My sourdough starter turned into a science experiment gone wrong in my Seattle kitchen

I left my starter, named 'Bubbles', on the warm stove top for 8 hours and came back to a pink, boozy smelling mess. I panicked and almost threw the whole jar out, but instead I scooped out a tablespoon from the very bottom, fed it with 50 grams each of fresh flour and water, and stuck it in the fridge. Has anyone else saved a starter that looked and smelled that bad?

3 comments

3 Comments

anthonynelson1d ago

My first starter died because I saw a tiny bit of orange and tossed the whole jar. After reading forums for a year, I realized I was way too quick to panic. That pink color is a warning, but scooping from the bottom is the exact right move. You separated the good culture from the bad stuff on top. The fridge will slow everything down and let the healthy yeast recover. I would have killed Bubbles, but you probably just saved it.

stellat461d ago

Pink and boozy sounds more like a weird party than a death sentence. Starters are tougher than we give them credit for, they're basically wild yeast that lives everywhere anyway. Scooping from the bottom was smart, that's where the good stuff hides when the top goes bad. A lot of panic over starter condition is just us being grossed out, not the actual yeast being dead.

ward.anna1d ago

Wait, pink is actually a bad sign though, right? Like @stellat46 is right that starters are tough, but pink can mean bad bacteria. Fridge was a good call, hope it bounces back.