Starter ignored & in& out of fridges for month...ok to use?

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Starter ignored & in& out of fridges for month...ok to use?

Postby kaybee on Mon Apr 28, 2014 3:58 pm

This is probably an extreme case...but wondering if this sourdough starter is salvageable.
A friend gifted me a starter 4-5+ weeks ago when I was in the US. I stuck it in the fridge and failed to do anything with it as I was traveling etc. It was in the fridge with parchment and rubber band over the top. I put it in a sealed jar on march 30 to bring it back to Ireland with me. It was out of the fridge for a few days, then back in a fridge, then in a fridge that was only intermittently turned on and that was warmish for days at a time. I opened it tonight to see if i could salvage it. smells like stinky cheese, no visible mold in the starter--unless there is white mold that I cant see. Starter has separated but I dont think thats a problem(?) may be some white mold on inside of rim of jar, hard to tell, and appeared to be a bit of grey or green mold on cap where it touches the jar top, but nowhere else. I spooned out some of the starter from the middle of the jar (both liquid and stuff below. starter is pretty runny anyway) avoiding touching the rim or edges of jar as much as possible (though the thing has been turned upside down etc over the weeks in travel so i dont know if it makes any difference. ) I mixed what I took out (probably 1/8 or 1/4 cup or so) with a cup of organic white wheat flour and half cup water, set the lid on but didnt turn it tight, and put it in the fridge.

Am i going to poison myself or is there a chance this is still a safe starter even after so long? I have had no luck making my own starter in the past here in Ireland, they only got moldy (temperature in mobile home too cold and damp I guess) , so I'd love to be able to use this one if its salvageable. I have almost no experience with this so...

Thanks for any advice!
kaybee
 
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