06-18-2016, 07:50 PM
Well right now they're in the activating stage which is where you dump out 1⁄2 and feed the other half with flour and water. It takes about 8 hours from then where you start to see some bubbling foam action. They also take on a different smell depending on what kind of critters (organisms) have taken up shop. You can have anything from apples to dirty sweat socks. But you continue to feed every 12-24 hours and in the beginning it takes several hours to show any sign of life, but once it takes only an hour to show life after it's feeding it's fully activated and ready to go into your bread or pizza recipe with no added yeast. Your starter culture is what gives your pizza dough and bread dough character and flavor that you could never get from just a flour, water and yeast mix.