Good morning! This morning I fed my starter after a few days of neglect. I was in a rush since I was also in the middle of making breakfast for my toddler, and after I was done I realized that there had maybe been a small patch of orange on the surface of the starter before I stirred it down.
I plan to start over just in case, but I kept the starter in question just to see what happens. If there actually was some Serratia/bad growth, would it show up in every subsequent feeding? Or put another way, is there a way to tell if I imagined something vs if there was actually something dangerous? I have OCD and I can see this really easily turning into an “…are you SURE?” type of thing, and I don’t want to throw out every starter I have as soon as I “think” I see something off about it.
Treat as normal and see what happens. Odds are you'll be good. Enjoy!
Thank you! I’ve fed it twice since then and it looks and smells 100% normal. Maybe I’ll have someone I don’t like try the next loaf just in case (lol).
If refreshing doesn't fix it - start again. Never hurts. Enjoy!