PSA: My sourdough starter took a full month to get right

I started a new rye starter back in February, following my usual method that worked for years. After two weeks, it was still sluggish and wouldn't double in size, no matter what I did. I tried adjusting the water temperature, the feeding ratio, even moving it to a warmer spot in my kitchen. The problem turned out to be my tap water; our town switched to a new chloramine treatment last fall. Once I started using filtered water, it was active and ready in about four days. Has anyone else had a starter just refuse to work because of a water change?

3 comments

3 Comments

robinson.quinn2mo ago

Your "usual method" probably needed a tweak, not a month of blame.

craig.tyler2mo ago

Sometimes a tweak isn't enough. You need a full reset to figure out what went wrong.

blake3022mo ago

Used to agree with you about just tweaking things. Then I watched a team try that for weeks and get nowhere. The full reset felt like a waste of time at first, but it was the only way to spot the core assumption we all got wrong.