What is this? You might find it smells anything from old gym socks, to vomit to pretty much anything in between. This is completely normal in the first few weeks and it will settle down as the good bacteria take hold. Once established, your starter should smell good - a fruity, yeasty smell should prevail.
If your sourdough starter stinks like alcohol, vinegar, or nail polish remover, it means that it's really hungry and has produced lots of acetic acid.
Sometimes there are white spots or lumps on the surface of the starter itself but below the layer of hooch, likely where air bubbles once were (not to be confused with mold – see photo below). Old starters will also smell very strong and acidic – like vinegar, acetone, or even nail polish remover.
However, if you see a pink or orange tint or streak, this is a sure sign that your sourdough starter has gone bad and should be discarded.
Final Thoughts. The nail polish remover smell that sometimes develops in sourdough starters is not harmful, but it can indicate that the starter needs to be more balanced or balanced. This can affect the flavor and quality of the bread and may even result in a bitter or off-taste.
A Bad Smell
It's normal for sourdough starters to smell like nail polish, mild vinegar, or even almost sweet…in addition to that sourdough smell we know and love. That acetone smell you sometimes get is a sign that the starter is hungry. You want to be careful if it gets smells that are very strong and foul.
Is there a way to fix it? A. When the sourdough starter isn't fed often enough or feedings are skipped, it is common for an alcohol odor to develop. Increasing feeding frequency can help; however, if the starter has been neglected for a while, it may require more effort to revive it.
It's usually pretty obvious when your starter has gone bad. You will either see mold or discoloration (generally pink or orange). If you see either of these things, you will need to toss your starter. The smell is usually a big give away.
It's normal for the sourdough starter to smell a little acidic. However, if it's a very strong vinegar smell, your starter needs refreshing. Excess acid can make dough difficult to work with. To control the acid build-up in a starter, use only small amounts of seed starter when feeding.
With an aggressive feeding schedule (2-3 times daily), you should begin to see bubbling and sour notes by day three (and is a good indicator for collecting the Lactobacillus bacteria). By Day 5, I typically give up if there's no rise or sour notes. There's two common factors that make sourdough fermentation difficult.
The bad news is that, yes, sourdough starters can go bad. You have a bad sourdough starter if it was heated above 140 degrees F or if it has developed mold. However, discoloration aside from pink or orange may just be a sign of hooch which is totally safe.
Sourdough starter CAN die if neglected for long enough in the refrigerator, because it doesn't completely stop being active in the fridge, it just slows down considerably.
On the other hand, when your starter is in good shape it should smell fresh, fruity and yeasty. So, what does that even mean? Fresh, fruity, and yeasty aromas will vary from starter to starter. Some will smell like toasted coconuts and pineapple, others will smell like apple cinnamon.
If your sourdough starter smells like cheese, don't be alarmed. While the smell may be strong and off-putting, it's a common occurrence and a sign that your sourdough starter is active and thriving.
Why does my bread dough smell sour? Over fermentation, too many acidic ingredients or an over-ripe sourdough starter can cause sour bread dough. After baking, the sour smell of bread dough will likely diminish. If your bread dough smells sour when it shouldn't, get it into the oven as soon as possible.
If you have made a starter from scratch, it doesn't fully mature and develop its full depth of flavor until a good few months down the line. A more mature sourdough starter will give a more sour flavor. So be patient, and give your starter time to mature.
What do I do if my sourdough starter smells like cheese? This is due to the lacto fermentation that occurs in the sourdough fermentation process as the organic bacteria creates lactic acid. Cheese undergoes a similar process and the smell is just a sign that the sourdough is young and needs to be fed for longer.
If there's even a tiny bit of mold on your sourdough starter, you need to toss it. It cannot be saved and you should not use it.
Room-temperature starter should be fed every 12 hours (twice a day) using the standard maintenance feeding procedure: discard all but 113g, and feed that 113g starter with 113g each water and flour.
One or Two Week Break
While we normally recommend feeding a sourdough starter weekly when stored in the refrigerator, leaving it a bit longer once or twice per year will not harm the starter. Simply feed the starter as you normally would to maintain it in the refrigerator.
First, take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Then, feed it with equal parts flour and water (by weight) and let it sit at room temperature for a few hours. After that, it should be ready to use in your baking!
The longer you leave your dough in the refrigerator, the more sour and complex flavors it will develop. You can easily leave a loaf in the refrigerator for 3 days before baking. I've gone as long as 5 days, but you will see some deterioration of the loaf after Day 3.
If you plan to bake regularly, you'll want a vessel that will look good on the counter, where you'll need to keep it for daily feeding. It will need a lid or cover, but not something airtight: Sourdough starter emits gas, and a sealed canister can explode.
Eating bread that has a chemical smell due to yeast contamination might taste unpleasant and lead to minor digestive symptoms, but it does not pose a health risk.
Don't be alarmed when you see this. Runny liquid floating on the surface of your sourdough starter is perfectly normal, and actually shows that your starter is feeding well!