Sourdough starter, what happens on Shabbos?

smss

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 2:49 pm

I am trying to make a sourdough starter and I'm at the stage where you feed it every 12 hours. Next feeding is supposed to be 9:30pm, after Shabbos starts. Should I feed it a few hours earlier, right before Shabbos, instead? And then it will go 25 hours without a feeding so should I put it in the fridge or something?

anonymrs

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 3:40 pm

Some strains of bacteria dont survive fridge temperature so personally, I'd leave it on the counter, especially because it's a new starter. Feed right before shabbos and again right after shabbos. It will be fine. I do this every week, even over 2 or 3 days yt and it's Ok. After yt, needs a little more tlc but over shabbos it's no big deal.

smss

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 5:00 pm

anonymrs wrote:

It's very hot where I live, it will be ok on the counter for so long without a feeding? I don't want it to get rotten

estreya

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 5:30 pm

smss wrote:

It's very hot where I live, it will be ok on the counter for so long without a feeding? I don't want it to get rotten

I have been doing this for years and this is what works best (for me) -- before Shabbos feed it the regular amount of flour and only half of the water. It will take longer for the starter to consume the flour since you would be missing a feeding on Shabbos.

Motzei Shabbos, discard whatever amount you normally do and start feeding it again regularly.

I wouldn't put it in the fridge if it is a developing starter; once well established, you can put it in the fridge but normally putting it in the fridge for one day for a newly developing one will only make your starter sluggish and take longer.

I had to remake mine after Pesach and it took forevvvvverrrrr to get it to a good working state. The previous one I had was almost volcanic -- still mourning the loss of it Laugh

PS. Where I live is also very warm. Just put it in the coolest spot in the house if you're worried about it.

smss

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 5:59 pm

estreya wrote:

PS. Where I live is also very warm. Just put it in the coolest spot in the house if you're worried about it.

Ok thank you! I will try that!

estreya

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 6:04 pm

smss wrote:

Ok thank you! I will try that!

You're welcome.

BTW, dunno if you know this but if you use about 1 tsp of rye flour along with your regular flour, it REALLY helps to boost your starter in the early stages. Once your starter begins to double or triple on a regular basis, you can eliminate it. There seems to be something with rye flour that boosts starters extremely well.

smss

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 7:01 pm

estreya wrote:

Cool good to know!

BadTichelDay

Sat, Jul 29 2023, 5:05 pm

I've been growing my own sourdough starters from scratch for several years already. Overall, I've found them to be pretty tough and forgiving. Early stages I have always left out unfed over Shabbat, it has never done them much harm. They may be a bit flat and with liquid on top after such a fast day and even smell funkier than normal, but renewed feedings usually bring them back on track in a day.
And I second what estreya wrote above, whole rye flower gives it a boost.

Once I have an established working sourdough, it gets to live permanently in the fridge, only once a week, when I use it, it gets some of it taken out for baking, a flour feeding and a few hours of room temperature to bubble up. They are tough beasties.

Pesach actually was a blessing this year - my pre-Pesach sourdough was a bit moody and weak. The fresh post-Pesach one grew into a real workhorse.