick...1:2:2 ratio or 1:3:3 ratio...also giving it bread flour or whole grain for a few feedings will always jumpstart it as they have higher protein content.  You only need to be feeding every 24 hours after 2 days.   Well-maintained mature sourdough starters are extremely hardy and resistant to invaders. It's pretty darn hard to kill them as they never will simply die on their own  

Some key questions to answer..

What specific flour and water were you using?  

  How much specifically are you feeding and how often??      

  How are you getting your measurements?  

 Are you discarding  and if so, how? 

  A little patience and it is always back to 100% in no time if properly fed.   i appreciate your business and the opportunity to help..and appreciate your time and efforts and understand completely your frustration.  i do wish you contacted me sooner to give me a chance to help you and earn your trust as I guarantee 100% success.   i appreciate the opportunity to help, please let me know if i can. ..  

 Kindly let me know.   cheers joe livingdough