My sourdough starter went full zombie mode last Thursday

I was trying to revive my starter after it sat in the fridge for a month. I fed it like normal, but after two days it just smelled... wrong. Not sour, but weirdly sweet and a bit like nail polish remover. I kept feeding it anyway, hoping it would bounce back, but it never got bubbly. It just sat there, a sad, thin paste. I finally dumped it out yesterday after my wife walked into the kitchen and said, 'What died in here?' I think the yeast just gave up and the bad bacteria took over. It's a bummer because that starter was from a friend in Portland. Has anyone else had a starter go bad like that, and did you try to save it or just start fresh?

2 comments

2 Comments

burns.brooke1d ago

Feel your pain, had to euthanize my own starter last month.

jordangibson1d ago

It's wild how many people have a sourdough starter story now. Feels like a weird little shared life event, like getting a bad haircut or losing a power adapter. You put all that time into keeping it alive just to have it turn on you.