We created our own starter over the last couple of weeks & baked our first sourdough loaves last night which turned out beautifully! The process of creating our starter was bumpy, though, and as we were figuring things out in the journey — a few times we chose to feed both the mother & the discard in the hopes that at least one of them would thrive. That worked eventually, but I’m curious. Twice while feeding what became essentially two different starters side by side we had one batch begin to turn slightly purple/grey on top, with purple colored “veins” developing down into the starter, while the other starter sitting beside it looked healthy & creamy white. I’m not 100% sure, but I think the version that was strangely colored was the “discard” (or from the top of the jar) both times. Is it salvageable? Any idea what’s happening?

Both times we fed the starters (both the primary & the “backup”) at the same time in the same conditions twice/day, usually a 1:1:1 ratio of either bleached white AP flour (&/or occasionally freshly milled hard white wheat flour). We may have missed a feeding once, but the other starter wasn’t impacted.

And, as a follow-up, as I only have access right now to bleached AP flour or the fresh milled flour, is one of those “healthier” or better for my starter? It seems like you’ve mentioned using whole wheat flour to get the starter going, then switching to unbleached AP flour, but since I’m working with what I have, is there a benefit in switching to bleached AP vs using freshly ground flour at home?

Thanks so much!

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