My sourdough starter turned pink during a heatwave and I had to decide: toss it or try to save it?

It was 95 degrees in my kitchen here in Austin for three days straight. I came back from a weekend trip to find my starter, which I've had for over two years, had a bright pink film on top. I knew that could mean bad bacteria. I had to choose between throwing the whole thing out or trying to scrape off the top layer and feed it with a higher ratio of flour to water. I went with the second option, feeding it twice a day for a week until it smelled right again. Has anyone else brought a starter back from something like that, or is it always a lost cause?

3 comments

3 Comments

wendyg439d ago

Yikes, that pink film sounds rough. My starter once got a weird gray fuzz after I forgot it in the back of the fridge for months. I was so sure it was a goner, but I scraped it down to one clean spoonful and treated it like a new pet. It took almost two weeks of daily feeding before it bubbled again. Sometimes they're tougher than you think.

brian_smith69d ago

Man, I have to totally disagree here. That gray fuzz sounds dangerous, and telling people to save a starter from that feels risky. @wendyg43, I'd be way too worried about bad mold getting into the one clean spoonful you saved. Starting over from scratch with just flour and water is safer and honestly faster than two weeks of babying a sick starter. Why take the chance with something you're going to eat?

murphy.abby9d ago

Months in the fridge? I can't even imagine what that smelled like when you opened it.