My attempt at making sourdough starter turned into a science experiment gone wrong

I started feeding this jar of flour and water on Monday, and by Thursday it smelled like a mix of nail polish and old socks. My kitchen counter now has a weird film on it and I'm pretty sure my cat sneezed near the jar. Has anyone else's starter turned into a stink bomb before it actually got bubbly?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_thomas17d ago

Sourdough always seems to go through that nasty phase before it turns good, kind of like how anything worth doing usually starts off looking like a total mess. The smell means the bacteria are fighting it out before the good ones finally win, which is basically what happens with any hobby or project that takes time. Your cat probably knows more about fermented smells than we do, just give it another week and see what happens.

emery29016d ago

Used to think all that sour smell meant the starter was ruined and I should just toss it. Tried three different ones before I figured out it's just part of the process, like you said. Now I just let it sit and keep feeding it, and sure enough it turns out fine every time. Your point about it being like any project that takes time really clicked for me. Makes me wonder how many good things I gave up on too early just because the beginning looked bad.

nguyen.blake12d ago

Kept feeding mine through the funky phase and after a week or so it started smelling more like yogurt than trash. That's when I knew the good bacteria took over, and now it's my strongest starter ever.