Dough – Day 8 of Sourdough Starter, is it still alive

fermentationsourdoughsourdough-starter

I started my starter 8 days ago. I stopped feeding it after Day 4. It has been left on the counter. It has been stirred but not fed for 4 days.

Is my starter still ok? It's kept in a mixing bowl with a towel over it and a rubberband.

Best Answer

It depends on the temperature of your room, but you may still have enough left alive to save it. Is it still bubbling at all? You should throw most of it away and feed it and see if it changes and bubbles in the next few hours. I'd try keeping just a few tablespoons (maybe 100g of the starter, throwing the rest away) and add 500g of flour and 500g of 75°F water. If your flour is precious right now, you can use 250g and 250g instead.

You probably know this, but keep it in the fridge in the future if you're not going to be able to feed it for a while. Depending on the type of starter it can do well for a couple of weeks.