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My sourdough starter kept dying until I stopped being so precious about it
So I had this starter I named Gertrude and I babied it for like 2 months with filtered water, organic flour, the whole thing, and it kept getting moldy or just going flat. Last week I got frustrated and just used tap water and regular all-purpose flour from Aldi, and suddenly it's doubling in size every 8 hours like a monster. I think all the fancy advice about chlorine and minerals is overblown for home bakers. Has anyone else had better luck just using whatever flour and water is in your kitchen?
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the_fiona1mo ago
Lol that's basically how I ended up with my starter Kevin. I was using this fancy heirloom rye flour and spring water and Kevin was just sitting there all sad and moldy. Then I ran out of the expensive stuff and just threw in some plain bread flour and water from the tap and suddenly Kevin is alive and bubbling like a science experiment gone wrong. I swear these starters are just dramatic little organisms that don't actually need the bougie treatment.
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ward.kim1mo ago
and then people wonder why us regular folks get sick of all the fancy baking theories. Kevin is clearly the kind of starter that thrives on neglect and a little bit of tap water chaos. I bet if you offered him a spot on the counter next to a bag of discount all-purpose flour, he'd start doing backflips. That's how my buddy's starter "Herbert" acted when he stopped fussing with organic blueberries and just gave him plain sugar water. @the_fiona is right, these little critters just want to be fed and left alone, no spa treatment required. What's Kevin's secret weapon for rising now that he's off the bougie stuff?
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