My sourdough starter finally came alive after 2 weeks of nothing

I tried keeping a sourdough starter alive for 14 days and nothing happened, just a sad bowl of flour water. Then last Tuesday morning it suddenly bubbled up like crazy and doubled in size within 4 hours. Has anyone else had a starter just decide to work out of nowhere?

3 comments

3 Comments

hugo_craig23d ago

Keep feeding it daily and don't trust it until day 21.

shah.ben23d ago

Whoa hold on, day 21 is a long time to wait. Most starters I've messed with are ready to go way before that, usually around day 7 or so if they're getting fed right. You might be overcomplicating it.

michaeljones23d ago

Actually that's not how it usually works. Most starters take 5-7 days if you're feeding them right at room temp. 14 days of nothing means something was off - maybe your water has chlorine, or the flour you used was bleached. Mine took 10 days exactly and it acted exactly like yours at first, then just exploded. But a starter that sits dead for two full weeks then suddenly doubles in 4 hours? That's suspicious honestly. Could be a bacterial bloom that'll crash just as fast. Keep an eye on it for another week before you try baking with it.