I began making this starter about 10 days ago. There isn’t much to it: just flour and water. I think I started with about 1/2 cup of each, stirred together in a stainless steel bowl. Left it on the counter, covered with a loose fitting lid. It only took a day or three before it had bubbles appearing on the surface.
Each day, feed it with some more flour and water. I used mostly rye flour, as I read it is a particularly ‘lively’ food for the sourdough.
It has been sweet smelling from the start, but with an underlying hint of vinegar, too.
I used about half of the starter about a week after starting, and am now bulking it up again.
But yesterday, I got a glass container for its new home! Now I can watch it growing a bit better.
My first large loaf suffered after I didn’t make it ‘tight’ enough – the round ball of growing dough spread out too much, and got baked onto the stainless stell bowl I had it covered with in the oven. That process, along with some water in a container at the bottom of the oven, allows the dough to stretch more effectively.