My twin and I started our first Sourdough attempt last week on Apr 22nd! Here has been our progression:
We are roughly using The Clever Carrot's starter recipe, though we aren't growing the quantity daily like it does. We fed on day 1, skipped 36hr and fed at 2½ so it lined up better with out work schedule, then fed it daily from then to day 6. On day 7, we started feeding every 12hr, since it was peeking sooner & having a lot of liquid (we also saw King Arthur's recipe suggested feeding twice daily from day 3). We've been doing a 1:1:1 ratio with King Arthur bread flour (no rye/wheat day one).
We've tentatively named him Doug! 🍞 He smelled like alcohol on day 2, then had that "false rise" and shifted to rotten milk on day 3. He didn't rise much day 4, then went back to rising double or more day 5. He still stinks a bit & doesn't smell fruity/yeasty like I've read he should (tho its not as bad since day 7 or so). For details, Doug currently resides on the counter & we live in Florida (house is 75F year round). I know patience is a big part of Sourdough, but we're excited to try out hand at baking our first loaf. I'm hoping he starts to smell better sooner than later (I know some estimates say 7 days, others say 2-4wks or more). Wish us luck and feel free to share any tips you feel may help Doug grow strong & healthy! 👩🍳