The sourdough Starter Thread

[BarleySugar]

Sorry to hear it didn't work

[northepaul]

I've tried rye, wholemeal and white bread flour....all organic stuff, so I dont think its that...maybe the water???

[Bren In Pots]

Wonder if its the chlorine in the water ?

[BarleySugar]

Soughdough scones (American 'biscuits)

After a failed loaf yesterday I hadn't really got any bread for son no2 to take for lunch, but I did have a quantity of 'discarded' starter in the fridge from a while ago. I did a bit of a search, and came up with this recipe. I've changed it from the original (30g melted marg instead of 80ml oil, and added cinnamon, his favourite). If you wanted a sweeter result, I would think using caster sugar would be the way to go. The dough is very soft, but not sticky. It shouldn't be kneaded as the bicarb starts releasing gas straight away as it neutralises the acid from the starter. They are lighter than my ordinary scones, nice with butter (oops).

Sough dough Scones
Ingredients
• 250 g sourdough starter
• 30g melted marg. or butter
• I teasp baking soda
• 0.5 teasp salt
• 125 g plain flour
• 1 teasp. cinnamon
Directions
1. Sift flour, salt, spice and soda together into a large bowl. Mix starter with melted fat, and stir into the sifted ingredients.
2. Divide the soft dough into 8, shape quickly and bake in a preheated oven 175 degrees C for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Why my loaf failed (I think) I had cut my finger and couldn't knead it by hand, the thin gloves I use to cut up chillies were a definite mistake. Blue glove stuck in soughdough, hand came out clean though. I finished it off with my food processor and dough hook, but didn't realise just how sticky it was until I turned it out of the proving basket. Completely flat as a pancake, I couldn't slash it, and it didn't rise properly. I think OH and Son No2 will get a bread pudding.

[Bren In Pots]

Thanks for the scone recipe think I'll give them a go but with a few currants or raisins added. Sorry to hear about your failure it must have been frustrating but at least in a pudding it wont be wasted. I tried my Kenwood Chef only the once for sourdough and like you say its just too wet and sticky and anyway I kind of like hand kneading.

[Jeanied]

My starter was shoved in the fridge for a long weekend and seemed to separate into a sludgy base and a dark liquid on top. However I beat it together with a bamboo whisk ( I read that metal implements can cause problems ) chucked half of it away and gave the other half 100g wholemeal flour and some water and left it out all night on the worktop. It looks quite happy today! I hope to make a sponge this evening and bake with it tomorrow.

[Bren In Pots]

I keep mine in the fridge Jeanie think i might try freezing some as back up, wonder if it would work I'll have to do a search.

I called round at my nieces just as she was taking some bread out the oven she mentioned she was thinking of giving sourdough a go so she now has some of my starter.

I've finally given up taking photos of my bread the newness must have worn off. Here's the last photo I took. showing the Dutch oven I bake them in.

[BarleySugar]

The starter I used for the scones was separated and I just stirred it up, it was all the bits I'd been 'discarding' over the last few weeks, I never throw anything away .
I've found now that I can use most of my starter (200g) in the sponge, and just add the 100ml water and 100g flour to what is left in the jar. It gets going again very quickly. Once I can see the bubbles forming it's put back in the fridge until I need it for the next loaf. I do wash the jar out periodically, just making sure I've scraped as much as possible out first. Of course, once I've used up my discards for scones, I willl need to up the production of starter if I want to try out new recipes

[BarleySugar]

Bren, how big is your Dutch Oven? I think the weakest point of my sourdough method at the moment is the baking, and your results look very good. I was wondering whether to invest in one. The weight has always put me off of caste iron though, how easy is it to get the bread out?

[Bren In Pots]

BS mines a 5qt (10pint) Dutch oven the inside measurement is 10" across and 4-½" deep and weighs 9lb 8oz we're had it for over 30years it gets used most day.
The bread comes out easy you have to put flour or semolina in the base then I tip it up and the bread drops out.

confession time I've never washed my starter jar

[mothhawk]

Bren, how big is your Dutch Oven? I think the weakest point of my sourdough method at the moment is the baking, and your results look very good. I was wondering whether to invest in one. The weight has always put me off of caste iron though, how easy is it to get the bread out?

So far, I've used casserole dishes, normal loaf tins, and loose bottomed cake tins for baking the sourdough, as well as just on a baking sheet (which I'm not so keen on as I prefer a deeper loaf that you can make sandwiches with). I grease and flour the tin/dish and the loaves all come out easily and turn out great.

I keep mine in the fridge Jeanie think i might try freezing some as back up, wonder if it would work I'll have to do a search.

I hope so. I really don't eat that much bread and the starter was getting way ahead of me, so I've still got 3 loaves in the freezer, and now I've shoved the starter in there too.

eta: wasn't sure what would be the best way, so I split it and fed it and then put it straight in the freezer before it started to bubble again. (Made crumpets with the throwaway)

[mothhawk]

I think I am going to have to give up - this lot (made with Barleysugar's kindly donated starter) has actually gone mouldy (the blue mould, not good stuff)!!

No idea what I am doing wrong??

Are you giving the starter the full quota of flour when you feed it?
Do you keep it anywhere near cheese (particularly blue cheese) that could be contaminating it?
Are you putting a tight lid on it? I find it likes to breathe a bit of fresh air so I only loosely lay a bit of cling film over the top of the basin.
Is the starter sloppy enough? (HFW says it should be the consistency of double cream). Mould prefers damp rather than liquid to grow. I scrape down the mixture once I've added the new flour so that there is as little of it left sticking up the sides of the bowl as possible.

That's all the thoughts I've had about it, being new to this too.

eta: I just googled "mouldy sourdough starter" and got 131,000 results, so it's not just you!

[BarleySugar]

I keep mine in a plastic 'tupperware type' tub with the lid on tight, although it also did OK in a glass mayo jar with the plastic coated metal lid. I wash mine out occasionally, but Bren doesn't, so that's not the problem as hers isn't going moldy. I had washed the jar (honest), and sterilized it with boiling water.

[Jeanied]

Reading the links that were posted at the beginning it seems that if the starter has any real problems it is due to a yeast strain that doesn't like metal implements and/ or tap water.

Mine is as happy as Larry so let me know if you'd like some of this one Thea!

[Jeanied]

Ok so the sponge was made yesterday, I have left it for ages in the airing cupboard but it looked pretty lively when I took it out just now - and it smelled almost boozy in a nice tangy way!
So a loaf has been made (a good workout!) and it is back in the airing cupboard for its first proving. I'll get it out in the morning and do the second proving and then it is baking time
This time I used mostly white strong bread flour as the starter and sponge had a lot of wholemeal in them and I am looking for a slightly less dense bread.