• General food and cooking questions, discussion, and recipes. To blog your food or to create (or post in) a community food thread, please post in Post Your Eats!

baking Sourdough

moyboy

moyboy

I'm looking to get a sourdough 'starter' set again as i'd love to try and make home made sourdough.

I tried my hand at making a starter about 12 months ago but after 2 attempts I couldn't get it to work...:(

Well After reading up on it all again I have come up with a few ideas as to (maybe) why my starters failed last time.....

Firstly I was storing and feeding the starter in a metal bowl. Most of the stuff I read says not to use any metal in the storage or feeding of the starter as it reacts in some way????

Secondly, last time i was using white bakers flour which has been processed to high heaven so not much wild yeast remains in the flour. Most of the articles i've read say they all use plain unbleached flour.

I'm hoping these 2 main factors could have been my problem with my first attempt and I'm looking forward to trying to get a starter going again.

I've read that in old barkeries in England and Europe they have starters that have been alive for centuries....:shocked:

Anyone else have a sourdough starter or make sourdough bread??
 
You would definantly be on to something with the plain vs bleached flour pip. As for the metal bowl :confused: cant see how that would affect it. I have also heard about starters being kept for long periods of time, 100+ years is pretty cool though.
 
Yeah I'm not sure what drugs they are on in regards to the metal but they are all saying it so there must be some truth in it....:think:
 
Maybe the electrical conductivity? Only thing that i can think of. I know that using a metal spoon for some cooking applications is a no no so could be the same thing...
 
I'm too passionate about Sourdough to witness folks failing left and right without a fight!!!!! I've witnessed way too many give up over the years! Never, ever, give up!!!

There are a couple 'secrets' that you can use to significantly increase your chances of culturing a healthy sourdough starter on the first try.

Firstly,
Sourdough yeasts and bacteria thrive in an acidic environment.
Creating an acidic environment (using acidic fruit juice the first 3 days of starter culture) from the start will ensure that conditions are right for good starter production and help keep nasties from getting a foothold.

Secondly,
Aerating (mixing) the starter 2-3 times per day (until the starter is ready for use in a recipe), not just when the starter is fed, will help keep the mixture evenly acidic which helps to ensure that the bennies have perfect conditions and the nasties are discouraged.

Anyway....
Here's the formula for success in more cases than not!

Day 1: mix together...
2 T. whole grain flour (rye or wheat)
2 T. unsweetened pineapple juice or orange juice
Cover and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.


Day 2: add...
2 T. whole grain flour
2 T. juice
Stir well, cover and let sit at room temperature 24 hours. At day 2 you may (or may not) start to see some small bubbles.


Day 3: add...
2 T. whole grain flour
2 T. juice
Stir well, cover and let sit at room temperature 24 hours.

Day 4:

Stir down, measure out 1/4 cup and discard the rest.
To the 1/4 cup add...
1/4 cup flour (any good non additive flour can be added at this point)
1/4 cup filtered or spring water

Day 5 and beyond.....continue the same daily procedure until the mixture is very active and yeasty, is the starter stalls add 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar to the other added ingredients daily...that'll lower the PH and make things active again


Using just flour and water incubates a gas producing bacteria, among other nasties, called Leuconostoc, that mimics the activity of yeast for the first few days...it gives off carbon dioxide bubbles, but then subsides creating a poor environment for yeast and leaving a nasty end product! Acidity fights Leuconostoc and other nasties!

That may very well be what has happened in your case.

Leuconostoc is, allegedly, becoming more and more prevalent on the surface of wheat and subsequently in flour.

Here's some interesting reading relating to the use of acidic juice to kick-start the starter......

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10856/pineapple-juice-solution-part-1
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10375/lactic-acid-fermentation-sourdough

Another option is to request some of Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter, which is still available for a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope...a great deal for just 88 cents!!!!

http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/


~DiggingDog
 
Wow Thanks DDF, I read those articles and they are very informative.....This definately the way i'll be going with the new starter.....

My first worry was if the juice would affect the final flavour of the bread but the article says the ingredients used in the starter have no major impact on the finished product..:)

Thanks again for the info.
 
moyboy said:
Yeah I'm not sure what drugs they are on in regards to the metal but they are all saying it so there must be some truth in it....:think:
Click to expand...

I don't know about the sourdough thing(although I love sourdough with pesto, or the olive spread from Whole Foods), but I believe that the bowls material could have some effect. I know that when making whipped cream(especially if doing it by hand with a whisk), it's much easier and faster if you use a chilled copper bowl. I've tested it too, it's not just the chilling that effects it. I have no idea why, but it proves that bowl material can have an effect on things.

For other things :high: I would NEVER use metal, it's strictly glass for me. I think Passow would agree with me there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top