My sourdough starter turned into a science project for two whole weeks

I tried a new rye flour blend from a mill in Ohio, and my starter just would not get bubbly. I kept feeding it twice a day, changing the water, moving it to different spots in my kitchen. Nothing worked for 12 days straight. Finally, I read that my tap water might be the issue, so I switched to bottled spring water. It was alive and ready to bake in just two more days. Has anyone else had a starter go on strike for that long because of water?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_thompson41mo ago

Oh man, water is everything. My starter went totally flat last summer, just a sad pancake batter for over a week. I was using filtered fridge water, but my filter was old. Switched to the cheap store brand distilled water and it was like night and day, bubbles everywhere in 36 hours. It’s wild how something so simple can just shut the whole operation down.

morganhill1mo ago

Doubt it's that big of a deal honestly.

paige861mo ago

Tap water can be a total killer, especially if your city uses chloramine which doesn't just evaporate off like chlorine.