After a years long hiatus I decided it was time to get back into bread baking. As part of that return I’m bootstrapping a new sourdough starter, and I forgot how vigorous the false activity is in the first couple days as bacteria pull down the pH in the starter and make the environment suitable for wild yeast. The sponge I prepped doubled in the first 24 hours and then the next 12. It’d be easy to be lulled into thinking this thing was ready to bake with!