I've been using the sourdough starter recipe from Ken Forkish, starting it in a 6 quart plastic container. However, for the second time fuzzy mold has grown onto the walls on the container. It is not inside the starter itself, but I'm not sure what to do. Does it need to be thrown out, or should I change containers?
My starter is 8 yrs old and suddenly this past year the mold issue happened . I keep my starter in a dannon yogurt container. I attribute the mold to handwashing the yogurt container as our dishwasher was not working. Anyway all I did was lift off all the obvious mold and then several more inches of starter. I then removed one tsp of starter from 2 different places and put the samples in two different sterile containers ( I used boiling water to insure the cleanliness). I fed the transferred starter and so far after a number of months this has not happened again. I consolidated the two samples when I was sure the mold issue was gone. If I were you I would not continue to use the same container month in and month out. I would sterilize a container and transfer the starter periodically. At least this works for me. Good Luck. c
Red/Orange Mold = unsalvageable.
Other Mold = If there is some healthy looking starter then salvageable.
How much starter are you keeping at any one time? I only ask because you follow Ken Forkish and I'm imagining swimming pools. Make sure your container and utensils used are clean. When feeding add water in first and use that to scrape down any old starter sticking to the sides. Add the flour and mix into a paste then with a wet spoon/spatula scrape down the sides the best you can. Perhaps a change of container will help and a feed or two with some pineapple juice before switching back to water. Knock those nasties on the head.