My sourdough starter turned into a monster after a trip to the coast

I took my starter, named Gus, with me on a weekend trip to Cannon Beach. The sea air must have done something wild because when I got home, it had practically climbed out of its jar. I tried to bake with it on Tuesday, and the dough rose so fast it overflowed the bowl and stuck to the top of my fridge. The loaf I made looked like a weird, bubbly hat. My partner walked in and said, 'Did you bake a mushroom?' I had to throw it out. It was a total fail after a week of perfect loaves. Has anyone else had a starter go crazy from a change in location like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

anthonymurray1mo ago

Honestly, I read a whole thing about this once. Some guy took his starter from Denver down to New Orleans and it went nuts from the humidity. His bread came out like sponge cake. They said the wild yeasts in a new place can totally join the party and mess with the balance. Your Gus probably met some new beach yeast friends and they all got over excited. Tbh I'd just feed it a few times back home and it should calm down.

alexw751mo ago

I always thought starters were mostly stable, but that humidity story makes total sense. It's like moving to a new town and your quiet buddy suddenly parties every night. A few regular feeds at home should get Gus back to normal.

the_oscar1mo agoTop Commenter

Actually, @alexw75, I bet those new yeasts are an upgrade and Gus is just better now.