Sourdough starter got mold on day 5
Hi all,
A year ago I tried making my own sourdough starter. It didn't work. I never got any bubbles and I forgot to feed it. Now I'm trying again.
This Monday I made a starter from 40 g half plain wheat and half rye flour with 40 g water. Day two I fed with solely wheat flour. Late on day two Gladys, as I named her, was bubbling and had tripled in size. On day 3 she was lovely and bubbly two and doubled in size. Day 4 nothing much happened, but I'd read it's normal for it to die down about then.
I just went to feed Gladys and she had a big blob of white furry mold in her jar :( Does anyone know why this happened? I threw out Gladys and have now made a Gladys mark 2. This time I'm starting of with 40 g normal wheat flour and 40 g water. Is there anything I should or shouldn't be doing to avoid the mold this time?
Any help and advice is greatly appreciated :)
especially when you haven't neglected it, and have been feeding it, surely sounds like contamination rather than it coming from the starter itself. Make sure the jar and utensils you use are clean. And how about using some pure pineapple juice for the first couple of feeds?
Thank you Lechem,
I'll be sure to keep everything extra clean for the feedings.
Something else I noticed when I threw out Gladys was that she'd gone almost liquid. The days prior she'd been very gluteny. What made her go liquid?
What were your feedings after day one?
40 g ap flour and 40 g water once a day.
your starter everyday with 40g flour + 40g water then each day the feed is less.
1st day 40g water + 40g flour = 80g
2nd day you have 80g starter and you feed it 40g water + 40g flour. This is a feed of 1:0.5:0.5. Total starter is now 160g
3rd day you feed 160g starter with 40g water + 40g flour. This is a feed of 1:0.25:0.25. Total starter is now 240g.
etc.
No wonder why it's getting more and more watery as it's breaking down.
Now if you keep 40g each day (discard the rest) and feed that with 40g water + 40g flour then everyday it'll have a feeding of 1:1:1. And each day it has a good feed instead of a poorer feed everyday.
So that should be your plan for the time being. Keep warm. Feed with pure pineapple juice for the first couple of days. Each time keep 40g starter and feed with 40g pineapple juice (and then water after the first two feedings) + 40g flour.
If your starter at anytime slows down then slow down your feedings to match. Pick up your feedings when your starter picks back up.
P.s. get some wholegrain flour in these feeds.
Here is a good video on the process. You don't have to follow it exactly but you get the idea.
How to make a sourdough starter
I forgot to add that I discard 40 g of starter before each feed.
Do I need to add wholegrain flour to the starter? Not that I mind, but what does it do for the starter?
That makes my comment invalid :)
Got a lot of goodies on the wholegrain so it's good for making a starter.
You've got the idea on how to make a starter I just think using pineapple juice for the first couple of feeds, keeping it warm and timing your feeds to the rhythm of the starter and you'll be fine.
Warmth and patience is the key.
Do you keep it covered? Not tightly, gotta let has escape, but enough to keep other buggers from getting in.
Just as an aside, I find it useful to ferment things in a clean canning jar, with a paper towel over the top and the metal band screwed on over this. It keeps out the fruit flies and other things but lets air in and out. That said, once the starter is mature and being stored in the fridge, you'll need a less permeable cover so it doesn't dry out.
I have it in a glass jar with a screw top lid. I've put on the lid and screwed it not all the way shut. Would that be ok?
Should be fine.
You didn't mention where the mold was growing. After a feeding, did you scrape the stuff stuck to the sides of the jar off?
I disagree with Lechem about not feeding the mixture enough. In the beginning, you're trying to get the pH of the mixture to go down. Every time you feed it, you dilute the mixture and set its progress back, so you generally want to use small feedings until the starter is established.
I'm a firm believer that one shouldn't overfeed a starter for the very same reason. Like I've always said in all my posts it's okay to skip a feed or two, or even three, if a starter slows down because this is perfectly normal, it's becoming acidic and overfeeding will slow it down. What I did say is that it wasn't neglected for so long that mould began to grow. I was concentrating on why mould began to grow and not on the mechanics of making a starter. My conclusion was contamination not necessarily underfeeding.
You wrote:
That's what I was commenting on. I'd cut the feeding back to 20 g each of flour and water.
Is following a plan/recipe which I have taken into account. My own way to make a starter has no recipe and do everything by feel. I wouldn't even feed a starter till it has gotten over the leuconostoc activity. So for the first day or two I wouldn't feed it. Once the initial burst of activity has happened I'd then feed accordingly. Perhaps larger feeds or maybe smaller feeds all depending on how my starter is performing. Sometimes skipping a feed or two. I have made starters and baked sourdough breads within 6 days. But for someone who is starting off, is following a recipe, had concerns about mould etc... that was the issue dealt with. Feeding less at the beginning of feeding to the rhythm of the starter are two legitimate ways to make a starter. There is no one right way.
I scrape down the sides of the jar as best I can, but can't get everything down. I was actually planning to transfer the starter to a clean jar, when I discovered the mold, which was on the side of the jar.
Do you think the mold was growing on stuff that might have been stuck there for a few days? If so, I don't think it was anything to worry about. Probably a random mold spore that got lucky and found a stable place to grow.
What does seem strange is finding the starter had become very liquid. Usually, I see that when I neglect my starter, but it doesn't sound like that's what happened in your case. Is it really warm where you're keeping the new starter?
No I hadn't neglected my first starter. It was fed once every 24 hours as per the recipe I am following.
It was on the side of the jar at the top I saw the mold. A pea sized white fuzzy clump, so it could very well be from dried on starter.
I keep the jar on my kitchen counter next to the microwave, so it is shielded from direct sun. I would guess the max temp these days is 22C.
Clinging to the side?
I would have taken the healthy starter, transferred it carefully to a clean jar and carried on.
Even with the starter having turned liquid?
Starters are living things and no two are exactly alike. Type of flour, what yeasts and bacteria are taking up home in the starter, your location, temperature etc...
Even more difficult to judge from afar but my course of action would be to just feed with flour, not water, and thicken it up. Then carry on feeding when the starter shows need of a feed. Wholegrain would go down a treat for a starter. And with subsequent feeds add just enough water to make a stiff paste.
Turning liquid is actually a good sign. It indicates that the pH is finally getting low enough to turn the yeast on, and expansion is often just around the corner. For an explanation of the process:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2
A little mold on the side of the container isn't desired, but it isn't a deal-breaker. Measure out and feed your starter in a bowl so that you can rinse out its container before transferring back.
All best,
dw
Even a 50% hydration starter turns more watery. Not being able to see the starter I'm sitting here thinking it completely liquefied to that of water. If it's 100% hydration and AP flour then it can be more dramatic I suppose. Yes is a good sign.