The First Week, Day by Day
Okay. You've got your jar going from day one. Now comes the part where people start emailing me confused, so let's walk through it slow.
A starter's first week is basically flour and water arguing with wild yeast until they reach an agreement. Some days it looks like nothing's happening. Some days it looks like it's trying to escape the jar. Both are normal. Here's what to actually expect and do, day by day.
Day 1
Already covered — flour, water, wide-mouth jar, stir it up, loose lid. If you did that yesterday, today you just look at it. Don't feed it yet. Don't stir it again. Just check that it's sitting somewhere around 70-75 degrees. A cold kitchen in January in Utah County will barely do anything the first couple days, and that's fine. Don't panic and crank the heat.
Day 2
You'll probably see nothing. Maybe a few bubbles, maybe a faint sour smell, maybe nothing at all. This is the day people convince themselves they killed it already. You didn't. Leave it alone except for a stir if you want to knock some air through it. No feeding yet unless you're already seeing real bubble activity and it smells more like beer than flour paste.
Day 3
Usually this is when things start moving. You might see a rise, a fall, some bubbles on the surface. It can also smell a little off — cheesy, sometimes almost like acetone or nail polish remover. That's the yeast and bacteria sorting out who's in charge. It's not pretty but it's not the pink mold I told you to watch for either. If you see actual pink or orange streaks anywhere, that batch is done, toss it and start clean. Regular sour or funky smell, though, you're fine.
Day 3 is when I start the first real feeding: discard about half, then feed equal parts flour and water by weight. Same ratio every time from here on, and yes, weigh it. I'm not going to stop saying that.
Day 4
Feed again, same ratio. By now you should see a rise and fall pattern happening within a day. Mark the jar with a rubber band at the starting line after you feed it so you can actually see how far it climbs. That little rubber band trick saved me a lot of guessing early on.
Day 5
This is the day I want you paying close attention, because day five is where my first starter went sideways on me. It turned pink and I about cried, then found out pink means it's contaminated and you start over, no saving it. So day five, look closely. Any color that isn't tan, cream, or grayish is a problem. Smell is fine to be sour and strong. Color pink or orange is not fine, period.
Assuming you're clear, keep feeding on schedule. You should be seeing more consistent doubling now, maybe 6-8 hours to peak.
Day 6
Feed as usual. This is usually when I see it start behaving — rising predictably, falling back predictably, smelling more pleasantly sour instead of that day-3 funk. If your kitchen runs cool, this is where things can lag a day or two behind what I'm describing. Our dry air and a cold house both slow this whole process down. Don't force it by cranking heat too high, just be patient and keep the schedule.
Day 7
If it's doubling in under 8 hours and falling back afterward, you've got a starter. Congratulations, you're a parent now, sort of.
If it's still sluggish, that's fine too. Keep feeding daily for a few more days. I've had starters take ten, twelve days before they really took off. The first one I ever got going, I ended up putting in the oven with the light on for warmth, and that's what finally did it.
A word about the crusting problem
Here's a mistake I made early on that wasn't about the starter at all, it was about what happens after. I baked my first real loaf using water straight out of the tap, which around here runs pretty cold, and our dry air crusted the outside of that dough before it ever got a chance to proof properly. Came out looking like a hockey puck, dense gummy center and all. Lesson there: once you're baking, not just feeding, keep your dough covered and don't let cold water and dry air work against you before the yeast's even had a shot.
My honest opinion on all this
I'd rather you feed twice a day if that's realistic for your schedule, or once a day if that's realistic, and just stick with it. Don't promise yourself three feedings a day and quit on day four. Consistency beats ambition here. I learned that one the hard way, same as everything else.
Before next time: keep feeding daily through the weekend, watch for that doubling pattern, and text me a photo if you see any color you're not sure about. Better safe than sorry with that one.