Blew $120 on a fancy sourdough starter kit from a website. Total junk.

Ordered this 'heirloom' sourdough starter kit online last month. Supposed to be some 100 year old strain from a bakery in Portland. Got a jar of what looked like gray sludge that smelled like feet. Tried feeding it for 3 weeks, never bubbled. Just sat there and grew mold. The thermometer they included was off by 15 degrees too. Total waste. Anyone else just make their own starter from scratch and save the cash?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesley13929d ago

Read something similar from a baker who said most shipped starters are dead on arrival because the yeast can't survive the mail. @ramirez.sage is right, mixing flour and water is way more reliable.

ramirez.sage29d ago

Yeah, that's rough, but honestly that whole "heirloom" thing is a bit of a marketing gimmick. There's no such thing as a 100 year old sourdough starter that's commercially shipped and stays alive in a jar. Once you dry it out or refrigerate it for shipping, the specific wild yeast that made it special is usually long gone. You're basically paying for the color of the jar and a story. I've had much better luck just mixing equal parts flour and water in a clean jar and leaving it on my counter for a week. It's free, it bubbles up reliably, and it smells like actual bread instead of feet. The mold was probably from the starter being dead on arrival and sitting too long without activity. Save your money next time and just use all-purpose flour.