I’ve never had this happen to me so I’m at a complete loss.
I’ve been putting my sourdough discard in a glass mason jar and storing it in the back of fridge.
I woke up this morning to the bottom of the jar broken and SD discard everywhere in my fridge.
Has this happened to anyone else?
What did I do wrong so it doesn’t happen again?
by Jumpy_FigTree
13 Comments
Are you screwing the top closed? The discard probably still has activity and produces gas, causing the class to explode?
Yea don’t seal the jar all the way. It SHOULD be able to handle the pressure, but not always. I flip the lid upside down (so the seal ring doesn’t touch the glass) and only screw the ring on enough to prevent it from falling off. It allows enough gas exchange (good for this and also just starter health, you don’t really want anaerobic fermentation) but prevents pathogens getting in (mostly fruit flies in my case).
Either way definitely start over, don’t want to risk glass in your starter.
I took al my jars and put a little hole in the cover with the tip of a knife. Means you never have to think about doing it wrong anymore.
To salvage, I’d try to scrape from the sides or top which hopefully have no glass. You could also try to pass through a fine mesh strainer, but there’s a good chance pieces could be small enough to pass through anyways
Is there a particular reason we all use glass jars? I’ve used tupperware and that works perfectly fine for me, and I don’t have to worry about exploding jars, especially with my lids with the vent on top.
Why was you jar airtight????
Dang your saving me. I’m gonna go open mines a little
I’ve always sealed mine fully in the fridge. Could have sworn that’s what was recommended. This was a good share, won’t be doing that anymore
My jar is an old instant coffee jar, that’s not 100% air tight and if I use another a screw lid jar, I back off the lid half a turn.
I’m guessing it broke in the dishwasher, if it’s loose on the rack next to another glass, it can bounce against the neighboring glass creating small cracks at the base only for the job to be finished later. Putting cold in a hot glass will also crack a part off but more often than not the bottom will come off. So yeah, small invisible cracks in dishwasher, then tight lid, then pressure, out comes the spot at the base. I bartended for over a decade and broke all the glassware that exists in most every way on a regular basis.
https://preview.redd.it/60xzzl7en2xf1.jpeg?width=1076&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ac4738c873b00f16771c8b26aca4bdcfc1140344
Scrape it off the lid, assuming you didn’t store it upside down, and use it to start again.
Can’t recommend Weck tulip jars enough. The lid sits perfectly on top (remove the seal). Super easy to stir and clean. Plenty of space to hold a 300-500g starter without overflow. A more budget friendly alternative is a good old 32oz deli container.