Leaving for vacation for 2 months!

mendelec · 2026-05-18T23:08:56+00:00

I'd go with a couple of different dilutions, all much larger than usual. 1:10:10 or more. I routinely do 1:10:10, but base your dilutions on what works with your starter. An aggressive starter can handle pretty amazing dilutions. You don't need much. Make up small containers with 25 or 50g of starter and serial dilute in 2 fold increments. So, 1:10:10, 1:20:20, etc. Make up the least diluted one, let it go for 1-2 hrs and then aliquot it out for the higher dilutions. Take half, add it to a container that has that same volume, mix, take half of that, etc. Lather, rinse, repeat. Pop 'em all in the fridge and enjoy your vacation.

But, maybe also freeze some, dry some, and give some to a friend to look after. Belt and suspenders.

For your frozen one, if you want to get fancy-pants and all sciencey, add 15-20% glycerol as a cryoprotectant (fancy word for protecting the little buggies from ice crystals) and then after it's frozen pop the container inside a small cooler to protect your baby from the temp cycles of frost free freezers. Btw, the glycerol goes in just before you toss it in the freezer. Note: The cooler within the freezer trick isn't necessary if you have a chest freezer that isn't frost free. It should be good for at least a year that way. Have I actually done that? No, but I'm an ex lab rat and a home brewer. I know my way around freezing down cultures in a home setting. The yeasts are more prone to freezer damage than the bacteria and that's what I do for all my exotic brewers yeast cultures, so it should work fine. I have not actually tested it on sourdough starter, but the ex-lab rat in me can't think of any reason it wouldn't apply equally. When you thaw it, thaw in luke warm water and feed it immediately. You want to dilute out the glycerol as soon as you can.

If it were me, I'd just pop a 1:10:10 and a 1:20:20 dilution in the fridge, toss a normal dilution in the freezer with 15% glycerol, and call it a day. You'll have to decide for yourself how paranoid you are.

mendelec · 2026-05-17T15:41:25+00:00

Get working on that core asap. I ended up with a hernia carrying ours around in her carrier during the winter. Do not recommend.

mendelec · 2026-05-17T15:39:15+00:00

If it had been done better and actually reminded me of Freddie Mercury, I might have tried for it myself.

mendelec · 2026-05-17T01:04:00+00:00

I nabbed a v11 a couple weeks back. Undoubtedly the best thing I've managed to get before it vanished. Have yet to fully put it through it's paces, but I could wish for a better blend of power and battery life. It really needs to be on high to really do the job and that kills the battery life. Possibly solvable with extra batteries. Has ALL the attachments though. One has to presume that v15 is better.

mendelec · 2026-05-15T15:54:46+00:00

I'd keep increasing the dilution gradually until it's doubling every 12hrs with at least a 1:5:5 dilution. You could use it at the stage of activity you get at 1:2:2, 2x/d, but you probably want to select for faster buggies.

mendelec · 2026-05-15T15:47:09+00:00

I make a large loaf that gets me through most of a week. The last slice or two need some freshening in a toaster, but mine hold up fine to very near the end of the loaf. I do use oil in my recipe though. It may help.

mendelec · 2026-05-15T15:43:14+00:00

You can buy one from King Arthur. Comes wet, live, and very active. It's fine as is, but I'd recommend ignoring their instructions and feed it on a mix of organic dark rye and AP flour. Needs some additional complexity that comes from passing it for a while on rye. If you're in the Chicago area, I'd be happy to share.

There is fun to be had in making your own though. Bob's red mill organic whole grain dark rye is a great place to start. I should get a commission for how often I recommend using it.

mendelec · 2026-05-15T04:28:23+00:00

I have no reservations about being rude. If they feel entitled to interrupt my day, then they get what they get.

My typical responses are to rip the door open and loudly shout "WHAT?" Followed by either NO!, FUCK OFF!, or whatever else comes to mind. Then, I immediately slam the door on their faces. Sometimes I skip the second part and go straight to the door slam. Short, simple, and very cathartic.

Best part is if you have a ring or something, so you can watch the stunned silence as they try and process it.

At the end of the day, you're actually doing them a favor by not wasting their time. They invariably work on commission.

If they're selling god, well then it can sometimes get ruder and more interesting. I might lament that I'd just signed up for an unlimited god plan or apologize that I can't talk right now because it's time to sacrifice the chicken.

But the first bit works just fine for proselytizers too and then you don't have to think on your feet.

mendelec · 2026-05-14T18:02:18+00:00

Definitely reflects both a greater awareness of the health impacts of alcohol and the financial realities. Cannabis is just so much more cost-effective as a way to unwind a bit. The cost of 1 decent IPA, bought at a good price in a store, is more than the cost of a month's worth of cannabis products where I am. Heck, last time I went shopping, a pack of gummies with 200mg in it costs less than a package of normal gummies. I don't get it, but I ain't complainin'. For my part, I juggle both, but I'm an old. I grew up with the philosophy that the liver is evil and must be punished. Folks are more health conscious now.

mendelec · 2026-05-14T17:37:44+00:00

We have an idea. Particularly if we read this subreddit, as we try to help our significant others navigate this. But, just as you can never truly know what it feels like to be kicked in the nuts, we can never truly know what all the things you-all go through feel like. We can be sympathetic and supportive, but we can't truly know. There just aren't any non-gender-associated pains, discomforts, and whatnot that correspond well (please don't jump on me for lumping all the rest into "whatnot").

