My sourdough starter straight up died on me last month

I had kept the same starter alive for almost three years, through two moves and a kitchen remodel. It was my baking buddy. Then, I went on a trip for five days and my partner forgot to feed it. Came back to a gray, sad puddle that smelled like old paint. I tried to revive it with some whole wheat flour and warm water, but after three days of no bubbles, I had to admit it was gone. Throwing it out felt like saying goodbye to a pet. Starting over from scratch with just flour and water felt weirdly empty. The new one is finally active, but it's just not the same. Anyone else have to restart a long-term starter and find it kind of a bummer?

3 comments

3 Comments

bennett.nora6d ago

Tbh I dried some of mine on parchment paper as a backup. Just crumble a bit into a new jar with water and flour, it wakes right up. Takes the stress out of long trips.

cole9946d ago

Yeah that "throwing it out felt like saying goodbye to a pet" part is too real lol. I lost a two year starter after a fridge disaster and it was a major bummer. What finally worked for me was taking a tiny bit from a friend's starter and mixing it with my dead one, like a backup boost. It felt less like starting from zero. @bennett.nora has the right idea with drying some as a backup, I do that now too. It just takes the panic out of it when life gets busy.

the_nathan11h ago

That "throwing it out felt like saying goodbye to a pet" line got me. I had a starter for about four years, and when it died, I felt this weird need to mark the occasion. So I didn't just toss it. I mixed the dead starter into the soil of my lemon tree. Sounds silly, but it felt better than dumping it down the drain. The tree actually put out a bunch of new flowers that season. Now when I bake with the new starter, I think about that cycle. It made starting over feel less like a total loss.