It's Feeding Time!

So, I probably could have fed my starter yesterday, because a few hours after I posted my progress, it GREW so much that I had to put it into a bigger container. After I moved it, it shrank again (due to the movement or the end of a cycle? I have yet to figure it out). It also smelled quite sharp yesterday. Today, it smelled VERY sharp, like Parmesan cheese (stinky, stinky Parmesan cheese!), or like stinky socks according to my mom. I'd rather think of cheese than socks when making bread, however, so let's stick with cheese.



You can see in the bowl where it had risen to and then fallen. I got a new, clean glass bowl to transfer the starter into, and then I prepared the food: I mixed 35g of warm water and 35g of flour together with my fingers (apparently, using your fingers is important because metal utensils can harm your microbiological friends. I guess I could have used something wooden, but it's more fun to use your hands!)



I put the resulting blob of "food" into my clean glass bowl (because I like to be able to check things out through the glass)



Then, I took about 20% of the starter and added it to the food, mixing carefully so I wouldn't kill any of the yeast. The rest of the starter went down the drain, and it took its smell with it (much to the relief of my family).



So tomorrow, it will be the same drill, until it establishes a predictable rise/fall cycle. Then I can make my leaven and actually start to make bread! HOORAY!