Starting Sourdough: 5 Things I Wish I Knew
First a disclaimer: I’m no expert when it comes to baking sourdough. I have, however, had this sourdough start Francisco for over a year so I’ve gone through a few events with our starter. I was thinking the other day “I wish I knew all this BEFORE”. So, here is my take on 5 things I wish I knew as a beginner.
Your starter can live in the fridge or counter.
It seems obvious but I was legitimately scared to put Francisco in the fridge. I knew it would be okay but I felt so much more comfortable with him on the counter. Starters can live both in the fridge and on the countertop which leads me to tip #2.
You can leave them longer than just a couple of days.
At first, yes, feed your sourdough daily. Let them get good and strong. After a while though I would frequently forget to feed Francisco and sometimes I even left him for a week (or two) at a time unfed but he was always happy. When I left him for these longer times I would pour off the hooch (the liquid that accumulates on the top) scrape off the top layer and then add what food he needed.
You can bring them back from the dead. Sometimes.
As long as the coloring isn’t off, I would try to revive something that you think is dead. A month or two ago I realized it had been a hot second since I fed Francisco and took his cover off to get a whiff of something… awful. It wasn’t the hooch smell that I was used to after an extended time without a feeding. It was bad. There was no off coloring so I did what I always do. Poured off the hooch, scraped off the top, and then kept scraping until I found some of the starter that smelled decent enough. I put that in a clean container and fed it. Within two days I had Francisco back to normal. Moral of the story… as long as the coloring isn’t off I’d try to revive it.
They need air.
Seems obvious but the one time I almost killed Francisco it was because I fed him in a fresh mason jar, covered with plastic wrap, and FORGOT he existed. I think maybe I had a flare up and was in bed for a week or so. He almost suffocated to death. The other times that I left him unattended for days on end it was with a loose covering. Poor Francisco. Point is, make sure they get air and can breathe.
Keep what works for you.
Do not listen to people saying how you need to use wood if you have a perfectly healthy starter using a metal utensil to stir when feeding. If you use a mason jar, ignore the crock people. Keep up what works for you and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing!