I’ve had this starter going for about a month or so, which I refresh regularly with a combination of rye and wholemeal flour. It has always been quite vigorous and resilient.
I refreshed it two days ago, and when I opened it up today it had this peculiar, repulsive stuff all over the top (pictured below). It’s no longer aerated, and smells bilious.
Can I still use it? If not, how can I prevent this happening in the future?
Thank you!
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Like nichoalsgr the surface of my starter has gone weird! It has been healthy and I have been feeding it for almost a year.
Now the surface has a weird alien brain texture, smells closer to mould than the previous yeasty smell, has no bubbles and no separation of clear and thicker liquid.
Also nichoalsgr I can't see your picture.
Just a note, I fixed the broken image :)
Hi guys,
I hope this isn't contagious. Then again, didn't penicillin start off something like this?
Seriously though, from what I've read, the consensus seems to be that you need to junk it and start from scratch with nice clean gear. You could try excavating some of the grunge and take a small sample (with a different clean implement) of the deeper stuff (maybe not contaminated) to innoculate some fresh flour and water and see if that comes good. But I would also be starting a new one as well just in case it turns out to be as bad as what you have at the moment.
Let us know how you go.
Good luck with your projects.
Farinam