My grandma's sourdough starter was 60 years old and I just killed it in one weekend

I always thought you could leave starter on the counter for days without feeding it, but I looked it up on The Fresh Loaf forum after getting a weird smell. Turns out letting it go 72 hours at room temp without feeding can cause mold that ruins the whole thing. Has anyone else accidentally wrecked a family starter and had to beg a relative for a backup?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonmoore13d ago

Yeah that's brutal, I'm really sorry. Losing something like that stings way harder than people get. @bethcarr has a point about some starters being tough, but yours sounds like the mold already took over. Once that green or pink stuff shows up, it's a wrap. I had a similar thing happen with a starter my aunt gave me that was from the 80s. Left it out for two days thinking it would be fine and came back to fuzzy patches. Had to call my cousin and beg for a backup, felt like such an idiot. The worst part is knowing how long that culture survived before you got your hands on it.

faithg261mo ago

My 50-year-old starter went bad after I left it out two days.

bethcarr1mo ago

Is it really "bad" or just really hungry? I've left starters out way longer than that and just fed them a few times to bring them back. A 50-year-old starter probably has enough wild yeast history to bounce back if you give it some extra TLC.