text: May 6, 2020 at 2:47pm
  In reply to Hi! I made a starter about… by Merrell (not verified)
  Merrell, it sounds like you're not doing anything wrong at all! Starters are living things, and each one grows at its own pace. That being said, if you'd like to try to give your starter a boost, you might experiment with giving it a few feedings of whole wheat or rye flour, and switching to feeding once every 24 hours for a bit.
  April 18, 2020 at 10:53am
  Hi, I'm on day 6 of feeding my starter, I have accumulated the discard in a separate jar but have left it at room temp along with the starter. It is bubbly. I decided to feed the discard this morning with equal parts water and flour and have it at room temp. Is this still safe to use as discard - i want to make pancakes with it.
  May 6, 2020 at 2:20pm
  In reply to Hi, I'm on day 6 of feeding… by Amy (not verified)
  Hi, Amy! If you've been keeping this starter on the counter and have fed it, what you have now is a new sourdough starter, rather than discards. Feel free to use it if you're feeding it regularly, but if not, you'll want to keep it in the fridge. Happy baking!
  April 17, 2020 at 9:54am
  I am in the process of making a sourdough starter. Once the starter is established, do I use the amount needed for the recipe and then discard the rest, leaving 1/2 cup of the starter remaining? After that, do I need to feed it?
  April 16, 2020 at 2:22pm
  Hi! I'm working with a starter from a bakery. For the first few days at home it rose nicely - however, on day 5, I'm not seeing the same rise as I have been. I have been moving 20g of the starter to a new jar every 12 hours and feeding on a 1:1 ratio (100gs each). I am seeing a lot of bubbling but it is also a bit dryer than pancake batter. Should I be adding more water to my mix or would to recommend moving it to a hotter area?
  Additionally, do you recommend actually using new jar at every feeding or just removing the starter and keeping the same jar.
  April 28, 2020 at 6:23pm
  In reply to Hi! I'm working with a… by Kaitlin (not verified)
  Hi, Kaitlin! On Day 5, it's normal to see no significant activity yet, or even a decrease in activity for a few days. Your starter is also quite small to be eating that much flour at once. Generally, you'll want the starter:flour:water ratio to be 1:1:1. Keeping the same jar is also the easiest. If you know how much it weighs, you can write this down on your jar somewhere so that it's easy to find the weight of your starter inside. Happy baking!
  April 16, 2020 at 1:53pm
  Hi! I took my starter out of the fridge and fed it as instructed (removed all but 1/2 cup, mixed in 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water). For the second feeding, I forgot to take all but a half cup of starter out, so I added the flour and water to the whole mix. Is that OK? It's bubbling really well, but not really growing. For the next feeding, can I just be sure to only mix 1/2 cup of the starter with the water and flour and it will be ok? Thanks!
  In reply to Hi! I took my starter out of… by Megan (not verified)
  That's fine, Megan! You'll just have a lot more discard at your next feeding.
  April 15, 2020 at 4:50pm
  Hi, I've been having a tough time getting my starter to rise. It's three weeks old and has some bubbles. I created it using a San Francisco sourdough packet I bought online. I have maintained it with a once-a-day feeding of King Arthur white unbleached flour at a 1:1:1 ratio using bottled water. I've been keeping it at exactly 70 degrees (next to my cable box, which gives off a little warmth). I keep the lid of the jar very loose. Do you think I should start over with plain flour instead of using the sourdough packet I bought? Thank you for any advice you can offer.
  April 21, 2020 at 4:29pm
  In reply to Hi, I've been having a tough… by Bobby (not verified)
  Hi, Bobby! We're not familiar with the packet you're talking about, but we don't see why it would hurt your starter. If you get in touch with our Baker's Hotline, though, we'd be happy to chat in more detail about how to get your starter active!