Sourdough starter creation, maintenance, and troubleshooting
I want to tell you about the morning I confidently announced to my husband that my sourdough starter had “really come into its own” — right before I picked up the jar and accidentally poured half of it down the front of my pajamas. It had the consistency of gray pancake batter, it smelled vaguely … Read more
I opened the fridge to grab some leftover pasta, and there it was — a mason jar shoved all the way to the back, behind the mustard and a suspicious block of cheese, wearing a gray-brown liquid hat like some kind of sourdough Ghost of Christmas Past. I had completely forgotten about my starter. For … Read more
It was 6 a.m. on a Tuesday in February, and I was standing in my kitchen in two pairs of socks, staring into a jar of what can only be described as sad, flat, defeated goo. My sourdough starter — the one I had been nurturing for eight months — had not budged a single … Read more
It was day fourteen, and I was standing in my kitchen at 7am, staring at a jar of what looked like slightly lumpy paste. No bubbles. No dome. No signs of life whatsoever. My sourdough starter won’t rise, I typed desperately into Google for what felt like the hundredth time, flour dust still on my … Read more
It was 6:47 in the morning, I hadn’t had coffee yet, and I was standing in my kitchen staring at my sourdough starter like it had personally betrayed me. There was something growing on top of it. Something white, flat, and very much not supposed to be there. I immediately grabbed my phone and typed … Read more
I want to tell you about the morning I nearly threw away a starter I had been nurturing for three months. It was a Tuesday, I had just shuffled into the kitchen in my pajamas, and when I lifted the lid off my jar I was greeted by what I can only describe as the … Read more
I still remember the loaf that changed everything for me. It was a Tuesday night, I was exhausted, and my shaped dough was sitting on the counter waiting for its final proof. Instead of staying up to bake it, I did something I thought was a mistake — I covered it, shoved it in the … Read more
I still remember the first time I almost poured my sourdough discard down the drain. It was a Tuesday morning, I was running late, and that half-cup of bubbly, tangy starter just sat there on my counter looking like a problem I didn’t have time to solve. I nearly let it go — and then … Read more
I still remember the morning I stood over my kitchen sink, a small spoonful of starter hovering in a glass of water, watching it like it held the secrets of the universe. I had read about the sourdough starter float test in about six different places, and every source seemed to treat it like the … Read more
I still remember the morning I walked into my kitchen, lifted the lid off my starter jar, and was met with nothing. No bubbles. No dome. No rise. Just a flat, sad puddle of flour and water that smelled faintly of nail polish remover. I had been so focused on my baking schedule that I … Read more
