My sourdough starter went from bubbly to lifeless in one cold snap

Last week the temperature dropped to 32 degrees here in Spokane and I left my starter near the kitchen window overnight. By morning it had a gray liquid on top and barely rose when I fed it. I thought it was ruined, but a baker friend told me to move it to the microwave with a mug of warm water for a few hours. That brought it back, but I'm still nervous about overnight temperature swings. Has anyone else had a starter suddenly crash from cold, or do you have a spot in your kitchen that stays steady all winter?

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valh328d ago

Wait, you left it by the window overnight and it went gray? That's wild to me. I've had mine sit in a drafty spot for hours and it just got sluggish, not full on dying. The gray liquid on top, that's the hooch, but I've never seen it form that fast from a cold snap. Sounds like your window spot was basically a fridge. Good call on the microwave trick though, I've done the warm water mug thing when my kitchen hits 55 at night and it works like a charm.