The sourdough Starter Thread

[smallblueplanet]

...

Mr Bones, I can't get one of those lids, but was thinking about one of those jars with a fancy lid that lets air out that are used for making kimchi. We live in a very dusty environment. It's the worry of nasty stuff in the air, in fact, that has been putting me off but really want to do it.

On the whole the thing with fermented foods (yes a sourdough starter too) are full of 'good' bacteria which stop the 'bad' getting a foothold. We keep our starter in a loosely lidded jar in the fridge. Nothing fancy needed, just leave the lid slightly loose, but it's a fairly slow ferment so if not over-filled it's unlikely to spill out.

[Snoop Puss]

Right, I gave up waiting for the right jar and have started anyway. Better late than never. The flour is organic wholemeal rye. When mixed with the same volume of water, it makes an extremely stiff mixture. Nothing like pictures I've seen. So I added a bit more water. Hope that's OK. Only been, oooh, nine hours, so no bubbles. But the mixture looks a bit grey on top. I'm guessing the early days are the most alarming.

Peanut, containergirl and farendwoman, how are you guys going?

[Bren In Pots]

Snoop I find wholemeal flours need more water than white flour so you did right to add more water.

[Snoop Puss]

Some bubbles starting to appear (day 2.5 now). Yesterday it smelled of cut grass and black tea. Today it smells like a country pub (I'm even convinced I can smell unsmoked pipe tobacco, though of course nowadays pubs are smoke-free zones). Not unpleasant though.

[Bren In Pots]

Snoop it sounds like your starter is on its way

[Snoop Puss]

^I think it is! Pleased as punch. Even before bread I reckon I'll be making your oat cakes.

[Snoop Puss]

Hi Bren, I've been keeping the discard and even refreshing it a little bit to ensure I have enough for oatcakes tomorrow. Oddly, the discard is doing better than the starter I'm going to be keeping. Anyway, for the oatcakes, what kind of flour do you use? I've got a small packet of oat flour and was wondering whether lack of gluten might be a problem if I use it in the oatcakes. Thought I'd better consult an expert...

[Bren In Pots]

No expert Snoop last time I made oatcakes I used ordinary plain flour because that was all I had. So long as you use the same volume measurements of starter, oats, water and flour you can make any amount you want.
Hope this helps

[Snoop Puss]

Brilliant, thanks Bren. It's going to be a good brunch tomorrow (public holiday here for St John's Day).

[Nicos]

Bren....just as a reminder please- is that equal by volume...I'm fancying making some of those!

[Snoop Puss]

^That's a good point. Bren says one cup each in a previous comment, so I took it to be volume. Copied and pasted from Bren's earlier comment:

Staffordshire oat cakes
One cup of each of the following.

Starter
Oats (I use fine oats or pin head)
Water
Flour

mix together and leave overnight in the bowl

Next morning add a pinch of salt, bicarb and a bit of oil and maybe some water to make it like a pancake/Yorkshire pud batter. I use a 1/4 cup of mix which makes 14 oatcakes in a 8 inch skillet.


I might not be growing anything in the veg patch, but I'm doing a good job of growing bubbles. Before I went to bed, it was obvious I needed to put the mixture in a bigger bowl, as it was threatening to splurge over the sides. Mr Snoop's comment this morning: that looks like Aero. So, my starter is definitely active. Thanks, Bren and SBP.

[Nicos]

Thanks for that Snoop - I've taken a screenshot of it now!

[Bren In Pots]

Snoop it helps if you have the pan really hot at first then turn down the heat I use a cast iron skillet, if i'm making a lot of oatcakes I have productions line using two pans I cook one side then flip it into a second pan.

[Nicos]

Have you heard about a raisin water starter for sourdough????

Its about half way through the article.

https://www.thehungrybites.com/raisi...urdough-bread/

[Bren In Pots]

Just skimmed the article Nicos then spotted the bit at the bottom in recipe notes about adding dried yeast to sourdough I can't see the point of doing that its either sourdough or it not. It's like how supermarkets add yeast to their loaves to make them rise faster.