The week my sourdough starter turned into a monster and I had to bake 40 loaves

This was about two months ago. My starter, which I've had for years, went nuts after I fed it some new rye flour. It tripled in size in just four hours and wouldn't stop bubbling. I had so much discard I felt sick throwing it out. So I spent three days straight making everything: pancakes, crackers, and a ton of basic loaves. I gave them to neighbors, my mail carrier, anyone I saw. My kitchen looked like a flour bomb went off. Has anyone else had a starter go completely wild like that? What did you do with all the extra?

3 comments

3 Comments

harper_cooper2119d ago

Watched my friend's starter go full Godzilla last fall. She used some weird ancient grain flour from a farm stand. It basically exploded out of its jar overnight. She ended up making so many discard crumpets she started freezing them in stacks. I think her freezer is still half full of them. She said it was like being in a carb based hostage situation.

walker.cole6d ago

Is it something about the local wheat or ancient grains that just makes starters go nuts? I read somewhere that older types of wheat can have more wild yeast on them from the field. Maybe that's why they blow up like that. I'd be scared to open the jar in the morning. The carb hostage situation is too real, my freezer is always full of random bread projects too.

king.wyatt19d ago

Had a starter go crazy after using some local wheat. Made a ton of flatbreads and pizza crusts. Par-baked them so they’d keep. Froze stacks of them in old bread bags. Handed them out at my shop to customers. Lasted me weeks for quick dinners.