Disaster
I had to tell someone about the nearly disastrous mistake I made, and nobody at home seems to understand why I was distressed. This seemed like one of those things that couldn't have happened to just me, so I had to post here.
I pulled my starter from the refrigerator and began building it up on Thursday for a bread that was to be done on Saturday. My starter responds very well to refrigeration, probably because it was grown during the cold months here in Seattle. Usually I have it back to doubling in 4-6 hours after one refresh. So I built it up from the 40g nugget that I keep in my refrigerator to two cups (about 450g) between Thursday morning and Friday morning, made my bulk ferment, and by Friday night I had about 2200g of dough in the refrigerator overnight to be shaped and baked Saturday.
Saturday morning comes, I bake four loaves of bread, take two of them to my in-laws who probably only like me because I bring them food. Get home on Saturday night, look around for what's left of my starter to give it one tiny refresh and put it back in the fridge and.....it's gone.
The container I keep it in is empty but for a bit of dried dough on the side. I panicked. I almost broke down. The starter I had been growing for nearly a year now...gone, due to my carelessness.
But...I had to try. I scraped the dried flakes from the container my starter had been in, plus what I could scrape from the bowl my bulk ferment had been in. Enough to get maybe 10g. I mixed it with 50/50 rye flour and AP. It bubbled a bit, but didn't rise. I fed it again...after twelve hours, it rose! It didn't double, but there was definite lift! It smells similar, but much more sour. I believe, but am not certain, that this is because of the rye flour? Anyway...my starterĀ seems to beĀ on the slow road to recovery. It might be a bit different now, but I can hope.