Picture this: you wake up one morning and go to check your Amish Friendship Bread starter. And you see … THIS:
Okay, maybe that doesn’t look so bad. Let’s try another angle.
Ew, right? Have no fear, it only means that your starter has separated, and it’s your job to bring it back together.
Looking at a separated starter for the first time, your brain may cease to function. It just doesn’t look right, does it? You’re convinced something is wrong and might even be tempted to pour it all down the drain. Don’t do this, unless you want to see all your hard work disappear!
The problem is simple. You starter is hungry.
In traditional sourdough terms, that funky stuff is called hooch. It’s a naturally-occurring alcohol that forms when your starter needs to be fed. This isn’t something you’ll see if you’ve been maintaining your starter regularly, but more when, oh, maybe you’ve forgotten to feed your starter for a while, or perhaps forgotten to feed it for a LONG time. You might have even forgotten you had a starter tucked back there behind the salt and pepper. Ahem.
If it’s on the surface, just pour if off. If it’s in the middle of your starter, go ahead and get rid of that top portion of starter as well.
Next, feed your starter as if it were Day 6. One cup flour, one cup sugar, one cup milk. After a few turns with your wooden spoon, your starter will get happy again. Mix well and store in a warm area of your kitchen.
Disaster averted! Leave your starter to do its thing and remember to give it another stir later in the day. One to two stirs a day will usually do the trick, incorporating everything together so your starter will be ready for action when you are.
Note: This applies to Amish Friendship Bread starters that have been maintained daily and fed at the proper ratios. If you’ve forgotten to feed or take care of your starter, or if you are feeling nervous about the overall health of your starter, I recommend discarding it and making a new starter from scratch.
Cynthia Martinez says
January 5, 2018 at 6:26 pmI Added the milk, sugar, flour on the the wrong day, will it be ok?
Darien Gee says
January 6, 2018 at 12:15 pmYes, in fact, it’s probably happier that you’re feeding it more often, Cynthia! 🙂 Just adjust the calendar moving out, and you’ll be fine.
Michelle says
January 7, 2018 at 7:47 pmI really messed up. So, to start it off I added water to my day 5 feeding instead of milk. It separated. I panicked before I saw this post and fed it another two tablespoons each milk, sugar, and flour. It has never been really active. I have tasted it and it tasted fine. I’m waiting to see if it picks up at all. I have a fairly drafty kitchen and leave it in the oven with the pilot light on. I also have to state that I didn’t start my starter using yeast, this is one reason I feel it might not be real active. Have I messed up enough the starter is trash? Sometimes these sourdough starters aren’t easy.
Darien Gee says
January 7, 2018 at 9:42 pmHi Michelle,
I feel for you, I do! It’s hard to start a starter from scratch, and if your starter was never active to begin with, it’s really hard to “revive” it to a more bubbly state. At this point, unless you are really married to this starter, I would just start from scratch and use commercial yeast to give your starter a strong start. Go through a couple rounds of feedings to get it nice and robust, and maybe tuck a cup away in your freezer (usually when it’s at its most active state, the first 24 hours after a feeding) as backup. If you want to try to make this starter work, you need to give you starter a good Day 6 feeding — 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar. Since you already gave it 1 cup water, then just add the flour and sugar, and keep it covered and draft free. Keep me posted — good luck!
Michelle says
January 8, 2018 at 8:09 amThank you so much for your quick reply! I think it’s probably time to divorce the starter and start from scratch using your suggestions. It seems to continue with this one is a waste of materials. With any luck the new starter will work. I don’t know why any type of sourdough starter gives me such trouble. I can bake bread of almost any other type and consider myself an intermediate baker, but I just can’t get the sourdoughs down yet. However, I just say, that with people like you who are willing to help and inspire it keeps people like me trying. Thank you so much for your blog and support.
Casey Curtis says
March 12, 2018 at 9:58 amMy 8 year old made two batches for her 4H group, but did them one day apart. Well she accidentally mixed up the bags, and did a “Day 6 addition” to the same bag twice. She added the milk, flour and sugar to it on day 6 and day 7. What should we do from here?
Darien Gee says
March 13, 2018 at 9:26 pmHi Casey,
While it’s possible to overfeed a starter, the real answer lies in what the starter is doing now. Did it get bubbly and happy? If so, keep stirring daily and don’t worry about it, it’s most likely the fine. If it didn’t do anything, or smells different from before, throw it out — sometimes if the ratio of sugars to yeast gets thrown off with overfeeding and the yeast can’t thrive and metabolize the sugars. I would wait the full four days before feeding and dividing — she’ll have more starter left over, but if it’s bubbly and active, she’ll be fine. It helps to label the bags (with the specific days she needs to feed them). Let me know what you end up doing and how it turns out! best, Darien
Nancy Holmquist says
August 19, 2018 at 8:31 pmCan I use my sour dough bread starter with this?
Melanie Yeager says
November 28, 2018 at 8:14 amI made my first batch. I have 2 loaves cooking and 5 bags. Do I refrigerate the bags until ready to use? Also, do I keep you bag and continue the 10 day process to keep it going?
Darien Gee says
November 28, 2018 at 4:28 pmHi Melanie! You would freeze the bags unless you plan to bake in 10 days, in which case you would have to feed all 5 bags (and leave on the counter, not the fridge). Putting it in the fridge slows down the fermentation process but doesn’t stop it like freezing does. If you know you want to bake again but don’t want to bake immediately, I recommend freezing all of the bags and take one bag out the day before you want to bake.
Dana Link says
February 19, 2019 at 7:34 amHelp, I have mixed up my days today is actually day 11. Is it still okay to proceed as if it’s day 10??
Hannah says
February 19, 2019 at 10:55 amHi Dana! In a word, yes. Amish Friendship Bread starter is pretty hardy, and if you missed Day 10, never fear. Simply feed your starter as if it was Day 10. As long as it still appears active, healthy, and bubbly, your starter is still good!
Debralee says
February 21, 2019 at 1:33 pmI bought the jar you recommended and i am fixxing to start my first batch of Amish Bread. Do I close the jar completely with the little latch or do i just sit the lid of the jar down so it doesnt seal?? 🙂
Darien Gee says
February 24, 2019 at 9:00 pmHi Debralee — Don’t seal it … I latch it so the starter can breathe (it pulls some wild yeast from the air, plus it needs to release some gases). Have a great time making the bread! 🙂
Judy Quinlan says
April 16, 2019 at 6:24 pmI just made my first 2 loaves of bread, but forgot to put in the oil.
It looks good , but will it be dry?
Darien Gee says
April 18, 2019 at 9:53 amHi Judy! That depends — if you used the pudding, that will help with moisture, as well the 3 eggs, but I would expect they will lean on the side of a little dry. I do know lots of people who reduce the amount of oil in the recipe and don’t notice any difference. You might want to make sure you don’t overtake the loaves as well. Let me know how it tastes when you get a chance!
Debra says
May 31, 2019 at 5:15 amMy starter separated on the SECOND day. Do I feed it on the second day? Had to go to work, so I stirred it good and am now looking up your answers for what I should do.
Darien Gee says
June 1, 2019 at 9:46 pmHi Debra!
Hmmm … did it get bubbly on the first day? If you didn’t have any good activity after making your starter, then maybe your yeast wasn’t fresh or the ratios of ingredients are off. If you made your starter from scratch and you’re not seeing bubbles AND it’s separating already, then I would toss it and start again.
But if you had some good activity on Day 1, then I would just keep stirring and see how it’s doing. You shouldn’t need to feed it until Day 6. Keep me posted — good luck!