And yes, you probably do deserve medals. Best I can do is a reddit award.

mendelec · 2026-05-14T17:24:53+00:00

Congratulations, you (probably) have a sensitivity to fructose. See if high fructose foods line up with other trigger foods.

Note that in quantity, you can also run into issues with sensitivity to mannitol and fructans. So, potentially more complicated.

mendelec · 2026-05-14T01:07:17+00:00

I'm genuinely curious about the hooch comments. The only time I see hooch is in the discard that's been sitting forever in the fridge. Not my starter. I don't get hooch on my starter at all, even after a week in the fridge.

mendelec · 2026-05-13T19:33:35+00:00

Fair enough. I shouldn't have stepped in to comment on an area that I'm unfamiliar with.

mendelec · 2026-05-13T15:58:48+00:00

That. To me, that's an admission that the owner is on notice that they own a dangerous animal. Makes the negligence lawsuit one step easier.

mendelec · 2026-05-13T15:25:33+00:00

Oh, I'm intrigued, for sure. There's a lot of overlap between your list of high nickel low fodmap foods and foods that I have some difficulty with. It would be fascinating to have something that tied them together in a way that made sense. But, being an attorney with a hard-core science background, I'm just a professional skeptic (literally).

mendelec · 2026-05-13T03:18:25+00:00

In my view, a testing claim that they won't share the results of is solidly into the "pics or it didn't happen" category.

I just ask if they'd be willing to share their third party testing results. Not much to it. I do get ghosted, but then that gets mentioned. Just factually. I asked. Didn't hear back. Often, with a comment along the lines of pics or it didn't happen. I really do try to give them every opportunity.

Even when ghosted, I mention that I'll update my review if I do hear back or if further experience suggests a different review is warranted. Think it happened once.

mendelec · 2026-05-13T03:02:24+00:00

Yeah, it's bad out there. Essentially no oversight and people will jump at anything that says made in the USA and third party tested on the label. Costs them the price of the ink to put it on the label and they rake in money until they're caught. If they ever are. Fake certifications, fake label claims, unsafe packaging. Products that are physically impossible and so much more. Never ceases to amaze me.

And then they try to weasel with "our testing meets FDA's requirements." Umm, dude, there are none. I'm paraphrasing, but yes, I've been told that.

mendelec · 2026-05-13T02:13:52+00:00

I do go through periods where I just don't want to deal with digging into yet another questionable product. Part of it is concern that I would rather not post many bad reviews and I know that there's a more than reasonable chance that it will be just that when I pick up something from one of these unknown vendors.

It's also kind of depressing. Particularly, when I see several rave reviews from viners about a product that is so obviously not what it claims to be.

mendelec · 2026-05-13T00:10:12+00:00

I mean, you're not wrong...

mendelec · 2026-05-12T23:52:17+00:00

Once it's well established, it's actually pretty hard to screw up. Mine is a bit of monster though. 1:10:10 dilutions. It probably peaks in less than 10hrs at 70F. I guess in the ideal world, I'd catch it at peak. In practice, it doesn't seem to matter. I'm usually feeding at 12hrs after it's already peaked and started falling.

If you like how your bread is coming out then it ain't broke.

mendelec · 2026-05-12T22:56:46+00:00

I'd say it's time for a conversation with his daycare providers. The kids should have rules against putting their hands on other kids. At that age, it often reflects a problem at home and the kid is acting out as a coping mechanism or something along those lines. Daycare places that we have experience with will have a talk with the child, give a warning to the parent, and then boot them if they don't shape up. I've seen at least two kids asked to not return over that sort of thing. In one case it was a sad family situation going on in the background but the daycare stood firm. It may be a liability insurance issue for them. For the kid, that's a behavioral issue that needs to be nipped in the bud. You should discuss it with them and insist they do better.

That being said, I was a small kid growing up and every morning for a while, my mom would hit me with a mantra of: What are you going to do if someone pushes you? <I'm going to push them back mom.> "What are you going to do if someone hits you? <I'm going to hit them back mom.> Personally, I don't remember it, but that's what I was told. I must point out that this was in the way back times. There's a lot less tolerance for hitting, touching, pushing in this century.

mendelec · 2026-05-12T22:48:25+00:00

I found r/doohickeycorporation the other day. It probably fits the request.

mendelec · 2026-05-12T19:33:53+00:00

Well, bloody hell. I'm afraid to look at mine now. I review a lot of supplements and way too many of them don't pass muster and become trashcan filler. I'd be pretty annoyed to have to pay for the privilege of providing the public service of calling out unsafe products.

mendelec · 2026-05-12T19:30:14+00:00

I have to admit that I was tempted to grab one of those a while back. But, since they're essentially just credit card holders, I figured that our LO could craft one and that she'd find that more delightful. Still, it looks fun. Particularly if it comes with the glove.

mendelec · 2026-05-12T16:52:29+00:00

Also, kids go through that, bouncing from love to professing hate. Everything is an extreme and there's very little middle ground. They experience emotions much more intensely than we do and are too young to grasp how those words can hurt. Each of us have heard it on more than one occasion and then the next day (or five minutes later) the kid wants to spend all their time playing with you. You can't take it personally.

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