My sourdough starter took a full month to get right, not the week I planned

I tried to make a starter with just flour and tap water, but it kept smelling like nail polish after a few days. I thought it was dead, but a baker friend told me my city water was the problem. I switched to filtered water and fed it twice a day for three weeks before it finally doubled in size. Anyone else have a starter that took forever to wake up?

2 comments

2 Comments

patel.daniel3d ago

Oh man, same here... my first starter took like five weeks. I was using bottled water the whole time too, so I have no idea what was up with it. Just kept smelling like old cheese forever.

finley7773d ago

Seriously, I read somewhere that a cheesy smell can mean it's hungry. Maybe your feeding ratio was off and the good yeast took forever to win. That stuff is so finicky sometimes.