All About Sour Dough .

[Bedlam]

Thought I would try and resurrect my sour dough, scraped a tiny piece from underneath ( yes it was all dry) and again it has gone purple.
Doesn't matter too much as I haven't got my oven ATM.

[achookwoman]

Chuck it and start again,  if you use the same jar,  sterilize it.  Don't buy any,  plenty of free stuff around.  I can post you some if none available locally.

[troupie]

Although my sour dough still smells OK it is very yucky around the top of the jar; all hard and crusty. Do I just pour some into a clean jar or leave it alone?

[judydawn]

I just tip off the grey liquid that forms at the top troupie or just stir it in if it isn't grey and too smelly.  I also change my container every so often as it does get very messy and crusty on the top.  It's nice to start off again with a clean jar, pour all of your starter in it or just a cupful or so and feed it up again. I know Chookie never throws any of her starter away, she makes all sorts of things with it apart from bread  (crumpets, crepes etc) but I find mine builds up and I need to reduce it as I can only eat so much.

[cookie1]

Yoke recommends using up most of your starter every month and sort of starting again. I tend to feed mine up to roughly the amount I plan to use. However now it is easy to make crumpets with any that is left.

Troupie I would do as Judy suggested.

[achookwoman]

When I get a crust around the top of my jar,  I get a knife and scrape it into the jar.. If the jar gets messy on the outside I clip the top on tight and put the jar under the tap and give it a good wash.
Groupie,  Judy and Cookie's suggestions  both sound good.

[troupie]

Thanks for all the advice; I will leave it until after Busselton and then do as you say and start making bread again.

[djinni373]

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake

Well not exactly 
 
This is my rye sourdough starter that’s almost ready to go. Looks pretty awful but smells lovely.

[ElsieD]

That starter looks lovely.

[cookie1]

Well done. I can't wait to see what you make with it.

[EmeraldSue]

  For the last few days, every time I've opened the fridge, I've been accosted with a foul smell. I've recently cleaned out the fridge and knew that it wasn't due to any manky leftovers, so came to the conclusion that it was my sourdough starter. When I pulled it out of the fridge, it was really smelly, and had a dark layer on top. I removed the top layer and kept a third of the White starter underneath, fed it up and baked a loaf today. The bread turned out well and my starter smells much better, so I will purservere.

[gertbysea]

  For the last few days, every time I've opened the fridge, I've been accosted with a foul smell. I've recently cleaned out the fridge and knew that it wasn't due to any manky leftovers, so came to the conclusion that it was my sourdough starter. When I pulled it out of the fridge, it was really smelly, and had a dark layer on top. I removed the top layer and kept a third of the White starter underneath, fed it up and baked a loaf today. The bread turned out well and my starter smells much better, so I will purservere.

Perfect!

[judydawn]

I keep my starter on the top shelf of my fridge at the front Sue so that I see it every timeI open the door. As soon as I see the liquid changing colour I mix it all up and feed it again if it's been a while between feeds.  You did the right thing, I'm glad you didn't toss it.

[achookwoman]

Sue, that sounds fine.  Mine is in a very large jar, 3/4 full and I clamp the lid on. I make a lot of crumpets so it gets used fairly often. I know that I am lucky that I have the space to do this.  Most manage their SD starter as Cookie does. Smaller jar and feeds up a portion to use.

[cookie1]

Thanks for the reminder. It is time to bring it out and give it a feed and make some bread.