Samartha Deva wrote:


Your situation may differ, but here is what happened with my "molds":

I had a bunch of starters in another fridge and they got neglected and
developed mold. Not all of them, only some.

Interestingly, the starters with mold had a higher pH i. e. lost their
sourness.

I "washed" them and they were coming back i. e. got sour again. They
were stored in the fridge again for a month or so but then, they
developed mold again. I repeated this game for a while but then tossed
the whole lot.

It seems that the mold growing in there was able to live in this
environment (fridge + starter).

It makes sense. You leave a starter in the fridge for a month and it
grows mold. You refresh it, put it into the fridge again, and it grows
mold again. It seems that either it's infected and the mold regrows, or
the conditions favor that mold.

I suspect if the starter were used more often, this wouldn't be an issue.

I had one starter mold on me. I'd left it alone far too long. I
scraped the mold off the top with a clean spoon. Then using another
clean spoon, I took out a tablespoon of what I hoped was uncontaminated
starter, and fed it twice a day for a week. At the end of the week, it
went into a clean mason jar, and I've had no problems since.

Suggestions - use the "hot dry" setting on your dishwasher each time you
wash a sourdough vessel. If you have more than one starter, it will
help prevent cross-contamination. And even if you only have one
starter, it will help kill mold. Mold spores are just about
everywhere. If you give them the conditions they like, they will thrive.

Mike

Samartha Deva wrote:


Your situation may differ, but here is what happened with my "molds":

I had a bunch of starters in another fridge and they got neglected and
developed mold. Not all of them, only some.

Interestingly, the starters with mold had a higher pH i. e. lost their
sourness.

I "washed" them and they were coming back i. e. got sour again. They
were stored in the fridge again for a month or so but then, they
developed mold again. I repeated this game for a while but then tossed
the whole lot.

It seems that the mold growing in there was able to live in this
environment (fridge + starter).

It makes sense. You leave a starter in the fridge for a month and it
grows mold. You refresh it, put it into the fridge again, and it grows
mold again. It seems that either it's infected and the mold regrows, or
the conditions favor that mold.

I suspect if the starter were used more often, this wouldn't be an issue.

I had one starter mold on me. I'd left it alone far too long. I
scraped the mold off the top with a clean spoon. Then using another
clean spoon, I took out a tablespoon of what I hoped was uncontaminated
starter, and fed it twice a day for a week. At the end of the week, it
went into a clean mason jar, and I've had no problems since.

Suggestions - use the "hot dry" setting on your dishwasher each time you
wash a sourdough vessel. If you have more than one starter, it will
help prevent cross-contamination. And even if you only have one
starter, it will help kill mold. Mold spores are just about
everywhere. If you give them the conditions they like, they will thrive.

Mike