The great sourdough starter disaster of 2021

Three years ago, I was keeping my starter, 'Bubbles', on the windowsill in my kitchen. I went away for a weekend in July and came back to find the jar had basically exploded from the heat. My wife walked in and just said, 'It smells like a brewery died in here.' I lost years of that culture and had to start all over from scratch with a new one. Has anyone else had a starter just give up the ghost like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_wright3d ago

Keep your starter in the fridge if you're going to be gone more than a day, that's the real trick. I learned the hard way too, lost a starter named Hank to a hot weekend. Now I feed it, let it sit out for an hour, then straight into the cold. It slows everything down so it can't blow its lid. You can pull it out a couple days before you need it to wake it back up.

miles_roberts223d ago

Oh man, losing a starter is the worst... I had one go bad last summer and the smell was unreal. Your fridge method is spot on, that's exactly what I do now too. I even put mine in a big jar with the lid just resting on top, not screwed down, so if it does puff up a bit it won't explode. Gives me peace of mind when I have to leave for a few days.