Sourdough Starter Problem

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Bitser

Senior Cook
Joined
May 30, 2021
Messages
379
Location
Woods Landing, Wyoming
We've had the same starter for 20-odd years and recently it's gone off. Does anyone recognize this blight?

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I'll take a guess at it. If it doesn't have mold, it is not bad.

It looks weak and separated. It needs to be fed.
First, how does it smell? Alcoholish, vinegryish, acetone like, yeast like, sourish....these all need to be fed as well.


If those strands in it are moving, then you have maggots in it, but if it is separated and stringy, it may be okay.
 
Smells bad. Not going to taste it. There's some organism in there that's not as usual. When we don't use a starter for a while, it develops a layer of water and alcohol up top: no problem. This is definitely different.
 
Yeah, if it smells like food gone bad, then I wouldn't taste it either. I don't know what that kind of blight or bacteria that might be. Decomposition I guess.
 
I'm very curious as to how you have kept the starter for 20 years?
I have heard about this many times and those that have passed down starter for generations.
I am wondering how you fed it and how you kept it alive and growing all these years?
The reason I ask is the last time I got a starter started, it required daily feedings and tossing most of it away. I wasted a lot of flour trying to keep starter alive.
Thanks in advance.
 
I could never keep the liquid starters alive that long, but the solid starters last a lot longer, with much less waste. I figured if I was using it very frequently (which I wasn't), the liquid starter would be ok, but I would have too much waste. Not sure about a "blight" like that with yours, Bitser - they would just separate, and become very alcoholic, and take too much to bring back, to make them worth it.
 
I'm very curious as to how you have kept the starter for 20 years?
I have heard about this many times and those that have passed down starter for generations.
I am wondering how you fed it and how you kept it alive and growing all these years?
The reason I ask is the last time I got a starter started, it required daily feedings and tossing most of it away. I wasted a lot of flour trying to keep starter alive.
Thanks in advance.

It's my understanding that once it's active, it doesn't need feeding very often. A friend of mine recently said the starter she began last year had sat in the back of her fridge for several months and she just recently "woke it up" again by feeding it. The discard can be used to make things like crackers and pancakes.
 
Kept it in the fridge. We took it out and fed it the night before use, once or twice each week. Left the lid ajar so it could breathe. When liquid built up on top I'd stir it in before feeding. After feeding it, I'd leave it out until it was bubbling.
 
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King Arthur's starter requires daily feeding and removing half of the starter. And yes it last a bit longer if refrigerated.
I never really was able to keep it for very long. And yes GG I did understand there were uses for discarded starter. I spent time learning during the recent times yeast and flour both were both hard to come by.
I have no idea how long it could last in the fridge.
I see many restaurants that have starter for ages. But they use it every single day and its easy to feed if you are using it that much. Removing what they need and feeding it right after. Some use no refrigeration.
My understanding is refrigerated starter can last. But it needs to be fed regularly. My question was how long?
I'm no expert either.
 
Our former starter was older than the dude in the video.
Would that make a difference? But, I doubt it. You wrote that the starter was 20 odd years old. I found this about him.

How did you land on the concept of Bake with Jack?

I had been working as a chef for ten years and teaching cookery alongside my work for a year before I eventually started Bake with Jack. For a long time, I thought it would be amazing to go to somebody’s home and teach them about food in their own kitchen and cooking with their own oven. It made so much sense. So, after a year teaching adult education, gaining confidence in my abilities in the kitchen and ability to communicate that in a class setting, I started up Bake with Jack to bring the joy of homemade bread to people’s homes and to cook up some delicious accompaniments to go with their fresh bread. That was April 20, 2013.

So, 10 (years as a chef) +1 (year teaching adult ed) +8 (years of Bake with Jack) = 19 years. Even if he started working as a chef as young as 15 (unlikely), he would be 34 years old. That young man does have the experience needed to give advice about baking.
 
Got a new starter going, with the cooking water from potatoes and some dry yeast. Fed it with a scoop of flour once a day for the last week, and it's looking (and smelling) good.

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