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Hot take: My attempt at a 'simple' sourdough starter from a 1980s cookbook gave me a jar of pink goo that smelled like old gym socks.
After feeding it for a week with the exact flour and water amounts the book said, I learned the hard way that my warm kitchen in Phoenix was a perfect home for the wrong kind of bacteria, so what's the best way to spot a starter going bad before it gets to the alien stage?
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the_drew1mo ago
Old recipes are classics for a reason, they just work. That pink goo sounds like a fluke, maybe from dirty tools. My starter from a 1970s book is bulletproof, even in summer. @jessicac28's grandma had it right, temperature worries are overblown. People mess with the basics too much now. If you follow the steps exactly, you'll get a good starter, no fancy checks needed.
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jessicac281mo ago
My grandma's starter guide from 1995 never mentions temperature. So many old recipes just assume a 70 degree house.
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markhall1mo ago
Old cookbooks are a trip. That pink color is a dead giveaway for bad bacteria, usually a type of yeast. You'll see it before you smell it. A healthy starter should only be shades of beige, gray, or white. If it turns any other color, like pink, orange, or blue, toss it immediately. The smell should be tangy and yogurt-like, not like pure rot or acetone. In a hot kitchen, you might need to feed it twice a day to keep the good yeast happy and ahead of the bad stuff.
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