I know my subject is probably not a correct description, but every time I try to make a starter, it always ends up smelling like acetone and gets very sticky. According to this site:
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.p...vivingastarter
my starter has been taken over by protein-eating bacteria. The cause listed there says it's due to not feeding it often enough. Every week I pull it out of the frige, let it sit for a couple of hours, remove 9oz starter, add 4oz water and 5 oz flour, let it sit for another couple of hours and then put it back in the frige until the next week.

I tried making my own starter 3 or 4 times using several methods and this last time I got the KAF starter. In every case, I get a couple of weeks of good stater but then it goes south with this acetone smelling thing. It never actually turns to liquid, but it just doesn't smell right.

I tried to make pizza dough and the flavor was not sour but tangy in a strange kind of way (like battery acid or something).

Any ideas?

On Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:27:56 -0800 (PST), Dave >
wrote:

>I know my subject is probably not a correct description, but every time I try to make a starter, it always ends up smelling like acetone and gets very sticky. According to this site:
>http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.p...vivingastarter
>my starter has been taken over by protein-eating bacteria. The cause listed there says it's due to not feeding it often enough. Every week I pull it out of the frige, let it sit for a couple of hours, remove 9oz starter, add 4oz water and 5 oz flour, let it sit for another couple of hours and then put it back in the frige until the next week.
>
>I tried making my own starter 3 or 4 times using several methods and this last time I got the KAF starter. In every case, I get a couple of weeks of good stater but then it goes south with this acetone smelling thing. It never actually turns to liquid, but it just doesn't smell right.
>
>I tried to make pizza dough and the flavor was not sour but tangy in a strange kind of way (like battery acid or something).
>
>Any ideas?


Take 1 spoon of your starter, put it in a container with equal amounts
of water and AP flour. Let it sit out *on the counter* for 12 hours.
Repeat for about 2-3 days.

If you have proper activity and smell at that time, go ahead and
refrigerate your starter if you want.. To use it, remove from the
fridge and refresh one or twice using the same process as described
above. If you want to increase to a suitable amount for baking, do so
once you have achieved proper rejuvenation/refreshment.

If you do not have proper activity after the first 2-3 days, repeat
this process for another 10 days and you should have a proper and
stable starter by then.

I have kept my starters in the fridge untouched for up to 6 months and
revived them within 24 hrs. I don't recommend that as a matter of
course, and they were quite well established when at the beginning of
that time period, but they really are pretty strong concoctions once
properly set up.

If they are in for long-term storage and get that hooch up top, just
toss it and use the dregs of what is underneath.

Boron

I won't argue with your expertise and I'll definitely give this a shot but I wanted to mention that this is what I did with the KAF starter when I got it. I think it was 3 or 4 days, whatever the instructions said so I'm wondering why it went south and what the problem is that I'm describing, if you know.

On Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:36:03 -0800 (PST), Dave >
wrote:

>I won't argue with your expertise and I'll definitely give this a shot but I wanted to mention that this is what I did with the KAF starter when I got it. I think it was 3 or 4 days, whatever the instructions said so I'm wondering why it went south and what the problem is that I'm describing, if you know.

It didn't go south. Just make sure it's still climbing up the
jar when you put it away in the fridge.
[]'s
--
Don't be evil - Google 2004
We have a new policy - Google 2012

On Mon, 19 Nov 2012 23:42:51 -0200, Shadow > wrote:

>On Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:36:03 -0800 (PST), Dave >
>wrote:
>
>>I won't argue with your expertise and I'll definitely give this a shot but I wanted to mention that this is what I did with the KAF starter when I got it. I think it was 3 or 4 days, whatever the instructions said so I'm wondering why it went south and what the problem is that I'm describing, if you know.
>
> It didn't go south. Just make sure it's still climbing up the
>jar when you put it away in the fridge.
> []'s


Agreed.

Store it at peak. Then restore to peak before it is to be used.

Boron

On Nov 19, 12:49*pm, Boron Elgar > wrote:

> Take 1 spoon of your starter, put it in a container with equal amounts
> of water and AP flour. Let it sit out *on the counter* for 12 hours.
> Repeat for about 2-3 days.


Ok, I did this for several (10+) days and there was no change. I
noticed the activity peaked about 6 hours after feeding so I decided
to add an extra feeding in there and voila! Within 24 hours, my
starter was back. I guess mine needs to be fed more than twice a day
at room temperature. I live in Arizona and my kitchen hovers around
75 degrees F throughout the day this time of year so maybe that is the
reason. Or maybe the strains of yeasts here have higher metabolisms,
if there is such a thing.

Whatever the cause, I'm more informed now about how to bring it back.
I'll keep this feeding schedule going for the next 4 days (I'll bake a
loaf this weekend) and then start refrigerating it.

Thanks!