Just learned my sourdough starter is basically a science experiment I've been ignoring for months

I was reading a blog from a baker in Portland and they mentioned that a mature starter has about 50 million yeast cells per gram (which blew my mind). Did you know that if you feed it at the wrong ratio of flour to water, you can actually starve the yeast? How do you all keep track of your feeding schedule without a notebook?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade7389h ago

Ugh the gray liquid situation is the worst! I actually keep my starter in the fridge so I only have to feed it once a week instead of every day. When I pull it out to bake, I just do a 1:2:2 ratio of starter to flour to water and it bounces back in like 8 hours. For tracking I use the sticky notes app on my phone and just jot down the date and time of each feeding super quick. Do you keep yours on the counter or in the fridge?

nelson.cameron11h ago

Oh man I feel you on this. I kept forgetting to feed mine for like two weeks and when I finally checked it had this weird gray liquid on top that smelled like dirty socks. Honestly I just set a recurring alarm on my phone with a stupid name like "feed the blob" and it's been working way better than trying to remember it myself.

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