August 12, 2017 - 3:03am
White points all over my 6 day old sourdough starter
So I posted here 2 days ago asking about some white points on my sourdough. There I wrote that I fed it 100 grams flour 50 Grams water every two days, but actually I just got confused...
Ifeed it 50 Grams flour 100 grams water, every two days. And I keep it in a bowl with Saran wrap in which I made holes.
Anyways, now it looks like this... Can you tell what is it? Mold?
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Too bad!! It does look like mold to me. Does it smell like mold?
Yes.. Threw it too the garbage already..
It's funny that when I googled "mold on sourdough starter", I thought all the photos were just plain disgusting. But when it comes to my own sourdough - "eh, maybe it's normal".. I actually kept it for a few hours, smelling it constantly... But the mold won't go away..
So I will make a new one.
Everything is really clean before starting. Go for high hydration atleast till the starter becomes viable. For the first few feeds use pure pineapple juice after which switch to water which has been boiled and cooled. Include some wholegrain in the feeds.
Here is a good video of the process...
How to make a sourdough starter
Yes I think I am going to boil the water now, sterilize a jar. Maybe my water and bowl weren't the cleanest.. even though I saw some people use regular water and unsterilized containers - but if it doesn't work, then it doesn't work.
It will test your patience but persevere. It might take a week or two.
If there is a bakery near you that sells sourdough bread try asking them for a bit of starter or ask a friend if they bake with sourdough. You can then start baking while you're making your own starter.
Of course you might think there would be no need to make a starter but there's nothing like making one from scratch you can call your own. Plus everyone's starter will have its own characteristics.
Thanks!
Of course, it should be clean but I suspect that just washing it really well with soapy water and then rinsing it will be enough.
I just recently created a wheat starter by following Jane Mason's method outlined in her book "All You Knead is Bread". As Mason suggested, it really did take just five days. I used only 100% whole wheat "no additives" flour and filtered tap water. The starter works brilliantly.
I love what Mason says about cleanliness:
Still, like you, I'd be pretty worried about mold growing on the starter....
-Elizabeth
(Here is my take on how to make Jane Mason's natural wheat starter in 5 days: Jane Mason starter recipe. She suggests refrigerating it once it has started to bubble like a fiend. Our starter is now in the fridge - in a Mason jar, of course - and when I use it, I pull out a small amount, feed it with equal parts by weight of flour and water to refresh it. It takes 8-12 hours for it to recharge.)