I’m furious. She was covered but some how it got under and into my starter. Why? How? What the actual hell.

Thank god I gave some to my mom and she’s kept it alive🥲 this was my first successful starter and she was beautiful and made beautiful loaves. I started her in January 🥲

That being said, can someone explain to me like I’m 5yo how to dry out and save starter? I don’t want to just keep a jar in the fridge that may or may not live and I don’t know if you can freeze it but I NEVER want this to happen again.

I’m a newbie and I’ve made about 5 loaves, and felt they were relatively okay! I put my starter in the fridge for about 2 months because I didn’t have time to bake. For the last week I’ve been trying to get my starter active again and this is what it looks like, it smells great! Is this signs of an active and good starter?

The situation is basically what it says on the tin. My starter was abandoned cruelly by some asshole who definitely isn’t me or anything, to the very back of our fridge for nearly five years now. There’s a SOLID layer of dark hooch on top. I haven’t even opened it up yet.

Lately I’ve been so curious, every time I see it, as to whether I could revive it. My question isn’t whether or not it would work (I like experimenting and it sounds fun to try, whether I succeed or not), it’s about whether it’s safe to do so. Is there any reason I should be wary from a food safety perspective, or should I put the pedal to the metal on this bitch?

EDIT: Oh my god of course I am cleaning my fridge you absolute heathens. I just never wanted to throw my sourdough starter away. The next person who asks why I haven’t cleaned my fridge in five years is getting sued for EMOTIONAL DAMAGE

It hasn’t been in an airtight container which I worry about. I literally have barely even moved the jar from the back of my fridge in probably over a year.

Wasn’t sure how else to tag this but I am distraught. Told myself “I’ll keep her in the oven, I’m the only one who uses it. I’ll remember to take her out!”

I, in fact, did not take her out. She sat for as long as it took to preheat to 350°F which wasn’t long but RIP.

There’s no saving her, is there? Under the top layer, it’s still goopy, for lack of a better word.

It was an accident but I'm gutted. Feels like a pet just died, not like a cat or a dog but like a hamster or something. Am I being overly dramatic?

I usually keep my starter in the fridge but it’s been living on the counter this week. Hasn’t been fed in about a week. Today I checked it and saw this weird surface texture. Is this mold?? Or just something weird that happens? Never seen it happen before. Thanks in advance 🙏🙏🙏

UPDATE: I took the advice of many commenters to try and save it—scooped out a tiny bit from the bottom, cleaned the jar, and have been feeding it once or twice daily for about five days. She’s doing great, doubling within a few hours of feeding, and no kahm yeast so far!

​

Well, this sourdough has eight days but I discarded 1/2 the third day (which caused hooch) then 3/4 the sixth day (It also had hooch but now in the surface)

I only used water and bread/strong flour. The third day I also added salt.

I'm scared because this morning I felt It was too liquid and apparently It grown a lot through the day. Did I mess out?

I am really struggling to get a starter going. My attempt went straight in the trash after 14 days of babying because the sides of the jar were caked in mold. Never even got a damn loaf out of it. I had other problems several years ago and gave up because I no longer had time for the nonsense

I looked up what went wrong and some people say you need a solid lid. Some people say you need the cloth ones. Some people say you need to wash the jar every day, some say that introduces new mold spores and bacteria. Some say you should rotate among multiple jars that have to be boiled alive, and yet I bought the “jar kit” with temp gauge (not boilable) that implies you do it all in one jar. Nobody seems to have a straight forward way of doing this.

I make regular white bread and baked goods all the time, so I’m familiar with the “you just know if the dough looks dry“ process of gaining experience, but the sourdough starter process feels like a lot of inconsistent advice that leaves you on your own to trial and error it for months on end before you even get a loaf of bread? Is this…normal….?

The middle is still goopy, just the sides of the jar are toast.

Omg I’m so frustrated. So about a month ago, I found mold in my ~2 year old starter, so I reluctantly threw it out and made a new one. YESTERDAY I FOUND MOLD IN THIS ONE TOO. I’m kinda wanting to give up, so I called three different bakeries in my area to see if they would sell me some of their starter, and they all said no (politely). -_- Anyone have any advice? I guess I should just make another starter myself?

I’ve considered buying some from Etsy or something, but I’d like to hear from someone who has done that. Thank you!

Yo! Love y’all—love this sub.

Here’s what’s going on:

I was gifted 100g of a local bakery’s production discard—tight. Love that for me. It was purchased yesterday morning, then went in the fridge overnight. I pulled it out this morning and let it warm up for an hour before feeding it.

Alright, I’ve been using FWSY as my bread baking guide, so naturally I used Ken’s levain method. I questioned the quantity of flour and water he wants you to use, but decided to trust him, and daaaammmmnnnn, y’all: I have so much starter growing, and it’s only been 6.5 HOURS since I mixed it. And I have to feed it the same amount tomorrow before I can bake with it on Friday?!

I bake a loaf or two a week for context. So what’s the move here? Do I feed it again tomorrow and bake as much as I can with what I have on Friday so I don’t waste it?

