Is it a bad thing if water separates from sourdough starter?

Question

I was storing some sourdough starter in the fridge and when I took it out there was a layer of murkish water that had separated from the starter. Is this a sign that the starter is unhealthy? does it require more feeding in order to prevent it?Will it effect the taste of things made with the starter? Or is it a harmless side effect?

Answer 1

Perfectly normal. When stored in the fridge it does that. It is called hooch. You can either dump it out or stir it back in, either way is fine. I usually just stir mine in.

Answer 2

Sourdough Starter Separating

Answer 3

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RE:

Is it a bad thing if water separates from sourdough starter?

I was storing some sourdough starter in the fridge and when I took it out there was a layer of murkish water that had separated from the starter. Is this a sign that the starter is unhealthy? does it require more feeding in order to prevent it?Will it effect the taste of things made with the...

Answer 4

Hello and it sounds like you may have some issues here with your sourdough starter.



What should you do if you have "dead", "flat", or "barely living"

starter?

Begin the process of transforming it to a fresh, healthy

starter. I personally do not believe in throwing away "dead"

starter, since it typically can be revived from the few yeast and

lacto-bacilli that probably still exist. If restoring dead starter

takes longer than a week to see bubbles appearing in it (flat, barely

living or otherwise) then you've probably started a new starter from

local microorganisms. If so, and your starter was a special strain,

you'll probably want some of the original starter to start over with

rather than expecting this revived version to be the same as that

special starter. Remember that you have probably not really killed

your starter unless you subjected it to high temperatures for long

enough to thoroughly heat the starter above about 100F or so.



THE 1-TABLESPOON METHOD



1. Using 1 tablespoon of starter (discard unused portion or save a

little in the refrigerator in case of an emergency), 1 cup 75 degrees

water, and 1 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour, proof for exactly 24

hours at 72 to 77 degrees. It's very important to maintain these

precise temperatures and to proof for exactly 24 hours.



2. Examine the starter to determine what stage it's in. Assuming you

didn't overheat it, it should be "flat", "barely living", or

"healthy". Remember the clues to identifying non-healthy starter (low number of bubbles, early hooch, gelatinous consistency, no froth

on top, or any 2 or more of these symptoms. If your starter is

"healthy," you're done.



3. If your starter is not healthy yet, stir it well and refrigerate

it for no less than 12 hours.



4. Remove the starter from the refrigerator and go back to step 1.

This process needs to be repeated a few times ( usually around 4 or 5

times or so unless you were lucky. A lot of the home-dried starters

revive MUCH quicker than this.



Here's an alternative process you can use (possibly better, if the

above process doesn't seem to work well for you):



F. THE 1-CUP METHOD



1. Using 1 cup of starter, 1 cup of 85 degrees tap water (don't worry

about minerals or fluoride), and approximately 1 1/2 cups all-purpose

white flour, proof your starter for 12 hours at 85 degrees.

Maintenance of temperature is very important.



2. Examine the starter to determine what stage it is. Assuming you

didn't overheat it, it should be "flat", "barely living", or

"healthy." If your starter is "healthy," you're done. Remember the

clues to identifying non-healthy starter: low number of bubbles,

early hooch, gelatinous consistency, no froth on top, or any two or

more of these symptoms.



3. If your starter isn't healthy yet, stir it well and refrigerate it

for no less than 12 hours.



4. Remove the starter from the refrigerator and go to step 1). This

iterative process needs to be repeated a few times ( usually around 4

or 5 times or so unless you were lucky.



If the starter has not been used in more than 3 or 4 days, you may

wish to replenish the starter once (1 cup starter, 1 cup water, 1 1/2

cups flour, 12 hours at 85 degrees) to ensure the starter is really

fresh before preparing for a bread recipe. Most healthy starters are

fairly flexible, though.



Use the following table for amounts, and blend together the

starter, bread flour, and 80-85 degrees water. Measure the starter

and water carefully. The suggested amount of flour is only a

guideline. Blend enough in to make the starter the consistency of

mud (a little thicker than pancake batter):



Bread



Loaves Flour Water Starter

1 1 cup 1 cup 1 tablespoon

2 2 cups 2 cups 1 tablespoon + 1 tsp

3 3 cups 3 cups 2 tablespoons



Proof for exactly 24 hours at 72-77 degrees.



Concurrent to the above proof, replenish the original starter by

combining 1 tablespoon starter (discard most of the rest), 1 cup warm

water, and 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour in another bowl or in the

starter container itself. Proof for 24 hours at 72-77 degrees.



Refrigerate the starter in the starter container.



Hope this helps and good luck

Answer 5

Totally agree with Lightning McQueen.

Both my starters do this (I maintain two; one fed only white flour and water, the other fed only whole wheat flour and water).

Btw, I have occasionally let my white flour starter go as long as four months between feedings. Once a starter is stable, there is no benefit to frequent feedings.



Namaste',

dwb

Answer 6

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You should probaly pitch it and start over. It shouldn't smell like old socks or stinky cheese. Generally, bad yeasts will smell strange. It should smell clean, but slightly alcoholic. You should also throw away the starter if the liquid has a pinkish hue, which indicates that the starter has spoiled.

Answer 7

It's supposed to be there. You do need to feed your starter quite often, though.

Answer 8

I think so. Just throw it away.