Tried to bake sourdough with my own starter and it turned into a brick

I spent 3 weeks building a starter from scratch, feeding it every day like a pet. Last Sunday I finally tried to bake a loaf and it came out so dense you could use it as a roofing tile. I think my starter wasn't active enough because I kept it in the fridge too much. Has anyone else had a starter fail after all that work?

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2 Comments

paul_mason124mo ago

Three weeks is barely enough to build a decent starter, your flour or water ratio was likely off too.

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kair654mo ago

Oh man, totally agree with you! Three weeks is just the starting point really. I've had starters that looked perfect at 21 days but still needed another month to really get that sour punch and consistent rise. The flour to water ratio thing is huge too, I've messed that up so many times. People get discouraged when their starter isn't doubling in 4 hours right away but that's just how it goes sometimes. The temperature of your kitchen matters way more than anyone admits at first, mine took forever because my house is drafty. Stick with it and feed it regularly, it'll get there eventually but three weeks is definitely not a magic number.

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