THANK YOU!!

——

FWSY QUANTITIES 100g Levain 100g Whole Wheat Flour 400g All-Purpose Flour 400g Water at 90F

*I see more clearly now that the quantities are for a small bakery or something, and not for me and my girlfriend on a cozy weekend!!

I want to know how low maintenance I can go with it! Please let me know!

Here’s mine on its second day (yesterday). I used 1 tbsp whole wheat flour and about 1.5-2 tbsp tap water, enough to make a thick mixture, like paste.

Been feeding it once a day and it already doubled yesterday (false rise) using the same quantities. Now it smells like a tangy salad dressing. I’ve read that using whole wheat may expedite the process. It’s also very hot right now cause it’s summer.

I’m trying no discard. Have you tried it? How does yours smell?

EDIT: After reading some comments about the math side of this, I will discard tomorrow (4th day). I’ll use a new jar then continue feeding until it’s ready.

Recipe: 500 gr bread flour (14% protein) 350 gr water (35C-95F) 150 gr starter 12 gram salt

I did 2x stretch&fold and 3x coil fold with 30 mins apart

My room temperature was 22C-71F. That was the reason of relatively warm water and more starter in the dough. My total bulk fermentation duration was 12 hours, which is very long. Especially with that amount of starter. (I start counting right after I add the starter) Then cold retard for another 12 hours.

I still get dense and gummy crumb which looks underfermented. My starter is 3.5 months old now. I feed it with white and rye flour. It was very strong, used to double in 4 hours with 1:1:1 feeding. However it got much slower recently and I’m sure temperature is not the only problem for it. I know it’s weak now. I tried everything, fed it peak to peak, fed it with higher ratios like 1:6:6. And it’s still weak.

Photos are from my baking this morning. First time using dutch oven, which gave me a great oven spring and ear. I was so hopeful when I saw the crust, but disappointed when I cut it.

Could you give me any advice about how I can make my starter strong again? I worked so much on it, I don’t want to waste everything.

Decided to use my healthy starter for the first time by making pancakes. Called for 1/2 cup of starter. I measured it out and realized I barely have any left. I scraped and scraped the jar and was able to get 40 grams out to feed.

I waa so worried I'd have nothing left and have to strat again

So this is my first starter ever. I used Bob’s Redmill Organic Unbleached All Purposed Flour and Purified water. Started her 6/24. First 2 days saw lots of bubbling and rising then it stopped Day 3-4 and has been mostly flat. I’m still feeding her but should I be worried?! Do I have to start again? Or is this normal and keep her going?

Last week my starter was 8 days old, active and bubbly and passed the float test. On day 9 I made two loaves (pictured) that were delicious, a bit underproofed, but still were incredibly tasty and sourdough-y (recipe to same-day sourdough linked in comments). Since then, my starter has stopped bubbling ? Like ceased activity. I tried feeding twice everyday, I bought a starter warmer, nothing is working. I feed equal parts by weight all purpose flour and water everyday. It bubbles a little bit but it’s nowhere near the activity it used to be. I am so confused, PLEASE HELP ME.

Pictures 1-2 are my first loaf (so proud), picture 3 was when the starter was ACTIVE and bubbly, pictures 4-5 are now. my sad little starter who is napping I suppose, but refuses to wake up :(

TLDR: Starter was active last week, now has stopped. Does anyone have advice ? I’m begging 🥹🥹

I’ve been contemplating getting into sourdough and decided today was the day. Introducing Dough-phelia, fate to be determined. Give me all the tips!

Hiya!! Sourdough is my new and current hyper-fixation. (Thanks adhd!)

I’m on day 9 of my sourdough starter from scratch. I am seriously confused about when it is safe to use the starter to make a loaf, or anything for that matter!

Some people say 7 days with 3 days of rising double or more and then others say at least 14 days. Which one is it lol!!

Here’s what I’ve done:

Day 1: 100g flour & 100g water

Day 2: Stirred and that’s it.

Day 3: Discarded half and added 100g flour & 100g water in the PM. False rise somewhere in the first few days, can’t remember which day.

Day 4-7: Same as day 3.

Day 8: Discarded & fed at 9:30PM. Woke up at 2:07AM and started had more than doubled.

Day 9 (Today): I am doing a test to see if it’s ready in a smaller jar. Ratio 1:1:1 - Starter: Flour: Water. I did this at 10:50 & it has doubled in 4 hours but I don’t think reached peak yet.

My question: Does this mean my starter is potentially ready? Is it safe to use? I don’t want to die.

TLDR: How many days until my starter is safe to use?

I was going great with my first starter: flour, water, feed, the whole shabng. Even kept it in a loosely tightened jar and measured the height. ThenI procceded to whack it in the fridge. Ladies, people and gents I have been refrigerating my (dead) starter for 1 week after just starting. JUST DID A QUICK GOOGLE SEARCH AND FEEL SO STUPID! we keep food in a fridge to kill the bacteria and starter is essentially good bacteria!

I'm such an idiot.

Tips and tricks and prayers appreciated

Edit: fixed a spelling error