Here’s a post from one of my Sourdough Groups and it’s really good information.

Posted by Savannah Petersen:

I had this memory pop up from my job last year where I worked in a lab as a Bacteriologist/ Mycologist.

Does that middle photo look familiar to y’all??

This is why when I see you guys tell people to “just scrape the top layer off” it makes my skin itch.

1. Prominent growth like this NEVER just happens overnight or even in a day or 2. These plates were incubated for a minimum of 7 days.
2. Very rarely does bacteria or fungi grow in an isolated colony. Even when I grew my isolates under sterile conditions and even under a fume hood it wasn’t uncommon that after the incubation period they would show up with a few of their little bacti and mold friends.

LET ME BE CLEAR. I am not fear mongering or saying Kahms yeast is harmful. I’m saying we need to be respectful and mindful of the microorganisms environment we are creating.

There is a lot going on microscopically that we aren’t seeing. Please use your BEST JUDGMENT in these situations. I’d rather see someone have to start over than get seriously ill.

LOVE YOU ALL! BYEEEeeeeeeee!!!!

I’ll add this :

Clean your jars regularly.

Don’t get lazy with your starter. Keep it sterile despite what others say, and always have backup so you can easily discard.

Sourdough goes through weird processes where it can smell pretty awful, but by the time it’s ready to make bread, it should have a fruity, yeasty smell. I will not make bread using starter that smells like acetone or rotten cheese. That’s what I don’t like about these recipes that use unfed starter. Unfed starter stinks because it’s hungry!! When fed, it neutralizes itself.

✌🏼🤍