Any other sourdough owners out there?

My aunt doesn't currently make sourdough, though I've mentioned I've wanted to try it again.

I think at one point she made sourdough pita pockets. (We would have hamburgers in them.)

Dad forgot to feed his sourdough for ages, and it also started to grow molds. He thought he killed it, but was able to scrape away the top half (in layers, so that he could be sure the mold was out), and then fed the rest of it and cleaned the container. It's bubbling away happily once more.

I used to keep starter around.

This thread makes me want to get some more.

So here's the thing - I think I killed Paul's sourdough starter. We have whole tubs of of flour around, and I asked him which tub I was meant to feed the starter with (he's lost interest, so I've adopted it: called it Rocket, bonded with it) and he said "the one in the tub at the front" which would have been fine except that I'd made scones at 4:30 that morning (don't ask) and the One At The Front was now self-raising flour. Which you don't use to feed a heritage, organic sourdough starter. As it turns out.

I've halved the starter and fed it for two days in a row. It's mid winter down here, but I've done my best to keep it wherever the warm is. It's runny and smells of acetone. Will it survive? Paul says he thinks it's just lost the will to live.

I'd hate to think that I've killed a starter. Called Rocket.

If there is any dried starter crust on the lid or near the top of the crock you keep it in, try scraping that off and reconstituting it for a fresh start. Just add the scrapings to the correct flour and some filtered water in a clean crock.

Also, I had this disaster earlier this year and managed to resurrect mine from an unsullied teaspoon or so:

Well... *hangs head* I'm no longer the pet owner of sourdough starter.

In the past eight years, I've made hundreds of loaves for my business, I got to the point where I couldn't stand taking the very long day or two days to make more. The poor thing hung out in the back corner of the frig where I ignored it for too long.

The mummified remains were tainted. I buried it in the back yard.--figuratively speaking

Success! I halved it, fed the new half, and that jar has come good. The other half has lost the will to live, but we have all we need. Yayyy!

Must remember to feed my monster...

Next thing: I want to retire my starter for a little while and improve my standard bread-making technique. I'll google how to non-lethally rest a starter, but does anyone have any special tips?

mccardey said:

Next thing: I want to retire my starter for a little while and improve my standard bread-making technique. I'll google how to non-lethally rest a starter, but does anyone have any special tips?

Click to expand...

I would just dry some out on a plate, scrape the dried starter into a Ziploc bag and store it in the freezer. You can easily revive it whenever you're ready just by adding the dried starter to a mixture of flour, sugar and filtered water.

I recommend keeping a "safety" like this on hand in the event of sourdough disasters, anyway.

Devil Ledbetter said:

I would just dry some out on a plate, scrape the dried starter into a Ziploc bag and store it in the freezer. You can easily revive it whenever you're ready just by adding the dried starter to a mixture of flour, sugar and filtered water.

I recommend keeping a "safety" like this on hand in the event of sourdough disasters, anyway.

Click to expand...

I've never heard of this before. Good to know.

I'll add myself to the list of starter owners!
My first one was in Italy, so I had to let it die when I moved country (sad times). Now I have my new, English starter (happy times). It's still young but it's improving. I always make them from scratch... never though of giving them a name, but now I'm almost tempted

Great tips around, by the way, especially the freezing idea.

I would love to try a sourdough starter when I get back to the states. I've never done it before!