March 4, 2012 - 8:43pm
What on earth happened?!?!
Shame on me for admitting this, however I have not baked sourdough in over a year due to a much too busy life. With that being said, I pulled out my jar of rye start tonight to discover the horror's of MOLD!! Why is that the case? I always use clean stainless steel utensils when handling my starters and always make sure my hands are clean as well. Also, is the starter salvageable, or should I just toss it? I will upload pic's when I can find my camera cable.
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You left your starter too long without refreshing it and it has gone moldy. I have heard of starters surviving six months in the fridge, but longer than a year is probably more than the average starter can stand. Having said that, someone is most likely going to reply to this thread and say that they never fed their starter for a year and it was fine! Whilst starters can take a lot of abuse, they are not indestructible and are best maintained by refreshing, at least, once a week.
As far as I know, if it has gone moldy, it is unsalvageable. You'll have to toss it and start over.
Syd
After a long period of forced hibernation, the best place to take a sample is usually at the bottom middle of the jar with the least or no discoloration (more cream than gray.) It can be a tricky job to clear the top of the starter and get to the bottom in a liquid state. Use several spoons or utensils or carefully wash with each scraping trying not to contaminate the lower layers. It might be helpful to sprinkle on flour to soak up moisture (keep starter cold) and form a firmer crust that you can more easily remove to the compost. If the starter is very firm a year ago, your chances are better of reviving. Will know more with more detail but right now, mold does not sound good but rye can be very durable. Then use the clean sample as a supplement to starting a new starter. Use unsweetened pineapple or orange juice instead of water and a good dose of patience with your rye.
Did you dry any starter while it was still viable? :)
You had mold spore on your utensils or your hands, and thus mold got into your starter. Even though your utensils and hands were clean, they weren't sterile and mold spores are <em>tough</em> little buggers.
The air. Eliminating your starter's contact with the air will prevent mould growth.
In my mind bringing an abused starter back to life isn't any different from starting a new one.
Only takes me 24hrs to get an active culture from scratch. I don't see the point in keeping it unfed for that long.
Sorry for the late reply.
That's the mold. I ended up making the decision to toss this starter completely as the odour was actually quite offensive as well. I keep my starters at 50% because I knew that I will not be baking often. I'm not worried about starting over though, as I do have another jar going that seems to be doing fine, hence the befuddlement.