On Tue, 04 Nov 2003 14:57:49 GMT, Carl West
wrote:

I was surprised when the starter had doubled after 24 hours -- the FAQ
made it seem like it would take a week. Was I just lucky or is this
related to the stinky smell?

Try just running it at room temperature for a week or so. And check the part(s) of the FAQ about 'cleaning' a starter.

With all possible deference to experience of the experts, I would toss
that crap and start over. It reminds me of contaminated beer wort. The
stinky scum present is obscured by the flour water mix.

As I understand the procedure for "cleaning" a starter as it is
described in Ed Wood's book "Classic Sourdoughs", the purpose is not
to convert pond scum into sourdough. It is to refresh a viable culture
that has not been active for a while which might have a few stray
organisms in it.

Flour is cheap, so start over. You will spend more time and effort
trying to recoup a failed starter than you will just beginning anew.