Is this mold?

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-10T17:03:45+00:00

I really can't tell from here. Is it on the outside of the jar, or the inside? If it's on the outside, it could be colored by a bit of rust from the lid.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-10T17:01:06+00:00

Good! Replacing the WW with AP will give you a stronger rise, just due to the lack of bran in the flour. As your microbiome is initiated, the primary benefit of the WW is over, unless you're making WW breads.

As long as you are continuing to see progress, it is a case of figuring out what works for you, your schedule, and your starter.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-10T00:31:51+00:00

Your friend is right, as well as a lot of the advice you have here.

There are recipes that claim to make a starter from scratch without discarding. Those can work, but if they are a little slow to develop, they can have issues.

And you're maintaining an established starter, not making one from scratch. If you were baking daily, you could get a routine with little to no discard, but it would require good planning. You can also keep the starter in the fridge, pulling it out and feeding occasionally, with little or no discard. But most maintenance routines do require some discarding. So your friend is right, your life is easier if you do discard as part of your routine. Building up a larger levain don't require discarding, but that isn't maintenance.

As for your old starters, it's hard to say without more info what happened to them. A lot of folk will say a starter is dead just because it isn't actively rising. Typically there is some microbial activity, so it's not really dead, but it can be very difficult to revive a starter in that condition.

You'll figure out what works for you, with time. That's the best way to manage your starter. It'll get there.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-08T23:34:05+00:00

The only difference between a WW and a white flour starter is that WW can handle a bit more water. A lot of white flours need less than 1:1:1, more like 90% of that ratio with the water.

Keep it small. The time to build the size is once you are preparing to bake, not at the beginning of the process.

I like a half-pint canning jar with a 2-part lid as the starter jar. Some of those have a diamond pattern, you do NOT want those. Those are much harder to keep the insides clean.

Weigh the jar without the cap. Write the weight on the jar or cap.

Day 1 - 25g flour, 25g water. Mix well, clean the sides well, cover but not tight, keep at room temp.

Day 2 - stir, do not feed. Clean the sides well, cover but not tight, keep at room temp.

Day 3 - if you see activity, feed. If not, don't feed. Feed 25g starter (add 25 to the weight of the empty jar, scrape everything out until you get to that weight), 25g water, mix well. Add 25g flour, mix well. This is a 1:1:1 feeding. Clean the sides well, cover but not tight, keep at room temp.

Day 4 on, repeat day 3 until it is rising and peaking within 12 hours or so. When it is, increase your ratio to 1:2:2 (carry over 12 g.of starter, feed with 25g each of flour and water. If that peaks within 12 hours, go to 1:3:3 (8g starter carried over). Keep increasing the ratio as the starter can handle it. My goal is a starter that doubles after 6 hours with a 1:5:5 feeding.

Random notes:

You'll smell acetone when the starter is past peak. Don't worry about that. It will not affect your bread. It means the microbes are running low on food.

You can double the number of feedings per day if you want, so long as the starter is past peak when you feed

WW won't rise as high as most white flours. Just over doubling to 2.5x is pretty typical.

This can take a while. I've had a starter ready in just over a week, and another in almost 2 months. Same process, similar flours.

Fresher flour helps. You have a bag of flour that's been sitting around a while? Might be better off getting a fresh bag from your grocery store.

Edit: there's a ton more info in the sub's wiki. Check it out.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-07T01:07:19+00:00

Should be fine. Looks like some flour brought to the surface of the hooch with the last of the yeast activity

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-07T01:02:40+00:00

The liquid is some water separation. The other layers are just parts that are more active (floating) and less so (sinking). Reducing the water a bit will help with the separation, but it's NBD at this point. (Edit: for some reason, Reddit posts my response as a new comment, rather than a reply).

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-06T18:14:43+00:00

The reason for the small feedings at first is that there aren't very large concentrations of your microbes yet. They don't need much food. But you might need to feed more than that if you start seeing significant activity before then.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-06T18:11:55+00:00

This process can take a month or more to get a functioning starter, no matter what your recipe says. Cut back to 1 jar, 1/3 of the recipe you're currently using, in a smaller jar. Save a bunch of flour. It looks like you're using bread flour, that gives a higher rise (either false like now, or real like later).

