Sour on Sourdough

I’ve tried yet again to create a sourdough starter. Yet again, what appeared to be a decent attempt has utterly failed to yield a starter capable of raising bread dough. My unleavened dough, 4 hours in, sits on the counter as a testament to it’s lack of potency.

At this point, I’ve tried using bottled water, organic flower, and bread flour. I’ve tried using rye flour and leaving it out. I’ve tried seeding the starter with instant yeast. I’ve done all of the above in various combinations with nothing to show for it.

I would be less annoyed by all of this if not for the fact that a couple of years ago I was able to create fantastic sourdough starters that yielded great loaves of bread. Now, it appears that the only starter I can get to successfully work is a rye sourdough.

I’m of the opinion that the flour is to blame. Since sourdough starters essentially activate dormant yeast in flour, my thinking is the flour I’ve been using must not have yeast suitable for creating sourdough. It’s not a particularly satisfying conclusion. For one, King Arthur is the brand that yielded those great starters a couple years ago. For another, it implies that there is nothing to be done to fix the problem, save switching brands for the purpose of creating a starter.

If I’m able to get something useful out of it, I wonder if switching back to KA flour would cause it to go bad? I’d hope not. Of course, first I’ve got to create something worth using.