First and foremost, do not pour starter down the drain. It can and will clog your plumbing. When you are disposing of starter, the best place for unused, wet starter that isn’t going to be used is in the trash, do not rinse it down the drain as once it settles into your pipes it is only a matter of time before it hardens into a form akin to concrete.
Tools, bowls, and jars that have been used in working with your starter can be washed in hot, soapy water in the sink. In this instance, the amount of starter is minimal compared to the amount of water, and so it is properly diluted. However, always avoid pouring undiluted starter down any plumbing fixture.
Freeze your flour – Despite manufacturers’ best efforts, sometimes flour will develop weevils. Freezing flour as soon as you bring it home will help to eliminate these unwanted pests.
- Glass is your friend
Myrtle was the first starter that I actually tried to make work, but when I first started trying to wake her up I had the worst time. She barely bubbled and didn’t do much at all in the bread department. I was starting to think that her previous grand claims to fame were all lies…flat flour, no-bread-rising lies. I was frustrated, but decided to persevere and note the changes I made along the way. When I switched her to a thick glass jar with a sealing lid she began to come around. Within a matter of days she was bubbling and raring to go! It was then that I swore off plastics for my “mother starters” . I am not fanatical about avoiding plastic in other areas, but for my ladies, only high quality glass will do. Pro tip, I found my favorite jars for less than 10.00 at Hobby Lobby.
- Metal should be avoided, but it’s not an automatic starter killer…
The first time I saw a woman panic over a metal fork touching her starter I was confused, however this is another topic I hear enough that I know it needs addressed. Starters are acidic and therefore should not come into prolonged contact with metal, however I use my KitchenAid mixer as well as metal utensils when working with my starters. The metal isn’t the issues, the possibility for prolonged contact is, so once you are done using the metal item then I recommend returning your starter back to a glass jar.
- Your starter needs space, but not breathing room
I know, sounds confusing, but it’s not really. Your starter is made up of living, eating yeasty organisms. They eat flour and live in the water you provide at each feeding. When you feed your starter these two ingredients, your yeasty beasts eat…alot. This should cause your starter to literally grow so be sure you leave space in it’s jar/container for growth.
- Your starter doesn’t need to breath…
Your starter is anaerobic which simply means it doesn’t need fresh air to survive, so keep a lid on it…but not too tight. If your lid is on too tight and the pressure can’t release itself then your container can explode, creating a mess and a lost starter.
- Solid or porous lid?
At some stages, such as when your starter is first getting established, using a porous lid such as cloth covering or a coffee filter is preferred. One of the amazing things about starters is that they absorb the yeast and the positive bacteria from the air around us and create a living culture that can be used to improve your health. But, as we know, there is more in the air around us than positive bacteria. Once your starter is established, it is usually best to replace the porous lid with a solid one. This will keep out the stuff you don’t want in your starter and keep your new friend in a balanced, sanitary environment.
- When to wash the jar?
I personally wash my jars by hand with scalding hot soapy water, daily, at every feeding. I usually feed my girls first thing in the morning and so it has become a routine to allow them to munch away in glass bowls covered with securely fitting lids, as their “home jars” air dry. Once they are done munching, about 2-3 hours later, I’ll pour the remnant portion back into the dry jar, secure the lid, and use the discard according to that day’s plans. Do you need to be so thorough? That is up to each person, but for me this routine works well and I don’t have to ever deal with moldy, nasty, or contaminated starter. Side note, I had surgery in June 2024 which left me in bed for an extended recovery. I had put my starters to “bed” appropriately but had a portion I left out in a sanitized jar just for curiosity’s sake. Two months later the starter was extremely hungry, covered in hooch, and smelly in a good way, but it there wasn’t a hint of mold. Cleanliness matters, be sure to wash your containers at least once a week.
- How do I know if my starter is bad?
Usually this is undeniable. I have had 2 starters go all out rancid on me in my time working with starters, one in 2009 and one that was left abandoned during time of travel. A bad starter will smell absolutely horrible and look disgusting. If you ever see mold or streaks of color (pink, green, black, etc) then it is likely contaminated and should be discarded into the trash. A starter that refuses to bubble or rise at all is dead and should also be discarded.
If your starter is just covered in clear-ish liquid then it is likely ok. What is that? Well, that’s up next…
- What is this on my starter?
If you neglect your starter then it will eventually run out of food and begin creating a clear liquid called hooch. Can you drink it? ehh…yes…but …moving on…
Hooch can stirred in but many bakers will pour it off as they feel that stirring in a waste product causes their bread to become bitter. There are other bakers who will purposely starve their starters in a controlled manner in order to produce hooch so that they can develop a more sour flavor. The choice is yours.
With that being said, the color of the hooch will change over time. The longer that the starter is neglected the more densely it compacts and the darker the hooch gets. I have seen pictures of pure black hooch, however I personally have never felt led to disrespect a sourdough starter to this level of brutality. Those poor, poor forgotten yeasty beasts, let us all remember them now in a moment of rising silence.
- How do I know my starter is hungry?
It is best to get on a regular feeding schedule as your starter need to eat regularly. I like to feed mine in the morning after the coffee is done brewing and it has now become a part of my morning routine. Others like to feed their’s once a day in the evening and some like to have twice daily feedings. Remember, the more you feed, the more it will grow. the more it grows, the more you need to either throw away or bake. Our friends and family only want so many baked goods, so usually once a day feedings are best for the average home baker. Once a week feedings are best for the busy bakers who are juggling their sourdough journey and a traditional job.
- How do I put my starter to sleep?
Life happens, vacations come, job schedules get busy, so what do we do in those seasons when we don’t have time for this sourdough nonsense for one more minute….buuuut we don’t want it to completely die because eventually we will circle back around…
In those seasons we just put those bad boys to bed and be done with it. Vamos!
Sourdough should be refreshing and not a hassle or a chore. When it begins to feel overwhelming, take your mother and feed her very well. Get her nice and bubbly and lured into false hopes of baking glory…and slide her right into the fridge in an air-tight, sealed container. She will be perfectly fine in there until you have time for her nonsense again.
- How long can my starter sleep?
In good faith, I must tell you I don’t actually know. I say this because I lost an embarrassing amount of starters in the back of cheese drawers and salad crispers during busy wrestling and football seasons. When I rediscovered them, usually during a deep clean of the fridge, they were perfectly fine. If you starter doesn’t have any obvious signs of mold or contamination, I say, give it a shot. They are hardy and there were a few who surprised me when I was in my learning days.
- How do I wake up a starter?
Waking up a starter is the exact same process as putting it to sleep, only in reverse. I like to feed my back-up refrigerated starters every couple of weeks. When I know I am going to feed a sleeping starter, I usually set it out on the counter the night beforehand. This allows the starter to warm up to room temp while I am asleep and then first thing in the morning, when the others are fed, all of them get their turn. I allow the refrigerator starter to eat along with the working starters and then when they go back into their “home jars” it goes back into it’s bowl and into the fridge. I never put it back into the fridge immediately after feeding as this won’t allow the yeasts time to eat. Every 3-6 months I will use the refrigerated starter in a recipe and use a new portion of the recently fed working starter to serve as the refrigerated back-up starter. By keeping this rotation going, I am always refreshing the refrigerated starter with the most recent version of my working starter.
- Just Relax…
Don’t stress….People used to maintain their starters in covered wagons on little more than a handful of flour and creek water. In this day and age of technological advancement, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all of the “newest and best” practices. Well-established, regularly tended starters are tough and this journey should be nourishing to your soul, not stressful to your mind. Just breathe…and relax…and knead…Bread loves you. (John 6:35)
Red Brick Ranch 