I have successfully made sourdough whilst living in Texas – USA then back in Australia and now i am currently living in Nashville – USA.
Since moving to Nashville i began a new starter and have currently been feeding my starter for 2 months. Every day i feed it 100grams of tepid filtered water and 100grams of strong bread flour. I used the exact same flour in Texas and my starter was fine.
I cannot figure out why my starter isn't becoming active and rising. Do you think it's possible that the water in Nashville is different? i literally cannot figure out why its not working for me. The starter isnt rising and it doesn't float when i put some in a glass of water.
Any help would be much appreciated!
– Bonnie
Best Answer
Filtering water may not remove all or even any of the chlorine in your water, it depends upon the filter. Chlorine is the bane of sourdough starter's very existence.
In 2017, Nashville tested the free chlorine (the chlorine 'left' in water after it has done its job of killing nasties in the water treatment facilities and the pipes on the way to your home) in city tap water as from a home faucet. The result was 1.82 mg/L chlorine. That is approaching the federal recommended maximum of 2.0 mg/L free chlorine in nearly fresh tap water. So, you have highly chlorinated water. I think that's probably your problem.
I recommend you do three things now to save your starter.
Switch to bottled water (no chlorine) to feed your starter, or very carefully choose your next filter.
Give your starter a "snack" of unsweetened pineapple juice, replacing all of the water of your next feeding and half of the water the feeding after that (so give it a 50/50 mix that feeding). See this article for reasoning.
Feed it with whole grain flour for a few feedings. Since your starter is wheat, use whole wheat flour for a while. That will give it a bit of extra nutrition while it's trying to get healthy.
Good Luck