TIL my sourdough starter is alive enough to escape its jar overnight

Came down to the shop this morning and found a puddle of bubbly goo on the counter where my starter jar had popped its lid and crawled about six inches. Has anyone else had a starter get that active and what do you do to keep it contained?

2 comments

2 Comments

sullivan.finley13d ago

Please just get a bigger jar, that's the easiest fix. I use a half-gallon mason jar for mine and still only fill it a third of the way up because it doubles in size so fast. Seriously just give that thing more room and it'll stay put.

margaretm2313d ago

Actually the bigger jar thing is a bandaid not a fix. The real issue here is people don't understand how fast active dry yeast actually works and they're mixing it wrong. I stopped having this problem completely when I started proofing my yeast separately in warm water with a pinch of sugar before adding it to the jar. Let it get nice and foamy for 10 minutes then mix it in. You end up with way less gas trapped in the starter itself and it doesn't try to climb out of anything. Also keep that jar in the fridge not on the counter. Cold fermentation slows things down so much you can use a regular pint jar and never worry about overflow.