Question for sourdough people

[Haertig]

I am using the sourdough maintenance method of feeding once a week, letting it sit out on the counter to warm for four hours while the yeast starts in on the new flour, then returning it to the refrigerator.

My question is on the container that I keep the sourdough starter in for that one week in the fridge time. Is totally sealed the best?

I have this 1/2 liter glass container (see below) that I used last week (my first week with keeping sourdough). I kept it in the fridge sealed, and everything seems just fine this second feeding. Bubbly, nice sourdough aroma. Should I continue using this container totally sealed like last week, or remove the gasket to allow (assumedly) a slight bit of airflow during the week-in-the-fridge? Would a different type of jar be a better container? The jar is glass, and I use a silicon spatula when doing the stirring and mixing of the starter.

My method on the feeding is to use 1/2 cup starter, 1 scant cup flour, and 1/2 cup water. I actually measure the starter and flour by weight, so I'm using 113gr of each. The water I measure by volume though, in a measuring cup, lukewarm.

 

[sonya123]

I have the same type of jar only larger. I take it out of that jar sometimes and put in a clean one so the stuff on the walls of the jar doesn't mold . I feed it about once a week ( flour and water) . I let it sit on the counter to warm up when I use it. I do close the jar when in fridge. Last year one time it grew mold and I had to start over but not sure why. I read somwhere if a fruit fly gets near it that can happen

Oh and I don't measure , I just dump some in there until right consistancy

 

[Haertig]

I have the same type of jar only larger. I take it out of that jar sometimes and put in a clean one so the stuff on the walls of the jar doesn't mold . I feed it about once a week ( flour and water) . I let it sit on the counter to warm up when I use it. I do close the jar when in fridge. Last year one time it grew mold and I had to start over but not sure why. I read somwhere if a fruit fly gets near it that can happen

Oh and I don't measure , I just dump some in there until right consistancy

Thanks for the info!

What I've been doing (granted, only for two weeks now!) is dumping the entire contents of the jar out into a bowl while I washed the jar and dried it. I then put the proper amount of starter back into the jar along with flour and water to complete the feeding. I then leave the jar open on the counter for a few hours. I cover the mouth of the jar with a paper towel with a table knife on top to hold it down semi-tightly - so that air flow gets through the paper towel fabric, but hopefully not any insects or other crud. Then I close the jar up and put it back in the fridge after four hours on the counter. Next time I will probably replace the paper towel with some kind of cloth, and attach that to the jar with a rubber band rather than just a table knife sitting on top.

Thus far, I have not baked any sourdough bread yet, so unfortunately I have just thrown out the excess starter that I did not need for the feeding. Wasteful - I know. Next feeding I will use the excess starter to make some sourdough bread. Since I probably won't be making a fresh loaf of that every week, I need to figure out some things to do with the excess starter after the weekly feeding.

 

[joel]

The wife makes sourdough every month.