I have a confession. I might be a killer.
So Sir Yeast E. Baker (my sad attempt at a sourdough starter) was thriving. One could even say he was growing like yeast. More than doubling his size in 12 hours!
I’d feed him and he’d grow even more. I even feared he’d outgrow the special mason har I’d bought him for $1.99. I obviously spared no expense in housing this boy. I wanted him to thrive and live forever.
But he began to smell like, well, it reminded me of walking into my teenaged boy’s bedrooms. Let’s say ripe. I thought well maybe he was hungry? So I fed him and…nothing. Nearly twenty four hours later, I saw a couple weak bubbled on the top (probably gasping for his last breaths??) but no growth. The smell was getting more pungent. Like a teenaged boy’s laundry bag that had been closed up tight for a week.
Still I wasn’t giving up. I fed him again, desperately hoping to revive him! I carefully put him in my oven with the light on to keep the temperature perfect. And waited.
But the next day…nothing. And the smell was starting to make me queasy. Now to be fair, I have a very low threshold for smells right now so it could be me. I waited a bit longer, but I soon realized that Sir Yeast E. Baker had left the mortal realm.
And so…I might be a killer.
Or maybe not??? I’m just saying that I can’t account for all Wizard’s movement during the time when Sir Yeast E. Baker began to fail to thrive. And Wizard never really liked Sir Yeast E. Baker, and was in fact, quite suspicious of him. Could Wizard have been jealous? I was spending a lot of time with the little guy, feeding him and keeping him warm?
Hmm, maybe I’m not a killer at all. Maybe I am living with a yeast killer!
Happy Wednesday! Hope everyone had a nice Valentine’s Day!
P.S. I will try again once I have recovered 
February 15th, 2023 at 7:23 am · Link
Oh, man. Bummer. I’m sorry to hear Sir Yeast E. Baker died. I prefer to think neither of you are killers and it died of natural causes. Maybe it had a congenital defect. Maybe it had a yeast infection. :ducks and runs: Sorry. I had to go there. It was an irresistible pun.
I’ll show myself out.
February 15th, 2023 at 11:22 am · Link
I am sorry about your starter. My problem was it never died. Maybe it got too warm? I’m guessing that you cut and fed it by 1/2 every day? Hands up, I have no clue.
Wizard can’t be a murderer. So, like B.E., I’m going with natural causes.
Sure hope when you recover and try again all goes well. Fresh sour dough bread is so good.
Have a great day!
February 15th, 2023 at 3:45 pm · Link
B.E., I laughed at yeast infection! I told Wizard I was pinning the blame on him, but he didn’t seem too worried
Happy Wednesday!
February 15th, 2023 at 3:49 pm · Link
Viki, I really have no idea since I’m a total novice at this. It’s possible my oven was too warm (with just the light on), or that it got too cold on my counter. Or maybe that it wasn’t dead and my weak stomach reacted.
I was cutting by half and feeding it the same amount. But I could have messed up somewhere.
For now, I’m going to switch to working on gluten-free artesian breads then go back to trying a sourdough starter.
Happy Wednesday!