Just wanted to share that as a result of trying to be the best dad,
husband, employee, and relative I let my sourdough sit in a sealed
mason jar in the fridge through 3 homes for a total of almost 10
years. It never molded and I did manage to refresh it a few times
the 1st two of those 10 years. I may have refreshed it a couple of
times the next year or so, but I am positive that I never touched it
over the past 6 years other than to move it from one fridge to the next!
Well, in February of this year I pulled it out looking for mold or
other nastys, poured out the hooch, and let it come to room
temperature. Then I refreshed it and let it sit in the same mason
jar with the lid cracked one day. Then I figured I'd browse some
books and see how others feed their sours. Well it appeared Nancy
Silverton recommends "tightly covering" the sour container; So I
did. I didn't think an old sour would rise much if it was only 1/3 of the jar.
I anxiously waited to see some activity and found myself taking a
look at the darn jar throughout the day for 3 days and saw little
activity (or wished I did, not sure) perhaps some tiny bubbling the
size of pinholes. I drew a black line on the jar and knew it hadn't
risen. I was starting to get bummed when at my job at one of the
large commercial bakeries I work (actually a new start-up) I got a
distressed voicemail from my wife, "Hey, that jar you have on my
kitchen counter is starting to ooze out everywhere right through the
seal! What do you want me to do!!!!"
Yeah, that put a smile on my face. I made sourdough from this a
couple days later after I refreshed it one more time. The bread was
great and had no off-flavors. Now my little sour sits in the fridge
neglected again for over 2 months. Hopefully my kids/wife/job/family
cut me a break so that I can make some bread at home soon!!
In case you were curious, I believe I bought the "starter" from
Sourdough International, and they called it the Original San
Francisco. I doubt it is the same as when I first started it. I
activated it for the first time in the Clovis, California area
(Central Valley/Foothills); Then it sat in the fridge in the SF Bay
for 1/2 a year, and finally it was refreshed in my new home in the
mother lode, Valley Springs, California where it's been for 5
years. Kind of ironic that it would end up in the old gold country!
Dave J
motherlode, CA