My sourdough starter went from smelling like gym socks to sweet in 10 days and I almost gave up
I started a starter on March 3rd and by day 4 it smelled like nail polish remover and old socks, so I tossed half of it thinking it was dead. Turns out I was just feeding it too much flour too fast, and once I cut back to 50g flour and 50g water twice a day it got bubbly and smelled like yogurt by day 10. Now it doubles in about 5 hours on my counter in Cleveland. How long did your starter take to stop smelling nasty?
Ha, that gym sock phase is no joke. I remember my first starter smelled like a wet basement for almost two weeks and I kept it next to the coffee maker just so I would not have to think about it. Funny how the fix is usually just less food, not more.