My grandma's sourdough starter secret changed everything last Saturday

I was over at my grandma's house helping her clean out her pantry and she pulled out this mason jar with a starter she's had since 1987. She told me she feeds it with pineapple juice instead of water once a month and that's why it never goes bad. I tried it on my own starter that was getting sluggish and within 2 days it was bubbling like crazy. Has anyone else ever heard of using fruit juice in a starter?

3 comments

3 Comments

sullivan.elliot29d agoMost Upvoted

That pineapple juice trick is genius, my aunt did the exact same thing with her starter back in the 90s and it’s still going strong today. I threw a splash of orange juice in my own sluggish batch once and it perked up within a day, totally saved it from the trash. Fruit juice really does wake up the yeast like nothing else, your grandma’s got a solid method there.

barbararamirez29d ago

Oh, we used to add a little molasses to our starter when it got sluggish back in the 70s. Worked a treat.

anthony98929d ago

Did you use pasteurized or raw juice? Heard raw can introduce unwanted bacteria.