Our first sourdough starter attempt started on November 6th. Armed with instructions from the Facebook Sourdough Starters – Sourdough Support Group, I carefully measured by weight 20 ounces of whole wheat flour, and 40 ounces of bottled water into a wide mouth ball pint jar. Then I mixed and set it on the counter, near the stove. The stove light runs all the time and I thought maybe a tiny amount of heat in the cool house might help out. I set the ring on tight enough to keep the lid over the jar, not so tight that air cannot escape.

The Starter Bubbles

Things start looking good! We move on to discarding all but 20 ounces, which leaves behind a bit of dough-like starter clinging to the sides of the glass. Then we measure out 40 ounces of wheat flour, and 40 ounces of bottled water, and repeat for several more days. This is our 1:2:2 ratio.

At day 5, I decide to split the discard instead of sending it to the trash. I leave 20 ounces in the pint jar, move 20 ounces into a quart size jar, and then measure 40 ounces of flour and water into both jars.

Not long after this, I see more liquid on the top than ever before and I’m not seeing much rise action. Or at least, it isn’t dramatic enough for me to notice, and I am not taking enough notes. Hooch is the clear liquid that accumulates on the top of the starter and can easily be confused for too much water in the mixture. A good sniff and it pooling on the top made me think it’s most likely hooch. Hooch is a by-product of the starter, and a lot of it indicates a starter that is too hungry.

At some point, my sourdough starters develops the stringy, fuzzy signs of mold. These are now a bust.

Sourdough Starter: What When Wrong

I am using 100% unbleached whole wheat flour … that expired in 2022. I knew this bag traveled from our apartment to the homestead – I just didn’t realize how much time passed. Since I had a great bubble and double stage, I don’t know how much of a difference this made.

If I split my starter into two again, I will keep them in the same size jars. Moving a tiny amount of starter to a quart jar seems to keep the mixture spread too thin. There’s not as many exciting bubbles climbing up the side of the jar and I felt that I had to keep and feed more starter. In a way this is a waste of resources.

Planning the Sourdough starter attempt

There came the point when the excitement and novelty wears off, and with the focus gone, it’s tougher to keep the steps straight. I left a hole in my planner, where I wanted to reassess the starter at the 10 day mark and decide what happens at that point. I didn’t make it back to my planner to instruct myself of next steps. In the future, I need to map out the whole plan and keep actionable instructions clearly recorded. Better to have to cross out or push out a deadline, than give myself the opportunity to forget or time drift.

Mold: End of this attempt

Mold happens. While I kept clean what I could, mold is in the environment. When I stopped regular feeds and didn’t move the starter to the fridge, I could have weakened the starter and helped the mold get a foot hold. Practices seemed cleaned enough although it never hurts to stay sharp.

The Fate of the Sourdough Starter Attempt Project

Another starter will happen! We learned what to do differently, we’re ready to shake it off, and we will try this again. (As soon as I clean those moldy jars and sterilize them!) Would you add a sourdough starter to your homestead projects? Checkout our project ideas here.