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  1. Hello,
    I have a powdery thing on top of my starter. I have removed that part and fed my starter yesterday but today it still has the powdery thing on the top and it smells bad like yesterday. What could i do to save my starter? Will it take more feeds for that thing to disappear or twice daily feeds? Thank you for taking your time to help.

    1. Hi there,

      Definitely do not throw it out! What you’re seeing is likely just Kahm yeast which is just yeast overgrowth (actually a sign on a healthy starter). I’d recommend feeding it at least once a day and if you’re going longer between feeds to put it in your fridge.

      Hope this helps!

  2. I started my starter out in an airtight container but once I realized it didn’t need to be airtight (day 4 or 5) I switched it. Is my starter still good?

    If it is still good…. I’ve noticed it rise/double in size and then deflate before its next feed, should I feed it once I notice the sinking ? Is it ready?

    1. Hi Brianna,

      Your starter is fine even though you were using an air tight jar. Just keep going with the process without tightening the lid.

      Rising and doubling is great! It means your starter is ready for baking. By rising then deflating it’s going through the normal process of a sourdough starter. It will rise to double its size and thats when its considered at its “peak” – this is when you should use it for baking – then, it will deflate and you’ll want to feed it again before baking. Make sense? I hope this has been helpful!

  3. Yesterday I noticed white fuzz near top of sourdough starter jar. Also, looked like some green on side of jar where some starter had stuck. There was nothing on starter itself. I took small bit of starter and put into a new clean jar. So far not seeing any mold. Is this okay or do I need to start over? If it has mold will it quickly show up again? Or could it have mold and not show since I placed in new jar? Thank you!

    1. It probably won’t show up again in a new jar. You did exactly what I would have done. Only discard the whole starter if you see bright streaks of orange or red. White and green fuzz is fine – just discard that portion and save the rest. Or do what you did and take a small amount and transfer to a new jar. As the weather warms up, you’ll notice you need to transfer jars more often as well as feed the starter more often than you may have before.

  4. I am day 7 feeding my starter and smells very strong like alcohol and sounds like it hungry with what I am reading. Do I feed it twice a day? I thought it is to rise twice its size and then fall when it is hungry?

    1. Hi Amanda,

      It doesn’t necessarily need to rise to twice the size every single time before giving it a feeding. Many environmental factors will effect how much it rises. If it smells like alcohol definitely feed it (discarding some if needed – I recommend still using this discard in a recipe though!).

  5. I wish I’d read this before throwing my starter out last night. It had white patches on it and I thought it was mold. I also had left some discard out and it smelled terribly alcoholic and I guess I should have used it sooner. Thanks for this. I’ll start over.

    1. Oh no! I’m so sorry! I’ve had some crazy things happen to my starter and it’s ALWAYS been salvageable. Thanks for reading and have fun with your new starter. 🙂

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