My sourdough starter exploded on day 4 and I almost cried

I tried making a sourdough starter from scratch last week and it went completely wild. On day 4 it bubbled up so fast it pushed the lid off my jar and spilled all over my counter. The smell was like rotten fruit mixed with gym socks and I had to scrub my kitchen for 20 minutes. I was so frustrated I almost threw the whole thing out, but my roommate told me to just restart with a bigger container. I ended up using a half gallon mason jar and now it's actually working on day 7. Has anyone else had a starter go full volcano on them?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai83923d ago

Wait, you're telling me you've never had a starter volcano happen to you? Mine did the exact same thing on day 4, but I was dumb enough to use a small mason jar with a tight lid. It blew the lid off so hard it hit the ceiling and left a weird fruit-sock stain on the drywall. I learned my lesson after that, now I always use a big bowl covered with a towel, and I check on it twice a day like a worried parent. The smell is still kind of funky but at least my kitchen doesn't look like a crime scene anymore.

parker_webb23d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, do you actually prefer the towel method though? I tried that once and it just made the whole thing smell like a wet gym bag sitting in the sun. The cloth trapped moisture and it got moldy before I even noticed. I get that the mason jar explosion is rough, I had one that splattered sourdough goo all over my cabinets too. But I actually switched to using a plastic container with the lid just sitting on top, not screwed on at all. It lets the yeast breathe without making a mess, and I can see through it to check for bubbles without lifting anything. The lid just pops off if the pressure gets too high, but it never flies across the room like a rocket.

joseph_green1322d ago

Yeah that day 4 thing is brutal, it really does smell like a science experiment gone wrong. I had the same disaster with a small jar and ended up switching to a wide mouth quart jar with the lid just resting on top, not tightened at all, and that honestly fixed everything. @parker_webb mentioned the plastic container with a loose lid and I bet that works the same way, the key is just giving it room to breathe without trapping all that gas. After day 7 mine calmed down and now it just smells like beer and bread instead of a biohazard.