The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Crisis averted, i hope!

Anonymous baker's picture
Anonymous baker (not verified)

Crisis averted, i hope!

So I'm putting away some food in my fridge when i happen to glance at my starter sitting at the back and neglected for quite a few weeks. Wait a minute... do i see some white fuzz* on there? It's a Tupperware container, not exactly see thru, which is opaque and hopefully my eyes decieve me. But sure enough, when i open the lid, there is some white mould on top. Not a lot but something you don't wish to see. Then upon closer inspection when trying to salvage it most of the starter had turned dark grey underneath. Things are looking worse. Hang on... Is that some fresher looking starter in the corner there? 

My usual starter maintenance is 10g starter + 25g water + 50g flour (40g bread flour + 10g whole-wheat or whole rye). 

I can't remember what i fed it last but from the little fresh looking starter it looked like whole-wheat - a light brown colour. Now I'm hoping it was whole-wheat and not whole rye otherwise I'm thinking could red/orange mold ever look like this? Or would i not be able to confuse the two? This certainly looked like a Tartine-esque 10% whole-wheat.

I discarded anything that looked dodgy and just about had 10g left to feed. Phew! It's now been fed and I await results. 

Now i know Dabrownman's NMNF starter can go for many months between feeds and mine is very similar so why did this happen? How can avoid it in the future? Do you think making sure the top doesn't dry out, as it tends to do being low hydration, would help and i should sprinkle some water over the piece of dough? 

*P.s. what looked like white fuzz through the opaque plastic was actually just white (completely white) dough. If that helps explain things. 

IceDemeter's picture
IceDemeter

heading your way!

I basically run Dabrownman's NMNF whole rye starter, but I give it a stir once a week or so (whenever I'm pulling some out of it), and I now keep a piece of plastic wrap sitting loosely on the surface so that it doesn't dry out so much.  The plastic wrap isn't tight to the sides of the container, so a bit of air can still get at it, but it definitely makes a difference in the surface texture and colouration.

I had been leaving it with just the lid on the container, but found that it still dried out too much for my preference (we have a very arid climate here), and I found that it would turn a darkish grey colour if I didn't at least stir it for a few weeks.  The parts that weren't dried out were a light brownish / peachy sort of shade, but a good stirring and a few minutes at room temperature got it looking like "normal" 60% hydration rye starter again.  I haven't had mould yet (either to see or for me to react to when doing a sniff-test --- I'm allergic to mould and would be sneezing instantly if I inhaled some from the container), so I wasn't concerned about just stirring the drier grey surface back in to the rest.

Once you get those healthy wee beasties that you rescued all fed and breeding again, you might want to try putting a piece of plastic wrap just loosely sitting on the surface inside the sealed container.  It definitely makes a difference for mine.

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Thank you so much. Easy and effective! The starter didn't smell bad, more like acrylic which means it's hungry. No off smell as such. Perhaps I also refrigerated a tad too late so it didn't last as long. I'll do a few good feeds, refrigerate a bit earlier and cover loosely with plastic wrap just on top of the starter and then put a lid on it. With the discard I'll be building up I'll bake something and will be happy if it makes a nice loaf. Got something in mind.

bread1965's picture
bread1965

I'm no expert, learning every week, and enjoying the ride. But something I'm fairly confident about is that starter abuse is rampant, part of life and very forgiving.. Yes brother, I have been a starter sinner.. I abuse and neglect my starter.. my intentions are pure. I mean well. But life gets in the way. Thankfully, the yeasty-beasties send good karma my way..

I have tried NFNM - but I'm more sweet, than sour and it just doesn't work for me. So I have 100% white unbleached Charlie sitting on the door shelf of the fridge.. 

 

I feed him 1:5:4 whenever he gets too small, but otherwise I don't really do much than use him. I'll take out 10 grams when I want to bake and over a day or two build him up with 1:2:2 feedings until I get to the size I need with no waste. But here's the rub, he sits in that jar with lid slightly ajar because it doesn't fit well in his glass home.. and i never refresh until he's too small.. (which is usually monthly).. and it still is pretty active..

Now I'm keen to know that those that live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.. But, Charlie and I don't think anything by way of feeding regimen  caused the mold. I think it could be some type of contamination - maybe in the spoon you used to scoop out starter, or the container itself??... I personally like glass over plastic. It just feels cleaner - but that's probably my OCD acting up..

My two cents.. good luck, and in the meanwhile bake well, or at least bake happy!

 

 

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

King of the Fridge. 

That's always a possibility. I'm very meticulous though and this is the first time it's ever happened to me in over 3 years. I have switched over to a very low hydration starter and in order to build up yeast population I've been allowing it to feed more before refrigerating. It's also the longest I've left it between feeds. 

Difficult to pinpoint what went wrong but I'll take everything into account. Still, it was bound to happen sooner or later when one changes something and pushes it to the limit. Live and learn. 

bread1965's picture
bread1965

More than anything, this post enabled my Charlie abuse...

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/44777/fred-dead-practical-starter-abuse

It's remarkable how long you can go between feeds!