Sour dough progression

Today is day 5 of my little sour dough starters and I am thrilled with the results!


First, the white. On day 3 it started developing a really foul smell. The best way I can describe it is that it smelled like a bad blue cheese. :-( Yuck. I also noticed it had less bubbles but more foam than the whole wheat and rye starter. But, since there was no sign on mold or other nasty indications, I decided to continue the experiment.




I poured of some of the dark liquid that at times forms on a sour dough and kept feeding it morning and evening. I did change the ratio of four to water to have a little more flour than water. I am not sure if my smell senses are affected by my allergies at the moment, but it seemed like the foul smell was a little less pungent this morning. I will continue feeding it a few more days and then see.



The whole wheat has a pleasant, nearly sweet, smell and forms a substantial amount of bubbles that remain in the dough instead of forming foam on the top. I think it is soon ready to use for baking.







The rye also has a pleasant smell and uses all the bubbles to rise the dough instead of forming foam.









Here is a side view where you can clearly see the bubbles trapped inside the dough.







I scraped some of the top aside here before mixing in the new flour/water to show you how the bubbles are all trapped inside the dough.






In a few days I will take half of the dough and start feeding it with white flour and see if I indeed can develop a healthy starter for white sourdough from a rye starter.

This week we are supposed to have rain and wind but that gives me time to completely finish my starters. As soon as the sun is back out I am testing the loaves in the solar oven. Can hardly wait......:-)