My neighbor's sourdough starter smelled like acetone so I tossed mine too fast

Last month I was over at my neighbor Carol's place in Oak Park. She pulled out her sourdough starter and it smelled like nail polish remover. She said it was ruined and threw it away. I panicked and went home and threw mine out too. Then I looked online later and found out that acetone smell is normal sometimes, especially if it's hungry. I wasted a starter I had kept alive for almost a year. Has anyone else thrown away good starter because of a smell that turned out to be fine?

2 comments

2 Comments

butler.shane18d ago

Michael mentioned that hungry smell being brutal and honestly that's the part that gets everyone. I have been baking sourdough for years now and I still get surprised by how funky the starter can smell sometimes. The acetone thing happens when the yeast runs out of food and starts producing different gases. I have learned to just feed it twice in a row if it smells off and it usually bounces right back within a day. My old starter from 2020 survived a whole week in the fridge while I was on vacation and came out smelling like a chemistry lab but was totally fine after a couple feedings. It is really easy to panic and toss something that just needs a little TLC.

michael88018d ago

Yep. Did the same thing with my first starter. Smelled like a nail salon so I dumped it down the drain. Found out later it just needed feeding. That hungry smell is brutal. You learn the hard way. Now I just feed it and wait a few hours.