And Bob isn't dead either. With the the crazy work schedule, something happened that hasn't happened ever...I forgot to feed Bob! Bob hasn't had food since Sunday.
No, please don't call the Starter Abuse Hotline!!! Bob is perfectly fine. In fact, this is a good example of how forgiving this starter is.
If you forget to feed your starter don't sweat it! Just stir all the hooch back in. You should have big layer of hooch if you miss a feeding.
After you stir your starter up and get that hooch incorporated, you should notice it gets foamy. That is good.
And then give your starter its normal feeding.
Notice how bubbly Bob got after his feeding tonight?
I'll probably give him two feedings tomorrow just get him back to strength and then I'm going to prep him for some baking.
A couple days ago, I also promised you a little tip to bring your starter out of the moodies if by Day 10, he/she was still feeling sluggish and not getting perky after the switch to an all AP diet.
First, how do you know your starter isn't fully adjusted? Basically you will only have little bubbles and a sour smell and taste but not the happy bubbly and foamy starter like below.
If this happens, it is time to entice your starter to come out and see the sunshine!
Here is how you do this:
Give it a feeding using 1/8 cup rye flour, 3/8 cup AP flour and a pinch of sugar and just a little less than 1/2 cup of water. The reason for a little more flour vs water is to give it lots of food to get all excited over. Give it this feeding 2X in a 24 hour period. You should see life come back into your starter. Then go back to the normal AP flour feeding.
If you don't see life come back into the starter, give it another day of the 2X "booster shot" above and see what happens.
If after all that all you have is still sludge well... time to give your starter a goldfish funeral and start afresh. But before you do that, email me and we'll do a starter diagnosis.
My mom flies into NYC tomorrow night to spend a long weekend with me. I'm probably not going to be blogging much while she is here and I'm definitely NOT working while she is here. But, I can guarantee I'm baking while she's here because we love to be in the kitchen together.
It's going to be a good time!
