Hi Cathy, we're happy to share what help we can here, and we'd also encourage you to give our free Baker's Hotline a call at 855-371-BAKE, as it's often much easier to communicate in detail over the phone. To your first question, any bright colors like pink are generally a sign of undesirable bacteria gathering in your starter, and this is most likely to happen if the starter over-ferments. You were definitely right to throw it out! If your timeline was the same as it was before, we'd wonder whether you were using a different kind of flour (whole grains ferment much faster than all-purpose, for example) or if it was warmer and more humid during your later attempts, as warm weather also accelerates the process. To the second question, a mason jar can be a great place to store your starter. The starter's unlikely to touch the lid most of the time, and occasional contact shouldn't be a problem - you just don't want your starter constantly in contact with metal. We'd be more concerned about leaving some room for the exchange of gases, so you'd want to leave the lid slightly ajar or use plastic wrap secured with a rubber band as a lid instead. Hope this helps get you back on the right track, Cathy. Do give us a call if we can help further! Mollie@KAF

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