How Can I Keep My Sourdough Starter Safe?

We love our starters, don’t we? We name them and care for them like a child. Bread By Elise's starter is called Jane Dough, a whimsical name that suited our lovely sweet-smelling starter.

Foremost in our daily routine is keeping our sourdough starter safe from harm such as bacteria. Bacteria in a starter is equal to a disaster which would end the life of Sourdough Starter extraordinaire Jane Dough and she would end up in garbage. What a fearful thought! 

So how do we make sure our starter is safe?

Well, we keep everything clean. Nothing touches the starter that has not been properly washed. Sometimes something happens though, and this living and breathing starter becomes sluggish or there's a tinge of colour difference like pink. Bread By Elise takes no chances and we toss it taking our spare out of the fridge and making another one for a spare.

I always recommend keeping a bit of a starter in a clean jar in the fridge for safety. Feed it once a week and you will never fear a catastrophe and face the loss of your beloved starter.

Bread By Elise began a practice of having 2 jars in the fridge and we rotate them on a day to day basis so we are safe and the starter is always fed.

Either way, keep a spare. You can even dry sourdough starter and I'll tell you how in my next FAQ and answers!