Never got the hang of sourdough though - mine always went rancid in its jar
I've only had problems with my starter once, when I had a lovely one going nicely but a mouse drowned itself in it one night. I mourned a bit when I tossed it out, and started to have a more proper lid. My current container is a small plastic bucket (it came with 1 kg of greek style youghurt, so it is food safe), with a large number of small holes burned into the top (thin wire and a candle to heat it).
The trick with the starter is to feed it daily (weekly if kept in the fridge), with water and flour (mine lives on coarse rye flour; they adapt to the sources, so don't change abruptly). My procedure is to add 0.5 dl flour and an equal amount of cold water, and stir until smooth with a fork. Toss out some when the container gets full (unless you bake frequently). In summer I don't bake as often, so I keep the starter in the fridge; my impression is that they like cooler temps, like our kitchen in the winter (there's never *actually* been frost on the floor, so it is not *that* cold).
It will take a week or so for it to get going, and it will get better with time. They can be froozen, but may take a while to revive properly when thawed.
The tricky part is regulating the heat - you can do it by moving the reflector closer or further away from the fire (long sticks for the uprights make it easier to pick up
).
Trick for temperature check; learn how many seconds you hand hold your hand in an oven with a certain temperature, and use that to test.
and apparently with the sheet metal ones if the surfaces dull it can have a dramatic effect on how well they work - so no scouring pads!
I've been thinking about using some of the Autosol polishing paste on mine (it is sold in auto-parts stores for polishing chrome on cars, I use it for stropping knives; I go through a tube in 5 years or so of anal-retentive sharpening).
