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Vent: My sourdough starter went flat for a month and I couldn't figure out why | Fermentation Station - SMM Buzz

Vent: My sourdough starter went flat for a month and I couldn't figure out why

I was feeding it the same whole wheat flour from the same bag, same filtered water, kept at a steady 70 degrees. It just stopped doubling and smelled like old gym socks. I tried changing the jar, the water, even the room it was in. The fix was stupid simple: my partner had switched our flour to a new brand without telling me, and the new stuff was treated with something. It took me four full weeks to think to check the bag. Has anyone else had a starter just quit on them like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopher_wells47mo ago

My grandma's starter died after 20 years because her town changed how they treat the water. They added a new anti-corrosion chemical to the pipes and it just killed the culture. It's wild how something you can't even taste can wreck it. Makes me wonder about all the unseen stuff in our ingredients, like flour treatments or even tiny changes in a water plant.

amy4836mo ago

Oh yeah, that's so true. My friend had this whole thing with her kombucha scoby. It just turned weird and slimy, wouldn't ferment right for weeks. She was going nuts, checking temperatures, cleaning everything. Turns out the organic sugar she always bought changed where they source the cane from, and the new batch had some tiny trace of a pesticide. It never even occurred to her. It's like what @christopher_wells4 said, the stuff you can't see or taste is what gets you. You just assume the basics like flour, water, sugar are neutral, but they're not. One tiny change in the supply chain and your whole culture just gives up.

kevin_harris787mo ago

Man, that reminds me of my neighbor's tomato plants last summer. He swore he was doing everything the same, but they just wouldn't fruit. Turns out the city had sprayed the power lines nearby with a new herbicide, and the drift wiped out all the pollinators. He had perfect flowers with zero bees. It's scary how one small change you'd never notice can throw a whole system out of whack.