Showerthought: My grandma's sourdough starter is older than me and I finally get why

I was reading an old baking forum from 2008 and saw someone mention their 40 year old starter named Bertha. Made me think about how my grandma had the same starter since the 60s and I always thought it was just a fussy old jar. But after that conversation I went and asked her about it and she told me it survived a move from Chicago to Detroit in 1972. Anyone else have a family starter that's been passed down with a story attached?

3 comments

3 Comments

patriciah5115d ago

Did your grandma ever warn you not to let Bertha get too cold or she'll get grumpy? lol My aunt had a starter named Mabel from 1985 that she swore threw a tantrum every time she brought home store-bought bread. I killed my own starter in a week because I forgot to feed it, so I'm clearly not cut out for this legacy stuff.

the_wyatt15d ago

...and that's exactly it, lol. My grandma always said Bertha would get "moody" if the kitchen got below 65 degrees. Like she was a temperamental cat or something. I used to roll my eyes so hard until I killed my first starter in a week too, just like you. Now I'm convinced old starters have some kind of survival instinct built in after decades of neglect. Probably been through way worse than a cold draft lol.

grantf7315d ago

Isn't it wild how the stuff that's been around forever always seems tougher than the new stuff we try?