Twice in a row, my starter was ruined by a layer of pinkish hue on the top. Those who bake with a sourdough starter have either obtained one from someone else, or have cultivated their own. Or if … Check the temperature in the culturing area and make sure that it is at least 70ºF around the clock. A cooler kitchen means a slower starter. Ambient temperature will also be a determining factor in the progression of your starter. What can I do? I have forgotten my starter for over a month and brought it back to peak activity in a handful of feedings. Good luck. If your sourdough starts growing mould, or the hooch turns red/pink/orange, then it has gone bad, and you should pour it away and start afresh. Learn the signs of a bad sourdough starter before you prepare your base. It could take longer depending on available yeast and bacteria present in your flour, and environment. Even we obsessive sourdough lovers sometimes end up with a starter that seems to have gone into a coma.

Should bacteria contaminate the mixture, your sourdough starter will go bad, and you should discard it to avoid illness. Otherwise just start over. Sourdough starters require you to pay scrupulous attention to your equipment. Like many ferments, starters have been around for thousands of years, with the earliest known leavened bread dating back to 3700 BCE in Lausanne, Switzerland. We get busy and before we know it two or three weeks have gone by and no bread has been made.

A. For many sourdough bakers, the underlying biochemistry at work in their starter remains a bit of a mystery. Why does my sourdough starter have a pink and/or orange color? I have read enough to know pink is bad… but I can’t tell if this is bad pink or if i’m just being paranoid. It will be difficult to kill and easier to revive.

This is the most common type of sourdough starter.

I started to notice a pinkish hue. If you have some discard in the fridge, then start feeding the discard. This can be avoided simply keeping your starter well fed and strong, refreshing it weekly in the fridge or daily at room temperature. Counter Stored Sourdough Starter: When you feed your starter, feed it with approximately equal weights of flour and water. This is an authentic San Francisco sourdough starter that will give your bread wonderful flavor with a hint of sourness. While sourdough starters can vary in color, it your starter becomes pink or orange, it is not a happy starter. For your starter or saved discard from your established starter, if you see any mold, a layer of pinkish/orange color or it smells off, throw it out and make a new starter.

This starter has been fed with unbleached white wheat flour and contains live bacteria, which is dormant in dehydrated starter.

Looks like a bacteria bloom. Sourdough baking can be exciting, challenging, mysterious, frustrating, delicious, and rewarding – all of the above, and often all at once. How to make your own Sourdough Starter, using simple ingredients with no special equipment, in 5-7 days, that can be used in crusty sourdough bread, pizza dough, waffles, banana bread, pancakes, buns, and biscuits- instead of using yeast.