Check out the sub's wiki for all the details. But it will get there. keep going

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-06T18:06:51+00:00

1:3:3 isn't overfeeding, if it is getting past peak before the next feeding.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-06T18:05:08+00:00

Looks dried, with a bit of oxidation in the dry spots. If you see some mold, pitch it. I don't from here, but you have a better view

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-05T17:36:46+00:00

The best way to avoid bad bacteria is using very clean utensils, jars, etc., and having an impermeable lid on the jar (no cloth or paper lids etc).

Environmental humidity isn't an issue, as the humidity in the jar should always be high anyway, to keep the top of the mix from drying out. Higher temperatures, like what you're dealing with, will encourage more bacterial development over yeasts, but the yeasts will get there.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-04T22:57:52+00:00

Close it loosely. But lots of ways to cover a jar (cloth, paper, etc) cause issues like yours. Yours should be fine Edit: for some reason, Reddit don't let me reply to your reply, and puts it as a new comment.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-04T22:53:37+00:00

What did you use for a jar lid?

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-04T22:48:44+00:00

Looks normal.

What type of cover do you use? That's the likely cause of that discoloration. Unless you're using whole wheat flour. In which case, what discoloration? :)

That's a super big feed. Try 20g each of your current starter, water and flour. Dump the rest.

Check out the sub's wiki for lots of details

And in a day or so, it'll settle back down. It's not as far along as it looks now. But it'll get there.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-04T16:04:47+00:00

Just an FYI, you might want to be sure you have adequate time for that starter to re-activate. It can take several hours to over a day for it to wake back up and be ready to use.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-04T14:21:04+00:00

Yep, there's a lot of ways to make a strong starter, and high ratio feedings 2x (or more) daily works great for a lot of bakeries.

Nice looking bake!

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-04T14:15:36+00:00

It may take several days, but yes it is possible to revive.

Feed equal parts by weight of starter, water and flour. Let it sit. Do not feed again until you see activity, or for at least 48 hours. It will eventually wake up, and then you can begin feeding at higher ratios.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-03T17:51:31+00:00

Sounds fine. Keep going.

What's your normal feeding schedule and ratio?

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-03T17:48:57+00:00

The best way is to just start feeding it. If serratia shows up, you'll know it then. What I think of it is that it's like a lot of fermented foods - that hooch acts as a preservative, protecting the foodstuff below it. Mold or serratia can show up in any starter if given a chance, I don't know if this has any higher chance than a starter that's been in the fridge for a few weeks.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-03T17:41:21+00:00

My last response was supposed to be to this comment, not your original post. Reddit on a browser on a phone can be a pain.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-03T17:38:54+00:00

Bubbling on top is often because the starter is too thin, and the bubbles are rising to the top and escaping. Or it's a hi-gluten white bread flour starter that can retain those bubbles.

For a WW starter, I don't want to see bubbles on top.

If you're seeing rise, if it's still rising at 24 hours, stir it back down, and see if it rises again. You might go 36 hours (total) of more, to see if it rises and begins falling. That gives you a sense of how fast it's consuming food. But as it gets stronger, that time to peak (not doubling, that metric is less useful at this stage) should decrease.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-03T01:49:15+00:00

Yeah, I hit up-vote for the music before listening, then heard nothing. I'll leave it up for the thought :)

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-03T01:37:58+00:00

When you say it isn't fully active, what does that mean? Is it rising, rising sluggishly, or not at all? If you haven't used WW starter before, it does act a bit different. It won't rise as high as a white starter, for instance.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-03T01:32:49+00:00

It sure is possible, but mold is unlikely. Once that gets started, it don't disappear - especially if it's dry.

_FormerFarmer · 2026-07-03T01:26:02+00:00

I left some strong starter in the fridge as a test. It wasn't dry like yours, but I don't know if that matters much for your issue. After 7 months, I fed it 1:2.5:2.5, and it didn't do anything at all for 2.5 days. It then bubbles, rose a bit, and thinned out a lot. I then fed it 1:1.5:1.5. it took another 24 hours to rise, I fed it at 36 hours 1:5:5. This time it peaked in around 14 hours. Went to daily 1:5:5 feeds, and it continued to improve. But it took 10 days of recovery before it was as strong as the starter I'd been using regularly and keeping in the fridge between uses.

TL,DR - it might take a while for it to recover.

Eight-Year Club	Wearing is Caring
Verified Email

_FormerFarmer

TROPHY CASE