-
If you have a question about commercial production or the hot sauce business, please post in Startup Help.
Sourdough Starter Q
- Thread starter Shandley
- Start date
I think it depends on what you want to use it for. If storage in the refrigerator isn't a problem, I think about the consistency of pancake batter or a trifle thicker works the best. You probably need to add more milk if that's the case. If you have a really old recipe that goes back to the Yukon gold rush days, it might have been made deliberately thick because a walnut-sized lump of starter would be mixed with flour and water to make the beginning sponge for bread, and the miners needed something that would stow small and light, and wouldn't fizz in your pack...
Thanks stickman. I jut read your post on your fermented peppers and I'm quite impressed. I also quite enjoy Kim chi so, you're good in my books.
I used the starter listed in Fermenting Peppers 101:
2 Cups Flour
2 Cups Water
1 packet (3 tsp) Active Dry Yeast
EDIT: Forgot to add the potato that's cooked to a mush and blended and cooled.
I split that into two and have one as made and one where there was some more water to thin. They are each only about 1 hour old. Should they be covered and/or sealed? No milk so do they have to be refrigerated?
EDIT: I am using this so I can harvest the hooch for fermenting the peppers in a week or two.
I used the starter listed in Fermenting Peppers 101:
2 Cups Flour
2 Cups Water
1 packet (3 tsp) Active Dry Yeast
EDIT: Forgot to add the potato that's cooked to a mush and blended and cooled.
I split that into two and have one as made and one where there was some more water to thin. They are each only about 1 hour old. Should they be covered and/or sealed? No milk so do they have to be refrigerated?
EDIT: I am using this so I can harvest the hooch for fermenting the peppers in a week or two.
Hi Shandley, thanks for stopping by!
Sorry, I assumed you were making sourdough to bake with. If you add milk to the sourdough starter it should definitely be refrigerated. Most people who ferment peppers use whey as a starter to get the process started, but I'll be interested to see how it turns out for you. We like lots of pics, so make sure you post them if you write about the experience here. Whey is easy to get... just buy a tub of yogurt with active cultures (or make your own) and pour it into three layers of cheesecloth. Gather up the edges and tie it into a bag, then hang from your kitchen sink faucet with a dish underneath to catch the whey that drips out. As a side note... that's pretty much how they make Greek yogurt.
If you make kimchi, the brine from that is ideal for fermentation! That's how I started mine. I posted pics on kimchi-making in my harvest cooking thread if you're interested.
Hang loose brother...
Whey seems, by far, the easiest method (actually, I guess nothing is the easiest method but moving on). I have a few weeks before my final harvest so I figured perhaps something that takes that long would be an experience. Plus I love sourdough and I look forward to actually using the starter.
Shandley, in the Fermenting 101 the starter also called for using a small potato and I didn't see you list it above. It helps the starter to get going. If you like a more sour Sourdough Bread you can also add a small onion to the initial boil of the potato. The idea here is that as the Potato water cools and sits out it will capture some of the wild yeast and lactobacillius bacteria. This starter relies more on the yeast you add to get it going. This means you have a viable starter in days/week rather than weeks/month. If you want to go with totally wild starter I can send you instructions for that too however please understand the not all wild yeast/lacto are going to give you a good tasting bread such as in San Francisco or Alaska. It will though give you a good source for Lacto bacteria for starting fermentations.
Once you get the starter going you want to cover it but loosely. For example I keep mine in an old large Country Crock tub. When it's working up to make bread I'll put the lid on but not press it down all the way around. When I ready for it to go back in the fridge I press it all the way down. If you were to put it on tight then the co2 build up will pop it off at some point.
Once you get the starter going you want to cover it but loosely. For example I keep mine in an old large Country Crock tub. When it's working up to make bread I'll put the lid on but not press it down all the way around. When I ready for it to go back in the fridge I press it all the way down. If you were to put it on tight then the co2 build up will pop it off at some point.
Here is a pic of my thinnest starter held up tot he light before it's 3rd feeding. Something tells me I am on the right track. Smells just like beer. Please let me know if this isn't right.
I adjusted the contrast to see what it looks like. The darks are just shadows. It actually very white.
I adjusted the contrast to see what it looks like. The darks are just shadows. It actually very white.
It looks good to me! After you get the hooch for your fermentation, try using about half of your starter to make pancakes. When I was in the army, I lived off post in an apartment with another guy from my unit. I had a sourdough starter going in the refrigerator and I made us sourdough pancakes on Sunday mornings. They were so light and airy we'd eat the whole stack. Cheers
Hmmm! Awesome! Do I just mix in some starter into the pancake batter?
Say, now that I have fed the starters for 3 days, do I just wait the rest out (9 days or so) with it sitting on the counter with a lid or do I have to feed it again sometime soon?
The whole point is to collect hooch for the fermentation. The rest is a happy happy bi-product
Say, now that I have fed the starters for 3 days, do I just wait the rest out (9 days or so) with it sitting on the counter with a lid or do I have to feed it again sometime soon?
The whole point is to collect hooch for the fermentation. The rest is a happy happy bi-product
Hi Shandley
Once you've collected your hooch for fermenting your peppers, put your starter in the 'fridge to keep it for cooking with later. It's a living culture, so it will need to be fed periodically to keep it alive, but its metabolic rate will be slowed in there. The starter I kept before was about 3 cups worth in a large margarine tub with a snap-on lid. When I was going to cook with it, I'd take it out of the 'fridge and remove 2 cups for the dough/batter and replenish the starter by stirring in a cup of flour and a cup of milk. Cover the starter again and put it into the 'fridge. You'll need to remove 2 cups of starter and replenish it once week to keep the culture viable. You'll need to keep this starter refrigerated because of the milk in it. There are other methods for making and keeping a starter that don't use milk but I've never researched them. Cheers
Once you've collected your hooch for fermenting your peppers, put your starter in the 'fridge to keep it for cooking with later. It's a living culture, so it will need to be fed periodically to keep it alive, but its metabolic rate will be slowed in there. The starter I kept before was about 3 cups worth in a large margarine tub with a snap-on lid. When I was going to cook with it, I'd take it out of the 'fridge and remove 2 cups for the dough/batter and replenish the starter by stirring in a cup of flour and a cup of milk. Cover the starter again and put it into the 'fridge. You'll need to remove 2 cups of starter and replenish it once week to keep the culture viable. You'll need to keep this starter refrigerated because of the milk in it. There are other methods for making and keeping a starter that don't use milk but I've never researched them. Cheers
Excellent! When you say, "You'll need to remove 2 cups of starter and replenish it once week to keep the culture viable," does this have to happen before I put it in the fridge?
Currently, I am feeding 3 batches a quarter cup of flour and a quarter cup of flour each day. The batches are 5 days old now.
Currently, I am feeding 3 batches a quarter cup of flour and a quarter cup of flour each day. The batches are 5 days old now.
Your fine for now. Starting on day 8 you should pour out half of the starter and then feed it. It's the same as using it to make bread as you would use 2 cups or so of the starter. By doing that your giving more to eat to fewer yeast and lacto which tends to develop a better starter and a more aggressive one. You should also stir the hooch back into the starter first if your not going to use it for a batch of peppers. It's the hooch that gives it the sour.
