Quick Questions

Watch for bubbles — they're your only real evidence of yeast activity. A rising volume is a bonus, but bubbles on the surface mean the yeast is eating. If you see no bubbles at all after 24 hours, the culture hasn't started eating the last feed yet. Give it more time before feeding again.

Yes. A starter is an ecosystem — when you discard and refeed, you remove 80% of the yeast population you just grew. Feed too early and the yeast hasn't had time to recover its numbers. Over time, this weakens the culture. It is always better to feed a little late than too early.

Feed when your starter is clearly past peak — volume is dropping, surface bubbles are starting to recede. If you're unsure, wait longer. You can't starve your starter in a single cycle. Watching the bubbles will tell you more than any clock.

In an established starter, an acetone smell means it has consumed all available sugars and the yeast has started producing alcohol. It's genuinely hungry. Try a larger ratio (1:3:3 or 1:4:4) or feed more frequently. In a brand-new starter (first 3 days), strange smells including alcohol are completely normal — that's bad bacteria burning off, not a problem.

Almost certainly not. A starter is very hard to kill. The most common cause of no rise is temperature — below 18°C, activity slows dramatically and a rise may not be visible at all. Move it somewhere warmer (24–26°C) and wait. If you're in the first 10 days, quiet phases are completely normal. Look for any bubble activity at all, even tiny ones, before worrying.

A lot, especially in the early days. Whole wheat and rye flour carry more wild yeast and bacteria on the grain hull — using 100% refined flour to build a new starter has a high failure rate. Once your starter is established, you can switch to bread flour or all-purpose, but a blend with some whole grain will always ferment faster and more reliably.

The standard check: after a 1:2:2 feed at around 23°C, your starter should roughly double in volume within 4–7 hours. If it passes this on three consecutive days, it's ready. Speed to peak matters more than height — a starter that doubles in 4 hours is stronger than one that triples in 10.

In a new starter, it's almost always water separation — not "hooch." Hooch (grey-black liquid, alcohol smell) only forms in a mature, well-established starter that has completely exhausted its food. If yours is less than 10 days old, just stir it and keep going. If it's mature and you see a dark liquid pooling on top, feed it — it's very hungry.

It's not dead — it's going through a normal transition. Those early bubbles were caused by unwanted bacteria (Leuconostoc), not yeast. As acidity builds, those bacteria die off and things go quiet. The real yeast and lactic acid bacteria are slowly colonising in the background. Keep feeding and it will start rising again in a few days.

That's hooch — alcohol produced when the yeast runs out of food. It's safe. Pour it off or stir it back in (stirring in gives a more sour result). Either way, feed your starter now. If it keeps happening, increase your ratio — try 1:3:3 instead of 1:1:1.

Watch the top. At peak, the surface is domed — slightly rounded in the centre. Once it starts to flatten or sink in the middle, it has passed peak and is deflating. Volume-wise, a healthy mature starter typically doubles or triples after a feed. Use it at the dome, not after.

The ratio controls how fast your starter peaks. 1:1:1 — less food, peaks in 4–6 hours, good if you're baking the same day. 1:5:5 — more food, peaks in 8–12 hours, good for an overnight schedule (feed before bed, bake in the morning). Match the ratio to when you actually need it ready.