The week my sourdough finally worked 5 days straight, then I killed it with one lazy feed
So two weeks ago I had the best baking streak of my life. My starter (her name is Brenda) was doubling in 4 hours flat, my loafs were coming out with that open crumb I have been chasing since March, and I actually brought a boule to my neighbor Dana in Sacramento and she asked me for the recipe. Five days in a row, every single bake worked. I felt like I finally cracked the code. Then on day six I was tired, so I fed Brenda straight from the tap instead of filtered water and left her on the counter overnight instead of the fridge. Woke up to a flat, sad jar that smelled like nail polish. Took me another week and a half to bring her back. Here is my debate for you all: is a good baking streak mostly skill finally kicking in, or is it just dumb luck with your starter and your kitchen temp lining up for a few days? I honestly cannot tell anymore. What broke your best streak, and did you ever figure out if it was you or just the yeast having a bad week?
Learned this the hard way too, streaks in anything usually break the second you get comfy and stop paying attention. Same thing happened to me with a running streak last year, missed one day and suddenly it was three weeks off. The starter probably was not "finally working," you were just finally consistent, and day six you were not.