Spent $150 on a fancy sourdough starter kit that was total overkill

I got into sourdough during that big baking craze a few years back and bought this expensive kit online. It came with a special crock, a weird thermometer, and some 'artisan' flour mix. Turns out my regular jar from the pantry works just as well and the flour was overpriced. I could have just used a $5 mason jar and some all purpose flour for the same result. The starter I made from scratch actually died after a week anyway because I overfed it following their instructions. Has anyone else fallen for one of those overpriced starter kits or am I the only sucker around here?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliver8111mo ago

Did you try to save any of that starter by scaling back on the feeding, or did you just toss it all when it went bad? I'm curious if the kit's instructions pushed you towards a more complicated routine than necessary. Just wondering if you could have salvaged it with a simpler approach before giving up on it.

umamurphy1mo ago

Yeah I probably could have saved it with less feeding but I was annoyed and tossed it.