Hi Jane, it doesn't sound like you did anything wrong and it's not unusual for the starter to begin to thin out just before the wild yeast kicks in, so that might actually have been a good sign! It's also not at all unusual for the starter to take longer than our recipe indicates to begin rising, so persistence is usually warranted. I'm not exactly sure why your starter developed a little mold, but this can also happen during the creation process, since the starter hasn't yet developed its natural defenses.

If you'd like to take a slightly more scientific approach for your next sourdough starter, you might want to consider this method, which was developed by microbiologist and sourdough baker, Debra Wink. I like her method because it uses up very little flour in the beginning and was designed to avoid the extended lull in rising that can sometimes occur. Once your starter is rising predictably you can gradually transition to feeding it with unbleached all-purpose flour over the course of several feedings, and adopt the 1:1:1 ratio (starter:water:flour, by weight) recommended in our sourdough starter recipe. While there are lots of ways to create and maintain a sourdough starter, if you'd like to take advantage of our recipes and resources then it might be helpful for you to line up your starter with ours in the end. 

I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes! 

Barb

• Reply